Little Rock Zoo Informations

The Little Rock Zoo was founded in 1926 and is located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. It is home to more than 725 animals representing over 200 species, and covers an area of 33 acres (13 ha). The Arkansas Zoological Foundation is a private 501 c (3) organization that raises funds for zoo development. The Little Rock Zoo is a department of the city of Little Rock. It is the largest zoo in Arkansas, and the only Arkansas zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

The Little Rock Zoo was started in 1926 with only two animals: an abandoned timber wolf and a circus-trained bear. Over the years it has grown to include 725 animals representing more than 200 species. The first buildings at the zoo were made of local stone and built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). These buildings were built in the 1930s and were home to primates, reptiles, birds, and big cats. They are still in use, and the cat house was renovated into a restaurant with the feel of an African style lodge. The big cat exhibit was built in the 1980s along with other exhibits for great apes, crocodiles, alligators, sloth bears, and river otters.

Lemur island opened in the 1990s, and an African Lion Exhibit was also added at this time, as well as the Civitan Pavilion for special events and the Civitan Amphitheater for educational programming. The zoo acquired a children’s farm with an interactive contact yard and train station. In 2001 the board of directors approved a new Zoo Master Plan, which included a new African Veldt Exhibit. The newly restored Over the Jumps carousel, a fully restored antique carousel, made its home at the Little Rock Zoo in the October 2007. An African American penguin exhibit, Laura P. Nichols Penguin Pointe, opened on March 5, 2011. The Laura P. Nichols Cheetah Outpost opened on July 7, 2012. The Arkansas Heritage Farm opened on April 2, 2016.

The Little Rock Zoo is divided into themed areas where the animals can be viewed. Some exhibits are based on the animal's natural environment, while others group similar animals together.

The entrance to the zoo includes the "Over-The-Jumps" Carousel, the Animal Shows Amphitheater, and Lorikeet Landing, where visitors can see and feed the rainbow lorikeet.

The Great Apes exhibit includes a walkway that allows the visitors to have an eagle's eye view of the ape's enclosures. A western lowland gorilla family group can be seen on one side of the walkway and the common chimpanzee and the Bornean orangutan can be seen on the other, both in their own separate enclosures. Outside of this exhibit, various primate islands can be found that are home to the ring-tailed lemur, black-and-white ruffed lemur, blue-eyed black lemur, Madagascar teal, black-handed spider monkey, siamang, and koi.

Laura P. Nichols Penguin Pointe houses the African penguin and mimics an African shoreline, specifically Boulders Beach, with viewing of the penguins both above and below the water.

The Primates, Reptiles, Birds and More building was built in 1936 and features many exotic animals from around the world, including ones from the primate, reptile, and bird families.

Reptile House

Snakes - Black pine snake, Louisiana pine snake, northern pine snake, puff adder, eastern hognose snake, western hognose snake, southern copperhead, western pigmy rattlesnake, canebrake rattlesnake, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, western cottonmouth, Sonoran gopher snake, corn snake, mole snake, Asiatic rock python, green tree python, Savu python, Burmese python, Mexican burrowing python, eastern indigo snake, Sinaloan milk snake, eastern coachwhip, West African gaboon viper, rhinoceros viper, eyelash viper, Malayan pit viper, grey-banded kingsnake, red spitting cobra, Cape cobra, and Mexican cantil.

Other Reptiles

White line gecko, African fat-tailed gecko, leopard gecko, Standing's day gecko, Madagascar giant day gecko, tokay gecko, Nile monitor, crocodile monitor, Gila monster, eastern glass lizard, frilled lizard, Sudan plated lizard, blue spiny lizard, northern blue-tongued skink, broadhead skink, Solomon Islands skink, Great Plains skink, panther chameleon, green iguana, green crested basilisk, common snakeneck turtle, spiny softshell turtle, African spurred tortoise, alligator snapping turtle, and the American alligator.

Amphibians

White's tree frog, axolotl, red eyed tree frog, Panamanian golden frog, blue poison dart frog, green and black poison dart frog, yellow and blue poison dart frog, yellow banded poison arrow frog, Oriental fire-bellied toad, giant marine toad, tiger salamander, western lesser siren.

Invertebrates

Brazilian cockroach, Scolopendra heros, emperor scorpion, Lasiodora parahybana, giant African millipede, Aphonopelma seemanni, tailless whip scorpion, Vietnamese walking stick.

Primate House

Callimico, douroucouli, Geoffrey's marmoset, Geoffroy's tamarin, Wied's marmoset, lesser spot-nosed guenon, pygmy slow loris, red-capped mangabey, Angolan talapoin, southern three-banded armadillo, tufted capuchin, two-toed sloth, and the white-faced saki, Gibbon, Gorilla.

Tropical Bird House

roseate spoonbill, scarlet ibis, black-naped fruit dove, grey peacock pheasant, southern crowned pigeon, Nicobar pigeon, helmeted guineafowl, Mandarin duck, ruddy shelduck, Madagascar teal, Marbled teal, Catalina macaw and the green aracari.

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