Science

What started as a small menagerie in 1902 officially became Oklahoma City Zoo in 1903. Journey through the second half century of its illustrious history in Oklahoma City Zoo: 1960-2013. Meet the staff and animals and explore the exhibits that propelled it from a third-class animal facility to one of the best zoos in the United States. In the 1960s, its animal population exploded as knowledge of animal care improved. The zoo soon assembled the largest-known collection of hoofed animals. Later, a rare mountain gorilla named M'Kubwa stole newspaper headlines, a third leopard escaped, and the zoo met its first cheetah babies. The opening of Aquaticus in the 1980s "brought the ocean to the prairie" in the form of a dolphin and sea lion show. Elephants, however, remain the queen attraction at the Oklahoma City Zoo. In 2011, the birth of the zoo's first baby elephant baby, Malee, was a crowning achievement in its 110-year history.

The Oklahoma City Zoo began when a single deer was donated to a neighborhood park. Because deer were rare in 1902, crowds flocked to see the creature. Soon other people in Oklahoma Territory began donating native animals such as bears, golden eagles, and wolves. By 1903, the little menagerie became known as Wheeler Park Zoo, the first zoo in the Southwest. During its next 50 years, the zoo endured flooding, relocation, and tough economic slumps brought on by wars and the Dust Bowl. The zoo survived, however, because it provided a fun, relaxing place where people could go to escape from daily life. The community, in turn, rallied to help the zoo by donating precious pocket change to buy food and purchase new animals. Children, especially, were responsible for bringing some of the zoo's most memorable animals to Oklahoma City, especially Judy the Elephant. Here lies the story of how a zoo grew up along with its city, largely told with photographs of the animal "personalities" that attracted
visitors in the first place.