Zoo Miami - History

History

The history of the zoo can be traced back to 1948, when 3 monkeys, a goat and 2 black bears were purchased for $270 from a small road show stranded near Miami. These 6 animals were the beginning of the Crandon Park Zoo on the island of Key Biscayne, just southeast off the coast from downtown Miami. The Crandon Park Zoo occupied 48 acres (19.4 ha) of the park. The first animals in the zoo, including some lions, an elephant and a rhinoceros, had been stranded when a circus went out of business in Miami. Some Galapagos tortoises, monkeys and pheasants were added from the Matheson plantation. By 1967 the Crandon Park Zoo had grown to over 1,200 animals, and was considered one of the top 25 zoos in the country. Other animals were added, including a white Bengal tiger in 1968.

In 1965, Hurricane Betsy devastated the zoo and caused the death of 250 animals. After the hurricane there was talk of a new zoo for Dade county, but nothing was done until 11 December 1970, when Dade County officials applied for 600 acres (243 ha) of land in the Richmond Naval Air Station property. Construction began in 1975. The zoo opened in 1980 as Miami MetroZoo with a preview section of 12 exhibits and Asia, the first major exhibit, opened on 12 December 1981. A total of 38 exhibits, covering 200 acres (81 ha), were open to the public at this time.

In the 1980s, the zoo continued to open exhibits. An additional 25 acres (10 ha) with six new African hoofed stock exhibits opened in 1982, along with the zoo's monorail in 1984. After the closing of 1984 Louisiana World Exposition (New Orleans, LA), monorails are being moved in Florida and re-used at Miami MetroZoo. Wings of Asia, a 1.6-acre (0.6 ha) free-flight aviary, was opened in December 1984. Three additional African hoofed stock exhibits followed in 1985, and two new exhibits were opened in the African savanna section in 1986. The Australian section of the zoo was opened in 1989, and PAWS, the children's petting zoo, opened in 1989. The Asian River Life Experience opened in August 1990.

The zoo suffered severe damage along with the rest of Miami when Category 5 Hurricane Andrew made landfall in South Florida on August 24, 1992. The small but powerful North Atlantic cyclone toppled over 5,000 trees and destroyed the Wings of Asia aviary, which had been built to withstand winds of up to 120 miles per hour (193 km/h). The 300 birds in the aviary were lost. While preparing for the storm, zookeepers failed to get a large Rhino indoors; amazingly, when they came outside, they found the Rhino standing relatively unscathed amongst the devastation. The zoo, though looking quite different, was reopened on 18 December 1992. By July 1993, many of the animals had been returned to Metrozoo, and 7,000 new trees planted to begin restoring the zoo. The Falcon Batchelor Komodo Dragon Encounter opened in January 1996, followed by Andean Condor (1999), Meerkats (2000), Cuban Crocodiles and Squirrel Monkeys (2001), and Dr. Wilde's World, which is an indoor facility for traveling zoological exhibits.

The new Wings of Asia aviary, housing more than 300 individuals representing 70 species of birds, opened in the spring of 2003.

On July 4, 2010 the zoo was renamed the Miami-Dade Zoological Park and Gardens or Zoo Miami, for marketing purposes. This was a part of the zoo's 30th anniversary celebration.