San Antonio Zoo

About San Antonio Zoo

San Antonio Zoo occupies 57 acres inside Brackenridge Park, in the Midtown area of San Antonio, Texas. It has been open since 1914 and is accredited by both the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the Zoological Association of America (ZAA). The zoo reports more than 750 species on its grounds, some of them endangered or already extinct in the wild, and draws an annual attendance of more than one million visitors.

The collection spans mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, and the zoo has described itself as home to over 3,500 individual animals across those 750-plus species. Alongside its living collection, the zoo runs the Richard Friedrich Aquarium, dedicated in 1948, which was the only aquarium in San Antonio until SeaWorld San Antonio opened in 1988. It also operates non-animal attractions on site, including the San Antonio Zoo Train, a narrow-gauge railway that has carried visitors through Brackenridge Park since 1956.

Much of the zoo's recent growth has centered on its African collection. New habitats built over the past two decades have replaced older exhibit space with larger, more naturalistic areas, a pattern that continued into 2024 and 2025 with the addition of an expanded savanna habitat and a new gorilla exhibit.

History

The zoo traces its start to 1914, when George Washington Brackenridge, one of San Antonio's leading citizens, placed several animals — including bison, deer, monkeys, African lions, and bears — on land he had deeded to the city. That land became Brackenridge Park and Golf Course, and the animal collection Brackenridge started grew into the zoo. In November 1929, the zoo opened two of the first cageless exhibits in the United States, giving visitors views of animals that caged exhibits couldn't offer.

The Richard Friedrich Aquarium was dedicated in 1948, and the Hixon Bird House, funded through the efforts of Frederick C. Hixon, opened in 1966. In 1969, San Antonio Zoo housed the first herd of addra gazelle in captivity and has continued to be active in the breeding program for that critically endangered species. Because San Antonio was once home to a hoofstock quarantine point, the zoo has historically kept a wide range of hoofstock species as a result.

On July 18, 1970, two men held up the Brackenridge Eagle train at gunpoint, an incident later dubbed "the Great (Little) Train Robbery." Some passengers initially thought it was a staged charity stunt. The robbers fled with $500 in cash along with car keys and checkbooks; ten days later, two soldiers from Fort Sam Houston were arrested, discharged from the Army, and convicted. The holdup remains the last train robbery recorded in Texas.

The 21st century has brought a series of major expansions. Phase I of Africa Live! opened in 2008 with a hippo exhibit featuring underwater viewing and a home for Nile crocodiles, among other smaller animals; Phase II followed in 2010, adding Angolan colobus monkeys, okapi, African hunting dogs, rock hyrax, and a variety of birds housed in what was, at the time, the second-largest aviary in the world. In October 2024, the zoo opened the expanded Naylor Savanna, which significantly increased exhibit space for African species and added a new giraffe barn — the largest habitat in the zoo's history when it opened. The Spekboom Lodge, built into the middle of the giraffe habitat, opened on November 1, 2024, as a space where guests can rent an overnight stay inside the zoo. Construction on a new gorilla habitat, Congo Falls, began in 2023; the zoo's previous gorilla exhibit had closed in 1990 when its last gorilla was relocated to the National Zoo. The 2-acre Congo Falls exhibit officially opened on December 13, 2025.

Exhibits and habitats

The Monkey House and Commissary, built between 1935 and 1937 by the San Antonio firm Adams & Adams in the Spanish Revival style, is one of the zoo's oldest structures. Over the decades it has served as an animal commissary, a veterinary office, staff offices, and the zoo's monkey house. The building and surrounding plaza were renovated in 2023 ahead of its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which came through on April 4, 2024; the structure itself was converted into concessions and restrooms.

Africa Live! remains one of the zoo's larger exhibit areas, built in two phases. Its first section centers on a hippo habitat with an underwater viewing area and a home for Nile crocodiles. Its second section houses Angolan colobus monkeys, okapi, African hunting dogs, rock hyrax, and numerous bird species inside a large aviary.

The Naylor Savanna, opened in October 2024, expanded the zoo's African exhibit space substantially and includes a dedicated giraffe barn. The adjoining Spekboom Lodge lets visitors stay overnight in the middle of that giraffe habitat. Congo Falls, the zoo's newest exhibit, gives its resident gorillas a 2-acre habitat and opened in December 2025, more than three decades after the zoo's original gorilla exhibit closed.

The San Antonio Zoo Train, formerly known as the Brackenridge Eagle, is a 2-foot narrow-gauge miniature train connecting the zoo to other points of interest across Brackenridge Park. It opened in 1956 and carried a million passengers in its first two years of operation.

Animal highlights

San Antonio Zoo lists at least 750 species on its website, spanning mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, and has described its collection as home to more than 3,500 individual animals. Notable residents and programs include addra gazelle, for which the zoo held the first captive herd in the United States starting in 1969; Nile crocodiles and hippos in Africa Live!; Angolan colobus monkeys and okapi; and gorillas in the newly opened Congo Falls habitat. The zoo's history as a former hoofstock quarantine site has also left it with an unusually broad range of hoofstock species.

Conservation and programs

The Center for Conservation and Research at San Antonio Zoo takes part in breeding programs for a number of endangered species, including black rhino, leopard, golden lion tamarin, dama gazelle, Attwater's prairie chicken (bred off-exhibit), black mangabey, African lion, black-footed ferret, Komodo dragon, Andean condor, and Caribbean flamingo.

The zoo also runs the Texas Horned Lizard Reintroduction Project, breeding the lizards on site and releasing them into their native habitat in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Zoo Miami. As of 2024, the project had released 258 lizards into the wild.

Planning your visit

San Antonio Zoo is located at 3903 N. Saint Mary's Street in Brackenridge Park. The zoo's own website is the place to check current hours, ticket prices, and any seasonal closures, since none of those details are confirmed here.

Visitors interested in the San Antonio Zoo Train can catch it at its stop inside the park; it has run since 1956 and connects to other points of interest around Brackenridge Park. The Richard Friedrich Aquarium is included as part of the zoo grounds.

Given the size of the property and the number of exhibit areas — including Africa Live!, the Naylor Savanna, and the new Congo Falls gorilla habitat — a full visit is likely to take a few hours. Confirm hours, admission prices, parking, and accessibility details on the zoo's official website before visiting.