Frank Buck Zoo

About Frank Buck Zoo

Frank Buck Zoo is a small zoo in Leonard Park in Gainesville, Texas, at 1000 W. California Street. Wikipedia places it in the 30-acre Leonard Park and describes it as home to more than 130 animals, and a 2010 Blooloop history of the zoo uses similar wording, describing it as home to over 130 animals from four continents. The zoo's information is published on the City of Gainesville website, and the zoo's pages link to the Frank Buck Zoological Society.

The zoo takes its name from Frank Buck, a Gainesville native who became known as an animal collector and film actor. Wikipedia and Blooloop both describe Buck as having collected wild animals around the world for zoo collections.

History

The zoo began as the Gainesville Community Circus. According to Wikipedia, it was founded by A. Morton Smith and opened in 1930 at the Cooke County Fair at Fair Park in Gainesville. Blooloop adds that the animals were initially cared for at Fair Park by F. E. Schmitz, described there as a former circus ringmaster and philanthropist.

A fire in 1954 destroyed most of the circus equipment. Wikipedia and Blooloop both say that after the fire the animals were kept permanently in enclosures, and that the zoo was renamed for Frank Buck that same year. Wikipedia also says Buck had worked as a ring master at the zoo. Blooloop gives background on Buck, saying he was born in Gainesville, began traveling to far lands in 1911 to collect animals, and went on to cross the Pacific and circle the globe many times to collect animals for zoos.

The zoo moved to its current location in Leonard Park in 1962. Blooloop describes the site as the west bank of Elm Creek.

In March 2008 the Frank Buck Exhibit opened at the zoo. Wikipedia says it displays items donated by Buck's daughter, Barbara Buck, that once belonged to her father, including camp tools and media memorabilia. Wikipedia also records that in 2020 the zoo won an award from the Zoological Association of America for a renovated prairie dog enclosure.

Exhibits and habitats

Wikipedia describes the path around the zoo as accessible to strollers and wheelchairs and about a mile long. It notes an elevated walkway over the wallaby exhibit and an African savanna area. The zoo's current animal list includes Bennett's wallabies, reticulated giraffes, ostriches, helmeted guinea fowl and Nubian ibex. According to Wikipedia, visitors see the giraffes at eye level and can feed them at a daily public feeding. Blooloop describes the African savanna as a recent addition at the time of its 2010 article and describes the zoo as having a compact design with close viewing areas.

Other species on the same list include Asian small-clawed otter, black bear, flamingo, cheetah, clouded leopard, Geoffroy's cat, red ruffed lemur, ring-tailed lemur, squirrel monkey, American alligator, Burmese python, Arabian camel, alpaca, black-tailed prairie dog, Reeves' muntjac, military macaw and yellow-naped Amazon. The zoo's encounter pages name further animals in connection with feeding programs: flamingos, capybaras, tortoises and miniature horses, plus a barn owl named Kara who serves as an animal ambassador. The zoo's rules page refers to a farmyard area where feed vending for the goats is available, and the encounters page describes a petting zoo where goat food is available until the feeders are empty, since they are filled once daily.

The zoo's rules page also mentions an amphitheater where scheduled, prepaid programs take place.

Conservation and programs

The zoo's website lists a Protecting Wildlife section in its menu, alongside sections for encounters, visit planning, about the zoo, and partners. The zoo's pages also list professional development offerings, including a Small Mammal and Ambassador Symposium and professional workshops.

For school groups, the city site describes on-site programs held in the zoo amphitheater with live animals, offered during the school year on Wednesday through Friday. Animal Connections is a 30-minute presentation for pre-kindergarten through high school that looks at arthropods, birds of prey, mammals, reptiles and more, and the page says it is aligned with Texas TEKS guidelines. A Sensory Friendly version uses smaller groups and can omit speakers and microphones. A third program, Zookeeping 101, is aimed at junior high, high school and college students and introduces careers in the zoo field and the zoo's Zoo Team summer volunteer program for ages 14 to 18 and its college internship opportunities. The page notes that programs should be scheduled in advance.

The annual pass terms mention special events held before or after regular hours, including Zoo Eggstravaganza, Zoo Boo and Summer Camp. The zoo also offers birthday parties, according to its pages.

Planning your visit

The zoo's pages state that tickets are bought at the ticket window and that no pre-purchased tickets are needed. Hours and last-entry times are posted on the zoo's city web page, which indicates the zoo is open daily; the current schedule there is the one to check. Admission prices, annual passes, and discounts for seniors, military and young children are listed on the city's Zoo Hours, Admission and Annual Passes page. Annual passes are sold in several household categories and require identification.

Animal encounters run daily, weather permitting, according to the Plan Your Visit page, which lists a flamingo encounter in the morning, giraffe feeding, and capybara encounters at two times. The encounters page says flamingo and capybara encounters require reservations and that some encounters have minimum ages and a closed-toe shoe requirement. It also lists tortoise and miniature horse encounters, which require prepayment and reservations, and an adults-only, reservation-only experience called Wetland to Woodland that combines the flamingo exhibit with a visit to the barn owl. The page states that all participants must pay for a giraffe encounter to enter the giraffe deck. Current encounter fees are on the city site.

The zoo's rules page asks visitors to leave pets, bikes, scooters, skateboards and similar items outside. It also says not to bring straws, glass, plastic bags or balloons, selfie sticks, drones, kites, balls or Frisbees, and that Leonard Park and the zoo are tobacco free. Visitors are asked to stay on paved pathways.

On accessibility, the zoo's ADA page says the zoo is accessible to strollers, wheelchairs and seated motorized scooters. It lists two manual wheelchairs and two motorized scooters for rental on a first-come, first-served basis. Service dogs are permitted under the ADA definition, and dogs that provide only comfort or emotional support are not permitted.

The zoo's phone number on the city site is 940-668-4539.