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The Erie Zoo (formally Erie Zoological Park and Botanical Garden of Northwestern Pennsylvania), is a
zoological park A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zool ...
in
Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...
. It is located on of land in
Glenwood Park Glenwood Park is a mixed-use neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, located just west of North Ormewood Park. The neighborhood is an example of New Urbanism, promoting a sense of community with walkable streets and c ...
, just off West 38th Street between Cherry Street and Glenwood Park Avenue. The zoo has more than 400 animals, while the
botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
s and
greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...
have over 600 species of plants from around the world. The zoo, which operates from March to November, attracts more than 400,000 annual visitors. The Erie Zoo was a member of the
Association of Zoos and Aquariums The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in ...
(AZA) until 2021.


Operations

Erie has operated a zoo since about 1927, when "Tom-boy" the elephant arrived as a gift to the city. The Robert Evans estate was soon donated for the purposes of establishing a zoological park. A permanent home for the elephant was built in 1929 and the park opened a year later.Erie Times News Magazine, 9 August 1987 John M. Cochran, founding president of the Erie Zoological Society (1962), was active in expanding and renovating the zoo. A forty-year US$1.08 million bond issue, resulting in the construction of the ice arena and the Pixieland children's zoo, among other things, are in large part the work of Cochran. A plaque hangs in the main building in remembrance of his efforts. Since 1964, the zoo has been owned by the Erie Municipal Park Authority, which leases the zoo back to the City of Erie. In order to float the 1964 bond issue for improvements at the zoo, the city was required to create a financing authority to hold the property title. A five-member board of directors is chosen by the Erie City Council to run the authority. The city pays most of the zoo's utilities and insurance expenses but delegates operation of the zoo to the Erie Zoological Society. The society is a
501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...
with a 14-member board representing many of the region's communities. Roughly ten percent of the society's annual budget is funded by municipalities, with the balance received through philanthropy.


Facilities and attractions

The Main Zoo Building was dedicated on August 7, 1930. The building was restored and modified in 1991 as a visitors' entrance to the zoo. It continues to incorporate an array of animal displays. The tiger exhibit, which opened in the summer of 2008, has a main exhibit area plus outdoor and indoor containment areas. In March 2008, a breeding pair of
Siberian tiger The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies '' Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inh ...
s joined Kumar, a
white tiger The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Mainland tiger. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and ...
who has been at the zoo since April 1994. An
Amur leopard The Amur leopard (''Panthera pardus orientalis'') is a leopard subspecies native to the Primorye region of southeastern Russia and northern China. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as in 2007, only 19–26 wild leopar ...
was transferred to the
Philadelphia Zoo The Philadelphia Zoo, located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, is the first true zoo in the United States. It was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, but its openin ...
in the summer of 2006. The Children's Zoo, once called Pixieland, includes many exhibits, including animal shows in a nature theater, a
playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...
, and a
water garden Water garden or aquatic garden, is a term sometimes used for gardens, or parts of gardens, where any type of water feature is a principal or dominant element. The primary focus is on plants, but they will sometimes also house waterfowl, or orn ...
. The adjoining JMC Ice Arena, named in honor of founding President of the Erie Zoological Society John M Cochran, is operated by the Erie Zoological Society.


Mascots

The zoo's mascots—Cool Bear and Perry the Penguin—appear annually at ZooBoo, the zoo's popular
Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...
event, as well as at regional sporting events and other family activities. Cool Bear is friends with C. Wolf, of the Erie SeaWolves, as well as other local mascots.


Zoo officials

The zoo is operated through a board of directors headed by a president and chief executive officer. Other positions at the zoo include general curator, zoo director, and press spokesman. The following are some recent zoo officials. Chart sources


In popular culture

Comedian
Mike Birbiglia Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...
once criticized the zoo as part of one of his
stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...
routines.


Notes


External links

*
Download a map of the zoo
{{authority control Zoos in Pennsylvania Botanical gardens in Pennsylvania Culture of Erie, Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Erie, Pennsylvania Zoos established in 1930 1930 establishments in Pennsylvania