Fort Wayne Children's Zoo - History

History

The FWCZ can trace its origins to 1952 when 54 acres (22 ha) were added to Franke Park in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to establish a nature preserve. Local popularity of the preserve led to Fort Wayne officials deciding to build a full-fledged zoo by 1962. The new zoo was to target educating children about animals.

On July 3, 1965, the new Fort Wayne Children's Zoo opened on 5.5 acres (2.2 ha) with 18 animal exhibits. In 1976, a major expansion of the zoo was the African Veldt attraction, where savannah animals grazed in open fields east of the Central Zoo. In the late-1980s, the Australian Adventure premiered, showcasing animals from the Outback. A domed Indonesian Rainforest exhibit opened in 1995, with an enclosed tiger forest exhibit launching a year later.

On May 18, 2004, 7.5-year-old "Coolah," the last remaining Tasmanian devil to live outside of Australia, died from complications of inoperable cancer. Coolah had drawn international attention to the zoo once Australia banned the export of Tasmanian devils after the species became endangered. Over the years, FWCZ was the home for 12 Tasmanian devils, the most of any zoo in the United States. Later that year, on October 19, 2004, five wildebeests broke through a gate and jumped a fence, roaming the streets of a nearby neighborhood. Eventually, the wildebeests were captured, though two of the five suffered broken legs and were forced to be euthanized. The zoo was fined $825 for the incident.

On November 2, 2007, artificial rocks made of styrofoam caught fire in the zoo's new African Journey expansion, the largest project in the zoo's 42-year history. The fire happened where workers were constructing an African lion exhibit, the centerpiece of the new expansion. Thick black plumes of smoke billowing from the site of the fire were clearly visible across the skies of Fort Wayne and much of the region. No workers or animals were harmed in the blaze.