ZooAmerica

About ZooAmerica

ZooAmerica is an 11-acre wildlife park in Hershey, Pennsylvania, connected to Hersheypark and privately controlled by the Hershey Trust Company. Founded in 1910 by Milton S. Hershey, it today houses more than 200 individual animals representing over 75 species, all native to North America. The zoo lists at least 51 species by name on its website. ZooAmerica is accredited both by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The zoo is built around a single organizing idea, exclusively North American wildlife, arranged into five regional sections that walk visitors from southern swamps to the Arctic. That focus dates to the 1970s, when the zoo shed its earlier mixed international collection to concentrate entirely on native species and naturalistic exhibits, a decision that continues to define the zoo today.

History

ZooAmerica's origins trace to 1905, when Franz and Louise Zinner moved from Weisenberg, Germany, to Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Unable to keep 12 prairie dogs given to him by a friend, Mr. Zinner passed them to Milton S. Hershey, who used them as an attraction at Hershey Park. In 1910, Zinner received a black bear from the same friend and again gave it to Hershey, whose growing menagerie of bears, birds, and deer prompted him to formally build a zoo that year. Throughout 1910, the collection grew with more bears, angora goats, fox squirrels, opossums, peacocks, pheasants, and zebus; a lion, monkeys, and a leopard followed in 1914. Major renovations in 1915, including the Hershey Laundry building, expanded capacity for the influx of new animals, and by 1916 the zoo displayed hundreds of animals.

By 1934, the zoo covered more than 40 acres and included a reptile house and a pair of baby elephants, though the elephants were sold after Hershey overheard a guest say they preferred the monkeys. After Hershey's death and the end of World War II, the zoo continued acquiring animals under new leadership and built a dedicated exhibit on Pennsylvania wildlife. Hershey Park and ZooAmerica both closed for renovations in 1971, reopening a year later with a new monkey island and a barnyard petting zoo. Six years after that, John Strawbridge III became the zoo's new director and refocused it entirely on North American animals in naturalistic exhibits, creating the North American Wildlife Park with five sections: North Woods, Eastern Woodlands, Big Sky Country, Grassy Waters, and Cactus Community. In 1982, ZooAmerica became only the second zoo or aquarium in Pennsylvania to earn AZA accreditation.

The 21st century brought further additions: a new bear exhibit in 2000 with hills, grass, toys, and a 13,000-gallon swimming pond; temporary albino alligators in 2001 and 2012; and, in 2004, a kids' conservation program built around mascot Ranger Scratch and the Ranger Scratch Kid's Club. The Woodlands Education Center, completed five years later, gave guests hands-on animal experiences. Tragedy struck in September 2011, when flooding from Tropical Storm Lee, which broke rainfall records set by Hurricane Agnes in 1972, overflowed Spring Creek through the park; keepers moved most animals to safety, but the zoo's two bison could not be relocated in time, and one drowned while the other was euthanized, along with nine prairie dogs lost in the flood.

Exhibits and habitats

The Southern Swamps section, the first inside the zoo, recreates marshy, semi-tropical habitat and houses the cottonmouth, roseate spoonbill, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, gopher tortoise, corn snake, barred owl, Florida gar, and alligator snapping turtle. The Great Southwest section focuses on desert and nocturnal wildlife, including the thick-billed parrot, Mexican beaded lizard, chuckwalla, Gila monster, Gambel's quail, burrowing owl, desert tortoise, nine-banded armadillo, common vampire bat, sidewinder, gopher snake, rosy boa, black-footed ferret, ocelot, ringtail, and coati.

Eastern Woodlands illustrates how animals adapt to a changing eastern United States, featuring the red-tailed hawk, bobcat, white-tailed deer, eastern wild turkey, and American black bear. Big Sky Country, toward the zoo's far end, uses open grassland terrain and mountain-summit replicas to display the black-tailed prairie dog, American elk, mountain lion, sandhill crane, turkey vulture, and pronghorn. The final section, Northlands, represents habitat stretching from Newfoundland across Canada into Alaska and includes the snowy owl, peregrine falcon, gray wolf, bald eagle, North American porcupine, American marten, and Canada lynx, with signage explaining how these species survive some of the coldest climates on the continent.

Animal highlights

ZooAmerica lists at least 51 species on its website, part of a broader collection of more than 200 animals representing over 75 species overall, all native to North America. Species range from birds of prey such as the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, and burrowing owl to mammals including the Canada lynx, gray wolf, black-footed ferret, ocelot, and American black bear, alongside reptiles like the Gila monster, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, and alligator snapping turtle. Because the zoo deliberately restricts its collection to North American wildlife, it does not exhibit monkeys, giraffes, or elephants, and it does not operate a petting zoo. Several of its species, including the thick-billed parrot, Canada lynx, black-footed ferret, and ocelot, are part of active Species Survival Plan breeding programs at the zoo.

Conservation and programs

ZooAmerica participates in Species Survival Plan and SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) programs for the Black-Footed Ferret, Ocelot, North American Monarch, Thick-billed Parrot, and North American Songbird, and previously held swift fox as part of the SSP. The zoo has historically helped reintroduce golden eagles and peregrine falcons, including raising birds of prey later released to the wild, one of which was later found nesting along the Susquehanna River. Since 2011, it has partnered with Fort Indiantown Gap on a captive-rearing and reintroduction program for the eastern regal fritillary butterfly, a grassland species proposed for federal endangered listing; in 2014, the National Military Fish & Wildlife Association honored two ZooAmerica naturalists for their work on the project.

The zoo also runs nest box programs for barn owls, American kestrels, and prothonotary warblers, built and monitored by zoo staff and summer campers in partnership with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and federally certified bird banders. Since 2005, ZooCampers have built bluebird nest boxes placed across central Pennsylvania. Additional efforts include a milkweed and wildflower meadow to support monarch butterflies, a Baltimore checkerspot butterfly survey at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area running since 2023, an Allegheny woodrat breeding and reintroduction program begun in 2024 with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and a FrogWatch USA chapter that trains community scientists to monitor local amphibian populations.

Planning your visit

ZooAmerica is listed as open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on its website; as with any posted hours, confirm the current schedule before visiting, since the zoo is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is an 11-acre, walk-through park that the zoo says takes about an hour to walk through in full, though visitors are welcome to spend more time. Free parking is available on-site, with an overflow option at the free Hershey Press Building parking garage nearby.

The zoo is cashless, accepting major credit and debit cards, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts gift cards, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay, with a Cash-to-Card kiosk available for guests without cards. All exhibits are wheelchair and stroller accessible, with ramped alternatives at stepped locations; a limited number of rental wheelchairs are available for a $5 fee, though they cannot be reserved in advance and no motorized options are offered on-site. Sensory Bags, including noise-canceling headphones and fidget tools, are available at the admissions building. Guests may bring packed lunches and coolers, though portable grills are not permitted, and pets are not allowed except certified service animals. As always, verify current ticket prices and hours on ZooAmerica's official website before your visit.