Pueblo Zoo

About Pueblo Zoo

Pueblo Zoo covers 25 acres within Pueblo City Park in Pueblo, Colorado, and is managed by the nonprofit Pueblo Zoological Society. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and is open year-round. The zoo is home to more than 500 animals representing about 125 species, and it attracts roughly 90,000 visitors a year. Its stated mission is to empower people to engage in the conservation of animals and their natural habitat.

The zoo runs education outreach programs that reach nearly every elementary school in Pueblo County, along with camps, on-site programming, and volunteer opportunities for youth, and it partners with the local library and area businesses to provide free or reduced admission for people who cannot otherwise afford a visit. The Pueblo Zoo has also earned a 2020 Platinum Seal of Transparency for publicly sharing its key metrics and impact, and it participates in Coloradogives.org, a platform supporting online giving to nonprofits.

The zoo's grounds are organized into named exhibit areas, including Serengeti Safari, North American Grasslands, Colorado Wetlands, the Australian Outback, World of Color, Asian Adventure, the Ecocenter, Islands of Life, and Pioneer Ranch.

History

The City of Pueblo has maintained a zoo in some form since the early 1900s, but the original core of the current zoo was built between 1933 and 1940 by the Public Works Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Works Progress Administration. That work is recognized today: the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Pueblo City Park Zoo. The current Islands of Life and World of Color buildings, along with the zoo's eagle exhibits, date to this same 1930s construction period, and the zoo notes that visitors can still see the influence of that architectural style throughout the grounds.

Exhibits and habitats

Serengeti Safari is home to lions, Grevy's zebras, plains zebras, topi antelopes, nyalas, ostriches, Thomson's gazelles, East African crowned cranes, lappet-faced vultures, white storks, and waterbucks, and now also includes African wild dogs. The Australian Outback holds emus and red kangaroos alongside the maned wolf, a South American species housed in the same area. Asian Adventure features Przewalski's horses, white-handed gibbons, yaks, binturongs, kulans, Reeves's muntjac, and Malayan sun bears.

Colorado Wetlands is built around regional and native species, including Rocky Mountain elk, plains bison, white pelicans, trumpeter swans, North American wood ducks, black-tailed prairie dogs, and swift foxes. World of Color, formerly known as the Herpetarium, and the Ecocenter round out the zoo's indoor exhibit spaces. At Pioneer Ranch, visitors can see animals associated with ranch life, including cows, donkeys, miniature horses, alpacas, both dromedary and Bactrian camels, goats, hogs, sheep, llamas, owls, snakes, turkeys, chickens, rabbits, geese, ducks, and tortoises; a Pioneer Ranch feeding session runs daily from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

Animal highlights

Pueblo Zoo is home to more than 500 animals representing about 125 species, according to the zoo's own figures. Notable species named across its exhibit areas include lions, Grevy's zebras, African wild dogs, and topi antelopes in Serengeti Safari; Przewalski's horses, white-handed gibbons, and Malayan sun bears in Asian Adventure; Rocky Mountain elk, plains bison, and swift foxes in Colorado Wetlands; and red kangaroos and the maned wolf in the Australian Outback. Pioneer Ranch adds a working-farm collection of camels, alpacas, llamas, and smaller domestic animals.

Conservation and programs

As of 2009, Pueblo Zoo participated in AZA Species Survival Plans for 16 species and in Population Management Plans for 18 species. The zoo supports several outside conservation partners directly, including the Lemur Conservation Foundation, which maintains a nine-acre forested lemur enclosure in Myakka City, Florida; the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, credited with helping save the Mauritius kestrel, echo parakeet, and pink pigeon from the brink of extinction; a bison restoration partnership on Colorado's shortgrass prairie; and Rocky Mountain Wild, which works to protect and restore wildlife habitat in the Southern Rocky Mountain region. The zoo describes red pandas and North American bison as two of its global conservation focuses.

Pueblo Zoo was a founding member of AZA SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) when the program launched in 2016, and it has contributed to the AZA SAFE African Penguin Project, which has installed hundreds of artificial nest boxes in South African penguin colonies after natural guano nesting sites declined sharply over the past century. A quarter of every zoo ticket, and 10 percent of every Behind the Scenes experience ticket, goes toward conservation efforts, and purchases marked with a special symbol in the gift shop direct 2 percent of revenue to conservation programs as well.

Planning your visit

As listed on the zoo's website, Pueblo Zoo is open daily, with spring and summer hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and last admission at 4 p.m. As listed, adult admission is $15.25, child admission is $11.25, and senior admission is $12.25; children age 2 and under are free. Group rates of $13.25 for adults and $9.25 for children apply to parties of 15 or more purchasing together, and up to four guests with an EBT card can receive Museums for All discounted admission at $5 per person. Active military members receive a discount with valid ID.

Wagon and wheelchair rentals are available for the length of a visit. Visitors can also check out zoo passes through their local Pueblo City/County library branch, subject to availability, for up to seven days. Picnics are welcome throughout the grounds, though glass containers are not permitted, and a seasonal café operates limited hours from spring break through Labor Day; alcoholic beverages are sold at The Den to guests with ID, limited to one drink per person, and outside alcohol is not allowed. The zoo's dress code requires shirts and shoes and prohibits costumes or clothing that conceals identity. Members of reciprocal AZA zoos receive 50 percent off admission. Confirm current hours, admission prices, and any special-event closures on the zoo's official website before visiting.