page_title: Potter Park Zoo
section_title: 1960s-1990s
hierarchical_section_title: Potter Park Zoo / History / 1960s-1990s
caption_attribution_description: English: Megallanic Penguins at Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, Michigan.
context_page_description: The Potter Park Zoo is a 102-acre zoo located in Lansing, Michigan, within Lansing's Potter Park. Its mission is to Inspire people to conserve animals in the natural world. Potter Park Zoo is the oldest public zoo in Michigan and is currently home to over 160 species of animals. The zoo is owned by the City of Lansing, and operated by Ingham County. The zoo participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan designed to manage and conserve threatened or endangered animals. The Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine partners with the zoo to provide medical care for its animals.
context_section_description: The zoo grew for the decades afterward until the late 1960s when the zoo began a decline from municipal neglect.  However, in 1969, Jim Hough, a then-columnist of the Lansing State Journal, used his column to bring together concerned citizens and local-area residents to raise money to help revitalize the zoo.  The same year, the Friends of the Zoo Society was formed.  Their fundraising paid off when they earned enough money to purchase the zoo's first elephant, Bingo, in 1972 for $4,453.  In 1974, a railroad was constructed, offering rides for 25¢.
  An outdoor Magellanic penguin exhibit, with a canopy, was added to Potter Park Zoo in 1985.  In 1986, Potter Park Zoo received American Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accreditation, at the time one of the smallest zoos in the country to achieve that status.  AZA accreditation allows the zoo to house and care for endangered species.  Also that year, the Friends of the Zoo Society became the Potter Park Zoological Society, and incorporated as an organization.  The zoo's Lion House was extensively renovated in 1989 and became known as the Feline and Primate Building.  In 1992, rare triplet Amur (Siberian) tiger cubs were born at the zoo.
caption: Potter Park Zoo's Magellanic penguins
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