Peoria Zoo

About Peoria Zoo

Peoria Zoo sits in Glen Oak Park at 2218 N. Prospect Road in Peoria, Illinois, and is owned and operated by the Peoria Park District. It has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums since 1976 and is open daily except for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. The zoo was known as Glen Oak Zoo for most of its history before taking the name Peoria Zoo in 2009.

The zoo is built around a set of themed exhibit areas: an Africa exhibit centered on the Zambezi River, an Australia Walkabout with a walkthrough wallaby habitat, an Asian Trail, a Tropics Building, a Conservation Center for endangered reptiles and amphibians, and a Contact Barn for domestic animals. The nonprofit Peoria Zoological Society, formed in 1997, works alongside the Park District to support the zoo's exhibits and programs, and the zoo states its mission around excellence in animal care, education, and outstanding relations with visitors, staff, and volunteers.

History

Glen Oak Zoo traces its origins to the late 1800s, when a herd of elk was donated to the Peoria Park District; the zoo's formal dedication took place in 1897. Over the following decades the collection moved between several locations within the park before settling near the lagoon in Glen Oak Park. In 1955, seeking to build a more professional collection, the Park District sought advice from Marlin Perkins, then director of the St. Louis Zoo and later the host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, along with local architect Cletis Foley; the current Glen Oak Zoo exhibits building, including the Tropics building, opened that year.

Friends of Glen Oak Zoo formed in 1970 to support new animals and exhibits, and the zoo went on to earn accreditation from what was then the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. In 1997, the Peoria Zoological Society formed to lead a broader redevelopment effort, working with Torre Design Consortium on a community-driven master plan. That planning led to the 2009 opening of the zoo's Africa exhibit, which nearly doubled the zoo's size after more than a decade of planning and two and a half years of construction; the zoo adopted the name Peoria Zoo at the same time. The Australia Walkabout followed in 2012. Long-serving director Yvonne Strode, who led the zoo from 2005, retired in June 2024, and Max Lakes is the zoo's current director.

The zoo's animal collection has also seen notable losses and arrivals in recent years. Amur tiger Kyra died suddenly in August 2013, and her mate Vaska died in December 2016; two of their offspring, Nikita and Sasha, still live at Peoria Zoo. Longtime male lion Arthur, one of the original Africa exhibit lions, was euthanized in November 2023 at age 18, and male giraffe Taji, also an original Africa exhibit animal, was euthanized in May 2024 after a broken foot, having outlived the median captive giraffe lifespan. A new giraffe, Fitzniklas, arrived from Memphis Zoo in May 2025, and a juvenile Grevy's zebra arrived from Florida's White Oak Conservation Center in March 2025.

Exhibits and habitats

The Africa exhibit opened in 2009 and is arranged around a boardwalk overlooking the Zambezi River Village, where visitors can see giraffes and gazelles in a northern section and zebras and rhinos in a southern one, with lions and mandrills each in their own enclosures. Red river hogs and colobus monkeys share an exhibit, as do African crested porcupines and Aldabra giant tortoises. A small animal building within the Africa exhibit houses zebra mice, Zambian mole-rats, pancake tortoises, dung beetles, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, African rock pythons, Madagascar tree boas, and Taveta golden weavers.

The Australia Walkabout, opened in 2012, is a walkthrough exhibit for Bennett's wallabies and Parma wallabies, alongside black swans, emus, and an aviary of budgerigars; it is open seasonally between Memorial Day and Labor Day, with outside viewing stations available at other times. The Asian Trail is the zoo's smallest exhibit, holding Siberian tigers, Sichuan takins, and Reeves's muntjacs.

The Tropics Building, constructed in 1955, once housed lions, tigers, and jaguars, which have since moved to outdoor enclosures; the zoo has discussed a roughly $5 million renovation of the facility in response to AZA feedback. Current residents include the greater spear-nosed bat, western hognose snake, Dumeril's ground boa, Mexican beaded lizard, green tree python, Burmese python, cotton-top tamarin, Hoffman's two-toed sloth, mongoose lemur, and ring-tailed lemur, along with Butch, a 50-year-old spider monkey. The Conservation Center focuses on endangered reptiles and amphibians, including the alligator snapping turtle, Colorado River toad, green and black poison dart frog, Panamanian golden frog, and Chinese alligator. The Contact Barn houses domestic donkeys, Nigerian dwarf goats, and koi.

Elsewhere in the park, the Glen Oak Pavilion, a Victorian-style building completed in 1896 for about $25,000, has served over the years as a public shelter, ice cream parlor, and dance hall, and since 2015 has housed the Peoria PlayHouse Children's Museum. The Zambezi River Lodge overlooks the Africa exhibit and provides concessions as well as space for receptions and conferences.

Animal highlights

Peoria Zoo's collection spans the exhibits described above, from Africa's giraffes, zebras, lions, and mandrills to the Asian Trail's Siberian tigers and Sichuan takins, the Tropics Building's sloths and lemurs, and the Conservation Center's alligator snapping turtles and Panamanian golden frogs. The zoo also keeps domestic animals in its Contact Barn, including Nigerian dwarf goats that are part of its "Bleat Retreat" hands-on guest program. Notable individual residents named by the zoo include giraffe Fitzniklas and tiger offspring Nikita and Sasha.

Conservation and programs

Peoria Zoo participates in several Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan programs, including for the black-handed spider monkey and southern three-banded armadillo, part of a broader AZA framework that manages breeding across accredited zoos to maintain genetically diverse, self-sustaining populations. The zoo is also a program partner in AZA's SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) initiative.

Since 2008, the zoo has partnered with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources on a multi-state effort, alongside Oklahoma and Louisiana, to reintroduce the state-endangered alligator snapping turtle to watersheds in southern Illinois, where none had been documented between 1887 and 1984. The Illinois Natural History Survey conducts telemetry studies on released turtles fitted with radio transmitters, while the St. Louis Zoo breeds turtles from its captive colony for hatchlings raised by Illinois schools under an "Operation Endangered Species" program. A 2014 release involved 97 head-started turtles, supported by staff and students from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and two area high schools.

Planning your visit

Peoria Zoo is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., as listed on the zoo's website, closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. Most guests spend one and a half to two hours exploring the grounds. Outside food and drinks are welcome in designated picnic areas inside the zoo, though the zoo asks that they stay out of the Zambezi River Lodge restaurant, which serves a seasonally changing menu of concessions and entrees.

The Safari Gift Shop sits near the main entrance, and the zoo offers combination tickets with the neighboring Peoria PlayHouse Children's Museum, as well as household memberships that also grant reciprocal discounts at more than 150 other zoos and aquariums nationwide. Pets must stay home, but trained service animals are welcome. The zoo asks visitors to stay on designated paths and keep a safe distance from the animals, and notes that animal sightings vary by visit since the animals can choose when to be visible.

Because hours, ticket prices, and seasonal exhibit schedules can change, visitors should check the official Peoria Zoo website before their trip.