page_title: John Ball Zoological Garden
section_title: Recent history
hierarchical_section_title: John Ball Zoological Garden / History / Recent history
caption_attribution_description: Bongo at John Ball Zoo, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
context_page_description: John Ball Zoological Garden is an urban park located on the west side of the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. The John Ball Zoo is situated on the ravines and bluffs along the west edge of the park.
  The zoo houses a variety of animals from around the world and is a significant regional attraction. With the Zoo School and Wildlife Conservation Fund, the zoo gives something back to the community and world as a whole.
  The zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and was the first zoo in Michigan to receive accreditation.
context_section_description: The John Ball Park and Zoo were operated by the City of Grand Rapids until 1989, when the park, known as a regional asset because of the zoo, was sold to Kent County. Kent County continues to operate and maintain the park and zoo.
  During the 1990s, the zoo expanded with the building of Living Shores Aquarium, which is one of two aquariums in the state of Michigan, and new cafe eating area outside of it.  Also done at the same time was a new bald eagle aviary.  The Mokomboso Valley Chimpanzee Exhibit opened in 2001.
  From 2000–2003, controversy arose over idea of moving the zoo further in to the flatlands of the park for an elephant exhibit.  It pitted the zoo and zoo society against the neighbors of the park.  The neighbors tried to get the city of Grand Rapids to designate the whole zoo and park as an historical site as one way to stop the further development of the zoo.  In order to stop the arguing, Fred Meijer offered to donate land and money if the zoo would move.
  In 2004, a ballot was put forward to voters in Kent County to relocate the John Ball Zoological Gardens; the referendum was defeated, and the zoo will remain at its current location for the foreseeable future.
  In 2005, a new 75-100 million dollar master plan for the zoo was made involving all 140 acres (57 ha) of the zoo and park.  Besides the existing camels, African veld, chimps, petting zoo, and animal hospital exhibits, it reworks the whole zoo. The new plan for the zoo features a system of streams named "Grand Rivers of the World" that would connect the zoo to the park surrounding the zoo.
  On April 27, 2007, the zoo broke ground on the first phase of the new master plan, starting construction of a 4.1 million dollar 0.3-acre (1,200 m²)  "BISSELL Lions of Lake Manyara" exhibit.  The zoo has not had a lion since "Gilda", their last lion, died of old age in 2005. The exhibit was built for six lions, but only three were placed in the exhibit.
  On June 21, 2008, the new green lion exhibit was open to the public.
  Kent County including in the 2008-2009 Capital Improvement Allocation half the cost of renovation of the Monkey Island Exhibit.  The other half of renovation is supposed to come from the zoo society. As expected the spider monkeys roamed the new island in May 2009.  The waist high concrete wall that surround the exhibit will be removed.  The cement floor and rocks of the exhibit and moat will be removed and replaced with grass and more natural looking rocks.
  On July 8, 2016, the stingray lagoon exhibit was closed after all 18 cownose stingrays and 3 spotted bamboo sharks died due to a mechanical malfunction.  A heavy rainstorm, which shorted a pump circuit, was blamed for the deaths.  The backup system intended to alert zoo officials of a pump failure also failed.
caption: Bongo rests in the shade in the African Veldt Exhibit.
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