The Sedgwick County Zoo is an AZA-accredited wildlife park and major attraction in

Wichita Wichita ( ) may refer to: People *Wichita people, a Native American tribe *Wichita language, the language of the tribe Places in the United States * Wichita, Kansas, a city * Wichita County, Kansas, a county in western Kansas (city of Wichita i ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

, United States. Founded in 1971, with the help of the Sedgwick County Zoological Society, the zoo has quickly become recognized both nationally and internationally for its support of conservation programs and successful breeding of rare and endangered species. Having over 3,000 animals of nearly 400

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

, the zoo has slowly increased its visitors and now ranks as the number one outdoor tourist attraction in the state.

Exhibits

Sedgwick County Zoo Gorilla Village 2013

Downing Gorilla Forest

Downing Gorilla Forest starts out in a recreation of a small Congo village with exhibits for colobus monkeys,

pink-backed pelican The pink-backed pelican (''Pelecanus rufescens'') is a bird of the pelican family. It is a resident breeder in the swamps and shallow lakes of Africa and southern Arabia; it has also apparently extirpated in Madagascar. Taxonomy The pink-backe ...

s, and white pelicans. Across a bridge is an exhibit for

saddle-billed stork The saddle-billed stork or saddlebill (''Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis'') is a large wading bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. It is a widespread species which is a resident breeder in sub-Saharan Africa from Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya south t ...

s, as well as one for

black crowned crane The black crowned crane (''Balearica pavonina'') is a part of the family Gruidae, along with its sister species, the grey crowned crane. It is topped with its characteristic bristle-feathered golden crown. It is usually found in the shallow we ...

s and

okapi The okapi (; ''Okapia johnstoni''), also known as the forest giraffe, Congolese giraffe, or zebra giraffe, is an artiodactyl mammal that is endemic to the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. It is the only species ...

s. The main attraction is a large

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four ...

exhibit. They can be viewed in their indoor home, outside through large viewing windows or across a moat. Lioness with zebra at SCZ

Pride of the Plains

Opened May 29, 2000, A path winds around exhibits of

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

red river hog The red river hog (''Potamochoerus porcus'') or bushpig (a named also used for the ''Potamochoerus larvatus''), is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests. It is rar ...

s, and two exhibits of

meerkat MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square K ...

s. Each exhibit has several views from all sides. The whole area has a

kopje An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...

theme with giant boulders. At the end is an exhibit for African painted dogs.

Penguin Cove

Opened in 2007, Penguin Cove is the zoo's first marine exhibit, and home to a colony of

Humboldt penguin The Humboldt penguin (''Spheniscus humboldti'') is a medium-sized penguin. It resides in South America, its range mainly contains most of coastal Peru. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos p ...

s. The $1.5 million exhibit features a pool with rocky areas and coves on each side.

African Veldt

This exhibit features

reticulated giraffe The reticulated giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata'' or ''G. reticulata''), also known as the Somali giraffe, is a subspecies or species of giraffe native to the Horn of Africa. It lives in Somalia, southern Ethiopia, and northern Kenya ...

s, African bush elephants,

grévy's zebra Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), also known as the imperial zebra, is the largest living wild equid and the most threatened of the three species of zebra, the other two being the plains zebra and the mountain zebra. Named after Jules Grévy ...

s, and

eastern black rhino The eastern black rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis michaeli''), also known as the East African black rhinoceros, is a subspecies of the black rhinoceros. Its numbers are very low due to poaching for its horn, and it is listed as critically endang ...

s. On 11 March 2016, six African elephants arrived at the zoo from

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its ...

to escape a drought. A new elephant exhibit named "The Reed Family Elephants of the Zambezi River Valley" opened in May of that year, housing all of the elephants. Later, a male African elephant, Ajani, from

Birmingham Zoo The Birmingham Zoo is a zoological park that opened in 1955 in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The Birmingham Zoo is an independent, not for profit, 501(c)(3) organization, and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), p ...

, joined the six female elephants for breeding purposes in May 2018.

Tiger Trek

This $3 million Asian themed naturalistic exhibit was opened in 2009, and houses Amur tigers, Malayan tigers,

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzz ...

s, bar-headed geese, brow-antlered deer, and more.

List of animals

;Entrance *

Caribbean flamingo The American flamingo (''Phoenicopterus ruber'') is a large species of flamingo closely related to the greater flamingo and Chilean flamingo native to the Neotropics. It was formerly considered conspecific with the greater flamingo, but that trea ...

Greater flamingo The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe. Taxonomy The greater flamingo was desc ...

;Children's Farm ;Cessna Penguin Cove *

Inca tern The Inca tern (''Larosterna inca'') is a tern in the family Laridae. It is the only member of the genus ''Larosterna''. This uniquely plumaged bird breeds on the coasts of Peru and Chile, and is restricted to the Humboldt Current. In 2021 a ...

* Grey gull ;Amphibians and reptiles ;Tropics ;Africa ''African Veldt'' ''Pride of the Plains'' * African lion * African painted dog *

Red river hog The red river hog (''Potamochoerus porcus'') or bushpig (a named also used for the ''Potamochoerus larvatus''), is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests. It is rar ...

* Slender-tailed meerkat ''The Reed Family Elephants of the Zambezi River Valley'' * African elephant ''The Downing Gorilla Forest'' *

Black crowned crane The black crowned crane (''Balearica pavonina'') is a part of the family Gruidae, along with its sister species, the grey crowned crane. It is topped with its characteristic bristle-feathered golden crown. It is usually found in the shallow we ...

Okapi The okapi (; ''Okapia johnstoni''), also known as the forest giraffe, Congolese giraffe, or zebra giraffe, is an artiodactyl mammal that is endemic to the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. It is the only species ...

Saddle-billed stork The saddle-billed stork or saddlebill (''Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis'') is a large wading bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. It is a widespread species which is a resident breeder in sub-Saharan Africa from Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya south t ...

Western lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in montane, primary and secondary forest and lowland swampland in central Afr ...

;Asia ''Asian forest'' ''The Slawson Family Tiger Trek'' *

Amur 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 inhabit ...

Red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzz ...

* Burmese brow-antlered deer ;North America ;Australia ;South America ;KOCH Orangutan and Chimpanzee Habitat * Chimpanzee * Sumatran orangutan Sedgwick County Zoo Cessna Penguin Cove 2007

Sedgwick County Zoo Cessna Penguin Cove 2007

Future

As of June 2021, the zoo is currently making a new elephant management complex, as well as some new additions to the Amphibians and Reptiles building. On April 16th, 2022 they are expected to open a Shark and Stingray exhibit. They also have been expanding and moving the majority of exhibits, and planning on adding a lodge, water park, and savannah exhibit. A new entrance for the zoo opened on May 27, 2021.

Incidents

* In June 2005, two flamingos escaped from the zoo during a stormy night. Since then, one of the flamingos, identified as No. 492, has been spotted in Wisconsin, Louisiana, and Texas. * On May 6, 2011, a first-grade student on a class field trip climbed over a four-foot fence then crossed the eight-foot gap of the

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 leo ...

exhibit. The boy was attacked. He suffered lacerations and puncture wounds to his head and neck before a bystander kicked the leopard in the head. The injuries were not considered life-threatening, and the zoo did not euthanize the endangered animal.

References

External links

*
Sedgwick County Zoo raises ticket prices in 2017
{{Authority control Zoos in Kansas Buildings and structures in Wichita, Kansas Tourist attractions in Wichita, Kansas Zoos established in 1971 1971 establishments in Kansas