Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden Chronology of the History of the Cincinnati Zoo

From David Ebrlinger\'s The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden: From Past to Present. It was published in 1993, so I might need help after that. This is more info from the Zoo Main website with all the postcards and stuff. This also gives much, much more info than the smaller version with people riding Hatnee, the elephant on it. the highlighted one's are the ''First'' at the zoo.

July 11, 1873: The Zoological Society of Cincinnati incorporated

September 24, 1874: Sixty-seven acres of Blakely Woods leased as the site for the zoo.

October 5, 1874: The zoo's design by German landscape gardener/engineer, Theodor Findeisen, approved and work immediately began.

March-April 1875: The zoo's agent, Armin Tenner, studied European zoos and hired the scientific Superintendent of the Hamburg Zoological Garden, Dr. H. Dorner, as a Superintendent of the Cincinnati Zoo.

May 1875: Construction began on the Monkey House(today's Reptile House), Carnivora House, Bird Aviaries(were in the place of today's Gorilla World, one is now the Passenger Pigeon Memorial), and the Bear Pits(located near today's Bear Grottoes).

September 18, 1875: The zoo officially opens.

September 1876: The Restaurant or the Clubhouse is completed. Former sight of today's Children's Zoo.

June 13, 1877: The Sea Lion Basin opened.

Spring-Summer 1877: An Indian rhinoceros on loan was displayed in the zoo.

1878: A California sea lion, evidently the first to be conceived and born in captivity.Several more were born, but none of them lived for more than a few months. Daisy and Abe, the first giraffes acquired at the zoo.

1880: A trumpeter swan hatched, the first zoo hatching of this species. Four passenger pigeons also hatched.

July 20, 1882: An American bison born, one of the first born in captivity.

April 22, 1883: A young Nile hippo purchased. Caliph was later sold to the Central Park Zoo.

1884: A whooping crane was purchased.

1886: Sol A. Stephan appointed as Superintendent. He was the sixth Superintendent in 12 years. Stephan directed the zoo until 1937.

1886: The zoo sold 21 acres to a housing development system to pay debts. A large new flight cage for birds of prey(former location of Discovery Forest) as well as other exhibit like

July 1, 188: Mr. and Mrs. Rooney, the only chimpanzees in the the US, acquired by the zoo.

1889: The zoo and surrounding area annexed by the city of Cincinnati.

October 20, 1889: The first giraffe born in the Western Hemisphere born at the zoo. Sadly, it died 5 days later.

December 15, 1889: Two polar bears were born but died shortly after birth.

1896: The Cincinnati public schools began sending school children to the zoo twice a year.

January 22, 1898: The Zoological Society went into receivership because of indebtedness and the effects of a depression.

1899: The Cincinnati Zoological Company organised to operate the zoo on a nonprofit basis.

November 1901: The Cincinnati Traction Company bought controlling stock in the zoo, operating on a nonprofit basis.

1902: Zee-koe, a baby male hippo was purchased from the Hagenbeck firm. He died in 1923 and is mounted at the Field Museum of Natural History.

1903: The 3-acre Buffalo Range built for the large bison herd.

1905: The first Przewalski's horses to be exhibited in the US, acquired by the zoo after the Bronx Zoo didn't want them.

November 1905-May 1906: Joe Stephan, went to Hamburg, Germany with Lorenz Hagenceck to learn about the Hagenbeck firm's operations. He visited European zoos with Hagenbeck and traveled to Arabia and Africa on a large camel shipping expedition for the Hagenbeck firm.

1906: the Elephant House, then called the Herbivora Building, opened. One of the largest zoo buildings in the world, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The cost was $50,000, it is the largest and most concrete animal building in the world(was?). It is 150ft in length, 75ft in width, and 75ft in heigth.

1910: The zoo's Abyssinian ground hornbill, Jack, died. He was almost 40 years old.

October 17, 1912: Cincinnati's oldest surviving building, the Kemper Log House, dedicated at the Zoo as a historical exhibit. Originally constructed in 1804, it was brought to the zoo in April 1912. It remained at the zoo until 1981.

September 1, 1914: Martha, the last surviving passenger pigeon, died at 1:00 p.m. at the zoo.

February 21, 1918: The world's last surviving Carolina parakeet, Incas, dies at the zoo.

June 20, 1920: The Cincinnati Summer Opera, better known as the Zoo Opera, started at the zoo.

1923: The zoo acquired an American alligator which had been raised from a hatchling by a Cincinnati family. Almost 70 years later, Tojo, was recognized as the oldest alligator in captivity.

April 9, 1923: The zoo purchased a female Indian rhino from the Hagenbeck firm for $10,000.

September 18, 1925: The zoo is 50 years old.

1930: Monkey Island built next to the Monkey House(Reptile House now).

June 11, 1931: The zoo's first gorilla, Susie, arrived at the zoo. She arrived in the US in 1929 on the Graf Zeppelin.

September 19, 1931: Gimpy, a baby pygmy African forest elephant, was given to the zoo by Judge Alfred K. Nippert. After 20 years Gimpy still weighed 2,500lbs. Normal adult female weight is 7,000-9,000lbs.

March 11, 1932: The new Zoological Society of Cincinnati incorporated.

June 3, 1933(typo?-should probably be '92): The newly organized Zoological Society of Cincinnati began the management and operation of the zoo.

May 26, 1934: Barless lion and tiger grottoes(soon to be Cat Canyon today), designed by the Hagenbeck firm of Hamburg, Germany, opened a most at $2,500.

1935: John F. Huesser became Director

July 9, 1935: The African Veldt(Rhino Reserve today) exhibit opened after a dedication ceremony the previous year. Designed by the Hagenbeck firm, it was a naturalistic display of zebras, blesboks, elands, and African birds.

May 2, 1937: the Reptile House opened at a cost of $135,000. In 1951, it was converted into the Bird House(Wings of the World-1996).

May 9, 1937: The barless bear exhibits(today's Bear Grottoes and Lords of the Arctic), designed by the Hagenbeck firm, opened at a cost of $104,000.

1937-1938: The old Clubhouse restaurant, built in 1876, razed in April 1937 and the Children's Zoo built on the site. A new restaurant was built near and that is currently the newly named Zoo Cafe, after Rhino Cafe.

1942: the hoofed animal exhibit near the Vine Street pedestrian entrance opened after extensive renovation. it was called the Deer Line until 1989.

October 29, 1947: Susie, the zoo's first gorilla and the world's first trained gorilla, died at the age of 2. She was then the oldest gorilla in captivity.

October 28, 1949: Sol A. Stephan died at the age of 100. He worked at the zoo for 62 years and directed the zoo for 51 years.

May 3, 1950: The zoo's original Carnivora House, built in 1875, was demolished.

May 25, 1850: The Fleischmann Memorial Aquarium(now Manatee Springs) opened.

1951: The Ape House(Now 4-D theater) and the attached Amphitheater(completed June 9, now Wings of Wonder show). The Monkey House,, built in 1875, was converted to the present Reptile House(completed June 14). The original Reptile House that was bult in 1937, converted to the Bird House(completed June 15).

1952: King tut, a 3 year-old, 30lbs gorilla arrived at the zoo. He was basically the start of whole gorilla family at the zoo, even one's that are at the zoo today.

June 27, 1952: The new Carnivora Building(now Night Hunters) opened at a cost of $250,000.

June 24, 1953: The seven Bird Aviaries, built in 1875, were converted into monkey exhibits.

1957: Dr. Albert Schweitzer donated a 3 year-old gorilla named, Penelope, to the zoo.

May 1962: The Walk-Through Flight Cage(Now Lorikeet Landing) opened at a cost of $40,000.

June 1962: Ibex Island(originally Baboon Island and now Lemur Lookout) was completed at a cost of $77,000.

August 1962: Monkey Island and the Vine Street pedestrian entrance renovated.

1963: the first caracal birth in the Western Hemisphere occurred at the zoo.

1964: the Ape House nursery and the Nocturnal House(closed) opened. The Children's Zoo was renovated.

March 22, 1964: The first crowned guenon monkey birth in captivity took place at the zoo. The zoo is currently the only institution housing this species.

September 30, 1964: The 3rd black rhino was born at the zoo.

1968: The Goetz Animal Health Center is constructed.

March 1969: The penguin exhibit was built in the Bird House.

June 8, 1969: The first sand cat birth in captivity occurred at the zoo.

December 9, 1969: A Persian leopard cub born by Cesarean section.

January 23, 1970: Sam, the first gorilla born at the zoo, eight days later by a second gorilla, Samantha(still at the zoo) was born.

June 24, 1970: the first yellow-headed vulture hatching occurred at the zoo.

July 1970: The Eagle Flight Cage(same aviary/ies, but now called Eagle Eyrie) opened, designed by Carl A. Strauss and Associates. It opened as the largest flight cage in the US.

1972: The Pheasant Flight Cages built next to the Elephant House, replacing the Birds of Prey cages built in 1886.

1973: Saltwater exhibits were completed as an addition to the Fleischmann Aquarium.

April 1974: The Gibbon Islands exhibit opened.

June 21, 1974: the first 3 white tigers were born at the zoo.

July 18, 1974: The first pampas cat birth in captivity occurred at the zoo.

1975: The Elephant House, Reptile House, and the Passenger Pigeon Memorial all went on the National Register of Historic Places.

May 23, 1975: Big Cat Canyon(now White Lions of Timbavati) exhibit opened with the 3 white tiger that were born at the zoo in 1974.

1977: One of the original Aviary buildings relocated and opened as the Passenger Pigeon Memorial. The first captive breeding of the royal Goliath beetles. The zoo received the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums Bean award in 1978 for this achievement, the first of the zoo's several insect-breeding awards.

1978: The first successful hatching of smooth-fronted caimans in captivity occurred at the zoo.

May 3, 1978: Gorilla World opened.

Summer 1978: The zoo's Wildlife Theater animal demonstrations began with the Cats, Cats, Cats, program.

August 5, 1978: World of the Insect opens.

September 1978: The annual AAZPA Exhibit Award award for World of the Insect as the best display in North America. The zoo received two AAZPA Education Awards, the first of several of the zoo's education award.

October 29, 1978: The zoo received the first of several of later national landscaping awards.

Fall 1978: Outdoor cat exhibit were completed at the Carnivora House.

1980: the Frisch's Discovery Center opened.

February 28, 1980: The first aardvark twin birth in captivity occurred at the zoo.

September 1980: The zoo received the AAZPA Bean Award for breeding Texas blind salamanders(species in the Reptile House).

1981: The Research Department was created and the first successful artificial insemination of an exotic feline species (Persian leopard) was accomplished at the zoo.

1982: The Cincinnati Zoo became the 3rd US zoo to utilize cryogenics, the storing of embryos, eggs, and semen by freezing, and I believe is currently the most successful. The Elephant House opened after renovation. The zoo was given the 100-acre Anna L. Mast Farm to develop as a satellite breeding farm.

June 14, 1983: The first nonsurgical embryo transfer of an exotic species resulted in the birth of an eland, E.T.

May 31, 1984: A rare bongo calf was born to a surrogate eland in the first inter-species embryo transfer of an exotic animal.

October 14, 1984: First frozen exotic animal embryo transfer. an eland calf was born following the embryo transfer of a frozen-thawed embryo.

1985: The Andrew Erkenbrecher Society and the Futures Society started. Penguin Walkabout opens in the Children's Zoo.

May-June 1985: The Red panda exhibit opened and Monkey Island re-opened after renovation.

June 1985: The Joseph H. Spaulding Children's Zoo opened. The Carnivora House was renovated and turned into the Cat House.

1986: The first Barrow's goldeneye and the first crimson rosella hatched in captivity at the zoo.

April 7, 1986: The first successful captive birth of rusty spotted cats in North America took place at the zoo.

February27, 1987: The Cincinnati Zoo designated as a National Historic Landmark.

April 12, 1987: The Cincinnati Zoological Garden is renamed the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

June 1987: The walrus exhibit opens. The Crane exhibit opens next to the red pandas(not there anymore) and the Marsh Bird exhibit at the African Veldt opened.

February and August 1988: the zoo attained rare Southeast African lion(panthera leo krugeri) cubs were donated to the zoo by Siegfried and Roy.

1988: First brown-hooded kingfisher hatched in captivity, first white-breasted kingfisher hatched in the western hemisphere. Several rare species of Trillium wildflowers first produced by tissue culture.

July 22, 1988: The first exotic animals born from a split embryo, and eland calf.

September-October 1988: The London zoo's giant panda, Chia-Chia, is displayed at the Cincinnati Zoo for 6 weeks.

March 1, 1989: An Indian desert cat born to a domestic cat surrogate, the first cat born from inter-species embryo transfer and the first cat born from in vitro fertilization.

May 1989: The first banded linsang born in captivity occurred at the zoo.

July 1989: The hoofed animal exhibits, called the deer Line, is renovated and renamed Wildlife Canyon.

July 1990: The Komodo dragon exhibit opens.

July 18, 1990: The Botanical Center and the Oriental Garden open.

October 3, 1991: The Carl H. Lindner, Jr., family Center for Reproduction of Endangered Wildlife, known as CREW, is dedicated to the zoo.

1993: Jungle Trails, a 2.5-acre simulated tropical Rainforest opens featuring rare and endangered primates from Asia and Africa.

1994: Jungle Trails received the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's prestigious exhibit award. 32 Komodo dragon hatching occurred at the zoo.

1995: The zoo set a U.S. record for having six gorilla births in one year, including the world's first test tube gorilla.

1996: The Bird House is renovated and expanded into Wings of the World.

1997: Rhino Reserve opens featuring black and Indian rhinos, along with other African hoofstock.

1998: Big Cat Canyon is renovated and renamed Siegfried and Roy's White Lions of Tambavati. The white tiger that were in BCC were moved to Tiger Canyon, which opened a couple of years later.

March 15, 1998: Ganesh, a male born at the, the first elephant conceived and born in Ohio since the days of the woolly mammoth, 10,000 years ago.

May 21, 1999: The Aquarium is renovated and renamed Manatee Springs at a cost of $4,500,000.

2000: Vanishing Giants opens after renovation of the Elephant House at a cost of $6,000,000. The polar bear exhibit at Bear Grottoes is renovated and renamed Lords of the Arctic at a cost of $2,750,000.

April 2001: Two or three(?) Southeast African lions(panthera leo krugeri/white lion) are born at the zoo.

September 13, 2001: Andalas, was the first Sumatran rhino born in captivity in over 112 years (1889) and was the first Sumatran rhino born at the zoo.

2002: A Pacific walrus, Aituk died of sickness and Bruiser, another walrus at the zoo, was transferred to Seaworld, Orlando. California sea lions and harbor seals(not at zoo anymore) took over the exhibit. (not sure if this is all true)

July 30, 2004: A second Sumatran rhino is born at the zoo, her name is Suci.

May 2005: Wolf Woods opens.

Summer 2006: The zoo showcased a temporary exhibit, Adventure Down Under, in the Spaulding Children's Zoo. It featured all sorts of creatures native to Australia. The Walk-Through Flight Cage built in 1962 was renovated and renamed Lorikeet Landing. The 48th gorilla birth at the zoo, Bakari, occurred. The Cincinnati Zoo is the US leader in gorilla births.

2007: Naga, the largest Komodo dragon to ever live in captivity in the western hemisphere, dies of an abdominal infection at the age of 24.

April 27, 2007: A third Sumatran rhino is born at the zoo, his name is Harapan.

Late 2007: Vanishing Giants is renovated and renamed Elephant Reserve. The giraffes and okapis were not included.

June 6, 2008: Giraffe Ridge opens at a cost of $1,600,000.

November 4, 2008: Lisala Li gives birth to a healthy baby okapi later named Kuvua.

September 2009: Emi, the famous Sumatran rhino who gave birth to Andalas, Suci, and Harapan, died of liver complications.

June 2010: Dragons! opens.

October 2010: Nikki, an Indian rhino at the zoo, delivered the first Indian rhino calf born from Artificial Insemination. The baby died 12 hours later.

November 25, 2010: The zoo received Joseph and Tecumseh, two brother cougar cubs. They would be later put in Cat Canyon.

November 13, 2010: The Nocturnal House officially closes along with the start of the Cat House renovation.

April 2, 2011 9:40AM: Two Masai giraffes, Kimba and Tessa, gave birth to the first Cincinnati zoo born giraffe in 26 years. It was a girl and her name was Zuri.

May 21, 2011: The renovated Cat House is renamed Night Hunters. The only aardwolves at a major zoo in North America are displayed.

May 24, 2011: The only current tayra baby in the US is born at the zoo.

June 2, 2011: The first bearcat birth at the zoo occurred. Parents are Hank and Audrey.

Early-Mid June: Zuri the baby giraffe breaks her leg.

June 8, 2011: The world's first Pallas' cat kittens conceived by Artificial Insemination are born. There were three kittens in the litter.

July 1, 2011: The zoo announced that Zuri's leg was not healing properly and they had to euthanize her.

July 2011: The zoo acquired a 6 year-old, female aye-aye from the Duke Lemur Center. It was the first aye-aye at the zoo since 1993. The Cincinnati Zoo was the first US zoo to exhibit this species

August 3, 2011: The zoo announces that their female okapi, Kuvua, is pregnant.

August 4, 2011: The first phase of Cat Canyon is complete. It is a cougar exhibit.

August 30, 2011: The zoo received a $1,000,000 donation from Kroger Co. and PepsiCo Inc to go toward the future Africa exhibit. This is also the day where the zoo officially announced to the public that Africa would be a go.

September 1, 2011: The zoo announced that phase II of Cat Canyon is under construction, and that parts of Rhino Reserve is closed off.

November 9, 2011: Illusion, a former manatee at the zoo, was freed into the wild down in Florida. She was 8th manatee to be freed into the wild from the Cincinnati Zoo.

December 1, 2011: Marge and Charles J. Schott Foundation donated $5,000,000 towards the Africa exhibit. It is the biggest single gift the zoo's ever gotten.

December 8, 2011: The zoo announced that they received two Coquerel's Sifakas. Rinaldo, from the LA. Zoo, is 7 years-old and Wilhelmina from the Duke Lemur Center, is two years-old.

 

I think (couldn't swear to it) that Jungle Trails opened in 1992

You could add the display of a Giant Panda from London (on its way to Mexico City)

 

http://www.zoochat.com/556/jungle-trails-plan-77616/

Nope, 1993, award in 1994

Just added the Chia-Chia fact.

 

Quite right
Toledo Blade - Google News Archive Search

I thought I was still at the zoo when it opened, but apparently I wasn't

 

They aren't random, read the last sentence of the first paragraph. To add on to that, other bold lines that do not follow that statement are important facts about the zoo. Baby Zuri breaking her leg and dying from it was a giant impact on the zoo, more emotionally.

 

Cincinnati is always trying to boast about something. This headline was stretched a little bit with the addition of conceived and since the days of the woolly mammoth. Particularly since Cleveland had an elephant birth just a few years prior - though it didn't live long and was conceived down in Miami.

 

I think the author put in "woolly mammoth", but from zoo articles it says "Ice Age".

 

June 30, 2012: Cat Canyon opens with new space for cougars, white tigers, Malayan tigers, and snow leopards.
September 2, 2012: The zoo's first sifaka birth (Coquerel's)
October 12, 2012: World's first ever live-Tweeted giraffe (or of any animal) birth.
October 16, 2012: Wooten is sent to the Miami Seaquarium to spend his last days in captivity before being freed. He was the 11th manatee the zoo has rehabilitated and sent into the wild.

 

Still waiting for that breakthrough with the Sumatran rhinos though- a first 2nd generation breeding from the zoo-bred female 'Suci'.

Any recent news/developments on this?

 

No recent news, we just know that she is getting weekly ultra-sounds. What at least I'm not sure about is whether the zoo has received sperm from Borneo or if Suci has to breed with her father.

 

The chronology is impressive; just re-read it. However, they didn't breed the first Barrow's Goldeneye in captivity; this was in England in the 1930s.

 

Do you have a link for this? I wish I still had the book to see if I made a typo.

 

Chronology of the Cincinnati Zoo

Barrow's Goldeneye. Due to the cluttered state of my book collection, and the consequent difficulty in finding stuff, this is from memory. Delacour's Waterfowl of the World refers to this first breeding, which I think was by the Stevens brothers in or about 1936, also recorded in the Avicultural Magazine at the time. Barrow's eggs were exported for hatching from Iceland [legally] for several decades up to the mid-1970s; I brought some back to the UK in 1972. The Steven's breeding birds were themselves reared from Icelandic eggs.

 

According to the United Kingdom Avicultural Society first breeding list,the first breeding for Barrows Goldeneye was 1937 by R and N Stevens.

 

February 13, 2013: Ipuh, one of the seven world's most famous Sumatran rhinos, dies at 33 after 22 years at the zoo. Ipuh sired more offspring than any other Sumatran rhino in captivity, Andalas, Suci, and Harapan, making him the most prolific captive male Sumatran rhino in history.

 

I hadn't heard. That's awful news. He was an animal icon as far as I'm concerned. It was a privilege to be able to see him throughout his time in Cincinnati.

 

At least his time in captivity was well spent.

 

Sad news but perhaps not unexpected given his age. I wonder whether it would now be beneficial for the two remaining Sumatran rhinos in the US to at least be on the same site again, or if the solitary nature of the species means that isn't deemed necessary, given they wouldn't want to breed them (as siblings) together. So Suci and Harapan will stay where they are for now.