Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum

About Tulsa Zoo

Tulsa Zoo is an 84-acre zoo in Tulsa, Oklahoma, set inside Mohawk Park, one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. The zoo is owned by the City of Tulsa but has been privately managed as a non-profit by Tulsa Zoo Management, Inc. since 2010, governed by a volunteer board of directors. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums through September 2028, and the zoo's website describes it as home to more than 2,000 animals from across the world, drawing roughly 600,000 visitors a year.

The zoo traces its founding to 1927, when the Tulsa Zoological Society was incorporated, and it has grown through nearly a century of expansion into a collection organized around distinct themed areas: the Asian-inspired Lost Kingdom complex, an African Plains section, a Central and South American rainforest building, and a Robert J. LaFortune WildLIFE Trek focused on animal adaptations to cold, desert, forest, and water environments. The zoo lists at least 167 species on its website, spanning everything from Malayan tigers and Komodo dragons to tarantulas and coral reef fish.

History

Tulsa Zoo's earliest chapter began in 1927 with the incorporation of the Tulsa Zoological Society, followed in 1931 by the dedication of Monkey Island, stocked with 40 monkeys purchased for $7 each. The zoo's first elephant, Gunda, arrived in 1954 as a donation from the Tulsa Jaycees; she lived at the zoo until her death in 2018 at age 68, among the oldest captive elephants in the country. The zoo became one of the first eleven institutions accredited by the AAZPA, the predecessor to today's AZA, in 1976.

The 1990s and 2000s brought steady exhibit development, including the Chimpanzee Connection in 1991, the Tropical American Rainforest exhibit in 1997, and the African Penguin exhibit in 2002, which won an ABC Excellence in Construction Award. In 2005, the zoo was named "America's Favorite Zoo" by Microsoft Game Studios in a nationwide voting contest tied to the Zoo Tycoon 2 video game, and it also drew national attention that year over a dispute involving displays touching on evolutionary theory and religious imagery, which the Tulsa Park Board briefly addressed by voting to add a Creationism display before reversing the decision.

More recent milestones include the 2012 opening of Helmerich Sea Lion Cove, the 2017 opening of the full Lost Kingdom complex, and the 2022 start of construction on the Oxley Family Elephant Experience and Elephant Preserve, which led to a new Asian elephant habitat opening in 2024. In 2025, the zoo's acquisition of two elephants, Billy and Tina, from the Los Angeles Zoo drew protests from animal rights advocates who argued the animals should have gone to a sanctuary instead.

Exhibits and habitats

The Lost Kingdom complex recreates settings inspired by ancient Asian cultures, including gardens modeled on Angkor Wat, and houses Malayan tigers, snow leopards, Chinese alligators, siamangs, binturongs, and Komodo dragons. Within it, the Valley of the Elephant covers 2.5 acres for the zoo's Asian elephants, with indoor and outdoor viewing areas and an elephant demonstration yard; the zoo's elephant herd has included Sneezy, Hank, Sooky, Booper, Connie, and, following their 2025 arrival, Billy and Tina.

The Robert J. LaFortune WildLIFE Trek, a four-building complex, groups animals by their adaptations to cold, desert, forest, and water environments, including Siberian cranes, tawny frogmouths, chinchillas, peccaries, and grizzly bears. The Rainforest recreates Central and South American forest habitats with black howler monkeys, a green anaconda, piranhas, dwarf caimans, and jaguars, many roaming freely beneath a translucent canopy roof, alongside cultural references such as an Olmec Head marking its entrance. The African Plains area holds meerkats, giraffes, lions, aldabra tortoises, southern white rhinos, and African wild dogs, including the Mary K. Chapman Rhinoceros Reserve.

Additional exhibits include Helmerich Sea Lion Cove, a 100,000-gallon saltwater habitat for California sea lions that opened in 2012; the Penguin Habitat, opened in 2002, home to African penguins and black-and-white ruffed lemurs; the Children's Zoo, with a contact yard of Nigerian dwarf goats and other small farm animals plus North American river otters and red kangaroos; the Chimpanzee Connection, completed in 1991, with indoor and outdoor viewing of the zoo's chimpanzee troop; and the David G. Zucconi Conservation Center, built in 1957, which holds primates, reptiles, birds, and fish tied to conservation programs. Around the city, the zoo's collection is echoed by the "Tulsa Penguins," six-foot penguin sculptures originally installed at 29 locations through a fundraising art campaign.

Animal highlights

Tulsa Zoo lists at least 167 species on its website, a floor rather than a full count, and describes its total animal population as more than 2,000 individuals. Named residents span Malayan tigers, snow leopards, Komodo dragons, Asian elephants, jaguars, giraffes, southern white rhinoceroses, California sea lions, African penguins, chimpanzees, and grizzly bears, alongside a large invertebrate and reptile collection that includes tarantulas, coconut crabs, and multiple tortoise species such as Aldabra and radiated tortoises. In 2026, the zoo acquired four Arapawa Island goats, described as a critically endangered species, and hatched two new African penguin chicks.

Conservation and programs

The Tulsa Zoo Conservation Program says it has supported more than 200 conservation projects globally and locally, including efforts to reduce palm oil use, participation in FrogWatch USA, and ocean conservation education. The zoo also describes itself as possibly the only zero-landfill zoo in the United States, framing environmental sustainability as part of its broader conservation mission alongside direct species work such as its support for giraffe conservation in Tanzania and songbird conservation in Indonesia. An annual fundraising event, Conservation on Tap, raises money for Vulpro, an organization protecting Cape vultures in South Africa.

Planning your visit

As listed on the zoo's website, general admission is $22.99 for adults ages 12 to 64, $19.99 for seniors 65 and older, and $19.99 for children ages 3 to 11, with a $3 discount per ticket for online purchases; children under 3 and zoo members are free. Discounts are available for active military and veterans, police, fire, and EMS personnel, SNAP and WIC recipients, foster families, and AZA members from other accredited zoos or aquariums, each requiring proof of eligibility at the gate. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Parking is free for members and $6 for non-members, and the zoo notes that its main entrance bridge is currently closed for construction, with all guests entering and exiting through the West Gate.

The zoo describes a range of accessibility accommodations, including a Family Den with a nursing space and a sensory quiet room, sensory bags with fidget tools and headphones available at the entrance, and mobility equipment such as electric scooters and wheelchairs available to rent through Guest Services. Service dogs are permitted zoo-wide except in the gated Contact Yard of the Children's Zoo; other service and emotional-support animals are not permitted. Outside food and non-alcoholic drinks are allowed, though alcohol and glass containers are not. As with any zoo, hours, pricing, and construction-related entrance changes should be confirmed on the official website before a visit.