Abilene Zoological Gardens

About Abilene Zoological Gardens

The Abilene Zoo sits on 16 acres in Grover Nelson Park on the east side of Abilene, Texas, and has been open at that location since July 2, 1966. It's operated jointly by the City of Abilene and the Abilene Zoological Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that raises funds for improvements and programming. The zoo has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums since 1985 and participates in the AZA Reciprocal Admissions Program, so members can get free or reduced admission at many other member zoos around the country.

The current site wasn't the zoo's first home. A smaller Abilene Zoological Gardens opened in Fair Park in 1919, in what is now known as Rose Park. In 1963 the Abilene Zoological Society formed specifically to raise money for a larger zoo on a new site, and the city's former airport was chosen for it. That history shows up in an odd detail: part of today's parking lot was once a runway where Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart are both said to have landed.

The zoo's own figures put its collection at more than 800 animals representing over 175 species, and it draws roughly 224,805 visitors a year, according to the zoo's published numbers; a separate published figure put attendance at 255,000 in 2021. The zoo is organized into a handful of named exhibit areas that group animals loosely by region — an African-themed giraffe and rhino habitat, a South American-and-Caribbean section, a native Texas habitat, and a reptile and amphibian building — alongside a wetlands boardwalk and a train and carousel for younger visitors.

History

The zoo's growth since 1966 has come in waves tied to bond issues and private fundraising. Early milestones included joining the International Species Inventory System in 1973, opening an Avian Reproduction Center in 1982, and a string of breeding firsts in the 1980s: the zoo recorded the world's first successful captive breeding of Wirot's pit viper (1983), Storr's monitor (1984), the mottled rock rattlesnake (1985), and African bush vipers (1987). In 1989, the Monarch Project recognized the zoo as the first monarch butterfly sanctuary east of the Rocky Mountains.

The 1990s and 2000s brought a wetlands exhibit (1994), an expanded perimeter that added 24 acres in 1995, and new jaguar and ocelot exhibits in 1996. In 2006, Abilene voters approved a $1.1 million bond for zoo improvements. That funding turned part of the old Discovery Center into the Creepy Crawly Center, expanded the giraffe exhibit and parking lot, and paid for a South American Trails exhibit, the Wetlands Boardwalk, and the Elm Creek Backyard exhibit. In 2007, one of the zoo's elephants died at 49 amid controversy over the elephants' living conditions, and the other was transferred to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco; the former elephant exhibit was converted into a habitat for black rhinoceroses. The same year saw the $3.7 million, privately funded Adventure Center open for admissions, education, and administration.

The zoo kept building through the 2010s: the Elm Creek Backyard exhibit series and an Ocelot Exhibit opened in 2010, a South American Pampas exhibit and Train Station arrived in 2012, and the Caribbean Cove series of exhibits went up in 2013. Voters approved another $1.03 million bond in 2015, matched by $1.2 million in private funds. The Giraffe Safari habitat, which lets visitors feed giraffes from an elevated deck, opened in April 2016 as part of a $3.8 million project that doubled the size of the old giraffe habitat. In 2021 the zoo opened Journey to Madagascar, featuring lemurs, fossa, reptiles, and birds. In spring 2022, the zoo announced a ten-year master plan that would expand the property from 16 to 39 acres in four phases, adding new lion, rhino, and savanna habitats along with meerkats, pygmy hippopotamuses, cheetahs, wildebeest, and bison — plus a new train ride, play area, concert venue, and restaurant. No cost for the plan has been announced.

Exhibits and habitats

Giraffe Safari is the zoo's largest single exhibit, built around a bridge that crosses over the habitat so visitors can feed and get close to the giraffes. The area also holds other African species, including striped hyenas, Grant's zebras, a southern black rhinoceros, and lions.

Caribbean Cove displays wildlife from South America, including macaws, monkeys, and various amphibians, and has a large sand play area with nearby seating for parents. The Reptile House, the zoo's herpetarium, opened in December 2007 inside part of the old Discovery Center; it was designed and built in-house by zoo staff and holds 50 naturalistic exhibits covering 80 species of reptiles and amphibians. The Discovery Center complex also includes a climate-controlled Tropical Aviary for the zoo's tropical birds, plus separate Bird Gardens.

Elm Creek Backyard, completed in 2009, is built around species native to the Elm Creek area of Texas — cougars, coyotes, porcupines, raccoons, bobcats, ringtails, armadillos, and river otters, along with assorted birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Wetlands of the Americas is an elevated boardwalk over wetland exhibits that hold alligators, flamingos, waterfowl, and Attwater's prairie chickens. Nakuru Lagoon, a smaller $300,000 project that opened in March 2018 near the entrance, houses African birds including lesser flamingos and yellow-billed ducks.

Animal highlights

The zoo's own figures put its collection at more than 800 animals across over 175 species, and its public animal directory lists at least 28 species by name, including American bison, American alligators, giraffes, jaguars, ocelots, a sloth bear, a fossa, ring-tailed lemurs, maned wolves, and a whooping crane. Bird species on the list range from Caribbean flamingos and brown pelicans to bald eagles, black vultures, and burrowing owls. The zoo has also noted the recent arrival of four baby spider monkeys rescued from the illegal pet trade, which now live among its primate collection.

Conservation and programs

Abilene Zoo has a longer conservation track record than its size might suggest. Its Avian Reproduction Center notched several world-first captive breedings in the 1980s, and in 1989 the Monarch Project designated it the first monarch butterfly sanctuary east of the Rockies. In 1999, the zoo joined the Attwater's Prairie Chicken Restoration Project, working with a critically endangered grassland bird native to the Texas coast. The zoo's maned wolf pair, added in 2008, produced its first successfully parent-raised pup in 2011. As an AZA-accredited institution, the zoo also participates in the association's cooperative breeding and species survival programs more broadly.

Planning your visit

As listed on the zoo's website, the Abilene Zoo is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with last admission at 4:00 p.m., and the zoo says it's open 362 days a year. The carousel and train run 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on weekdays and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekends and school holidays, and giraffe feeding is offered on a similar 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. window. Full adult ticket pricing wasn't listed in the pages checked, but the zoo's FAQ notes military and first responders pay $9 with ID and children two and under get in free.

Most guests spend 2 to 3 hours seeing the zoo's exhibits, according to the zoo's own FAQ. Wheelchairs can be rented at the gift shop for $10 with a photo ID, and wagons rent for $5. Outside food and coolers are welcome, though plastic straws, glass containers, sports balls, balloons, skates, and skateboards are not allowed. Service animals are permitted, but pets and emotional-support animals are not. As with any of these details, it's worth checking the zoo's official website before you go, since hours and prices can change.