Indianapolis Zoo

**The Indianapolis Zoo** is a zoo located in White River State Park, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, housing more than 3,800 animals of more than 320 species and subspecies. The institution is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the American Alliance of Museums as a zoo, an aquarium, and as a botanical garden. The zoo is a private non-profit organization, receiving no tax support and is supported entirely by membership fees, admissions, donations, sales, grants, and an annual fundraiser.

## History

In 1944, thoughts of the Indianapolis Zoo first came to mind by a newspaper columnist named Lowell B. Nussbaum. He began to write his opinions of wanting a zoo through his column "Inside Indianapolis." It was his writing that inspired the Indianapolis people and in October 1944 the "Articles of Incorporation for the Indianapolis zoological society, INC" emerged.[5] Soon the members of this group had outlined the future plans of their zoo, one thing that the group members were adamant about; "the zoo will rely on admissions, in-park sales, contributions, and memberships to support the zoo.[5] " It first opened to the public in 1964.

### George Washington Park

The Indianapolis Zoo opened on April 18, 1964, at its original location in George Washington Park on East 30th Street. The official opening was two decades after the Indianapolis Zoological Society Inc. had been formed and planning for the zoo started. In its first year, the new attraction drew more than 270,000 visitors. The zoo originally featured an Asian elephant, penguins, kangaroos, foxes, raccoons, camels, bison, deer, lambs, tortoises, llamas, prairie dogs, pygmy goats, and buffalo exhibits. In 1965, the zoo became one of few in the country to employ a full-time education staff. By the 20th anniversary of the zoo, its animal collection had doubled in size and it was determined that the zoo needed a new location where it could continue to expand.

In 1982, international zoo, aquarium, and wildlife authorities gathered to set goals for establishing the new zoo. It was determined that a zoo should not only be a place to see animals, but also an institution of conservation and education. That same year, White River State Park was announced as the new site of the zoo. The groundbreaking at the new downtown location was held in September 1985. The old zoo closed in 1987.

### White River State Park

The current zoo in White River State Park was opened in 1988 with a size of 64 acres (26 ha).

After the construction of the Waters building and the Dolphin Pavilion, the zoo earned AZA accreditation as an aquarium as well as a zoo. In 1996, the Indianapolis Zoo became the first institution to be triple-accredited as a zoo, aquarium, and botanical garden. White River Gardens was considered a separate facility from 1999 to 2006 but now is included as part of the zoo.[1]

The zoo hosts more than a million visitors each year and plays a role in worldwide conservation and research, including accomplishing the world's first successful artificial insemination of an African elephant.

## Biomes

The Indianapolis Zoo is organized around the concept of biomes. Biomes are areas of the planet with similar climate, plants, and animals. Animals at the Indianapolis Zoo are clustered in groups with similar habitats, which define the biomes. At the Indianapolis Zoo, one can visit the seven biomes listed below.

Each of the biomes participates in conservation and breeding programs.

### White River Gardens

* Hellbender
* Monarch butterfly
* Leafcutter ant
* Red-eyed tree frog
* Golden mantella
* King cobra

### Oceans

**Pinniped Shore**

* California sea lion
* Harbor seal
* Gray seal
* Steller's sea lion

**First Tanks**

* Cownose ray
* Smooth dogfish shark
* Tang fish
* Unicornfish
* Butterflyfish
* Coral
* Sea anemones
* Green moray eel
* Angelfish
* Red lionfish

**Shark Touch Pool**

* Smooth dogfish shark
* Common octopus

**Tube Tanks**

* Pot-bellied seahorse
* Clownfish

**Small Tanks**

* Starfish
* Cardinalfish

**Penguin Hall**

* King penguin
* Gentoo penguin
* Rockhopper penguin
* Emperor penguin
* African penguin
* Little penguin
* Chiloé wigeon
* Inca tern
* Magellanic penguin
* Black-faced ibis
* Atlantic puffin
* Horned puffin
* Pigeon guillemot
* Common murre
* Smew
* Imperial shag

**Sharing One World: Long-Tailed Macaques**

* Long-tailed macaque
* Scarlet ibis

**Walrus Complex**

* Pacific walrus

**Dolphin Pavilion**

* Atlantic bottlenose dolphin
* Orca

**Turtle Tunnel**

* Green sea turtle
* Whale shark

**Whale Waterfall**

* Gray whale
* Beluga whale

**Manatee Mansion**

* West Indian manatee
* Dugong
* Leopard seal

### Forests

**Commons**

* Ring-tailed lemur
* Chinese muntjac
* Small flying fox
* Straw-coloured fruit bat
* Philippine tarsier
* Shoebill
* White lion
* Red-shanked langur
* Northern treeshrew
* Dusky leaf monkey
* Resplendent quetzal
* Crested quetzal
* Golden-headed quetzal
* Salmon-crested cockatoo
* Major Mitchell's cockatoo
* Yellow-headed vulture (Greater and Lesser)
* Hoatzin
* Tawny frogmouth
* Southern tamandua
* Giant anteater
* Banded mongoose
* Aardvark
* Black-tailed prairie dog
* Groundhog
* Maned wolf
* Gray wolf
* Brush-tailed bettong
* Binturong
* Spotted hyena
* Striped hyena
* African wild dog
* Ethiopian wolf
* Matschie's tree kangaroo
* Common raccoon

**China Display**

* Red panda
* Giant panda

**Tiger Forest**

* Amur tiger
* Jaguar
* African leopard
* Snow leopard
* Black leopard

**Magnificent Macaws**

* Great green macaw
* Green-winged macaw
* Scarlet macaw
* Hyacinth macaw
* Blue and gold macaw
* Spix's macaw
* Military macaw
* Blue-throated macaw

**Other Exhibits**

* White-handed gibbon
* Vervet monkey
* Alaskan brown bear
* Turkey vulture
* Arctic fox
* Chinese alligator
* Nile crocodile
* Bali myna
* Collared imperial pigeon
* Blue-crowned laughingthrush
* Guam rail
* White-eared bulbul
* Black-billed magpie
* Australian magpie
* Hooded pitohui
* Masked lapwing
* White-naped pheasant pigeon
* White-rumped shama
* White-breasted woodswallow
* Collared finchbill
* Lesser bird-of-paradise
* Greater bird-of-paradise
* Quokka
* Pygmy slow loris

**MISTery Park**

* Hoffmann's two-toed sloth
* Linnaeus's two-toed sloth
* Golden eagle
* Victoria crowned pigeon
* Nicobar pigeon
* American alligator
* Spectacled caiman
* Cuvier's dwarf caiman
* Lesser yellow-headed vulture
* Greater yellow-headed vulture
* North American river otter
* Giant otter
* Asian small-clawed otter
* Bateleur
* Harpy eagle
* Philippine eagle
* Lanner falcon
* Brown falcon
* Galapagos tortoise
* Polar bear
* Andean bear
* American black bear
* Himalayan brown bear
* Grizzly bear

### Deserts

**Dome Exhibits**

* Rhinoceros iguana
* Mali spiny-tailed lizard
* Blue-tongued skink
* Central bearded dragon
* Grand Cayman blue iguana
* Desert tortoise
* Radiated tortoise
* Egyptian tortoise
* Northern bobwhite quail
* Greater roadrunner
* Laughing kookaburra
* Meerkat
* Great plated lizard
* Chuckwalla
* Colorado River toad
* Jamaican iguana

**Size, Speed, and Venom: Extreme Snakes**

* Reticulated python
* Copperhead
* Timber rattlesnake
* Cottonmouth
* Black mamba
* Eastern green mamba
* Burmese python
* Gaboon viper
* Cape cobra
* Red spitting cobra

**Other Reptile Exhibits**

* Gila monster
* Massasauga rattlesnake
* Santa catalina rattlesnake
* Spotted python
* Green tree python
* Hognose snake
* Madagascar tree boa
* Eyelash viper
* Green iguana

**Rest of Dome**

* Australian snake-necked turtle
* Ocelot
* Northern bald ibis
* Tiger quoll
* Long-tailed finch

### Australian Outback

* Red kangaroo
* Eastern grey kangaroo
* Red-necked wallaby
* Koala
* Red-tailed black cockatoo
* Yellow-tailed black cockatoo
* Yellow-crested cockatoo
* Emu
* Common wombat
* Northern hairy-nosed wombat
* North Island brown kiwi
* Saltwater crocodile
* Wedge-tailed eagle
* Cinereous vulture
* Peregrine falcon
* White-bellied sea eagle
* Roseate spoonbill
* African spoonbill
* Royal spoonbill
* Hadada ibis
* Red-crowned crane
* Siamang
* Trumpeter swan
* Mallard
* Mute swan
* Black swan
* Black-necked swan
* Dromedary
* Bactrian camel
* Reindeer
* Komodo dragon

**Wild Asia Trek and Pelican Palace**

* Steller's sea eagle
* Bald eagle
* Martial eagle
* Andean condor
* California condor
* White-rumped vulture
* White-headed vulture
* Bearded vulture
* Red-lored amazon
* Red-tailed hawk
* White-backed vulture
* Hamerkop
* American white pelican
* Brown pelican
* Peruvian pelican
* Great white pelican
* Australian pelican
* Pink-backed pelican
* Dalmatian pelican
* Spot-billed pelican
* Crested ibis
* Sumatran rhino
* Nubian ibex
* Walia ibex
* Gelada
* Hamadryas baboon
* Mantled guereza
* Angola colobus
* Dall sheep
* Mouflon
* Urial
* Barbary sheep
* Chamois
* Pileated woodpecker
* Muskox
* Yak
* Water buffalo
* Great hornbill
* Hawaiian crow
* Common raven
* Rhinoceros hornbill
* Visayan warty pig
* Takin
* Llama
* Vicuna
* Guanaco
* White-tailed deer
* Grevy's zebra
* Red deer
* Arctic fox
* Blackbuck
* Waterbuck
* Zebra duiker
* North Sulawesi babirusa
* Przewalski's horse
* Sambar deer
* Axis deer
* Fallow deer
* Water buffalo
* American bison
* Red fox

**Asian Perch**

* White stork
* White-crested turaco
* Great blue turaco
* Violet turaco
* Ross's turaco
* White dove
* Barbary dove
* Rose-ringed parakeet

**Asian Aviary**

* Sunbittern
* Saffron finch
* Boat-billed heron
* Southern lapwing
* Peruvian pigeon
* Red-crested finch
* Red-capped cardinal
* Yellow-rumped cacique
* Blue-grey tanager
* Cattle egret
* Golden conure
* Guira cuckoo
* Blue-crowned mot-mot
* Ruddy shelduck
* Mata mata
* Indian flying fox
* Asian fairy-bluebird
* Great cormorant
* Andean cock-of-the-rock
* Zebra finch
* Gouldian finch
* Orange-cheeked waxbill
* Red-billed firefinch
* Double-barred finch
* Golden myna
* Galah
* Common kingfisher
* Blue-breasted kingfisher
* Thick-billed parrot
* Greater coucal

### International Orangutan Center

* Sumatran orangutan
* Bornean orangutan
* Western lowland gorilla
* Chimpanzee
* Bonobo

### Flights of Fancy

**Flamingo Pool**

* Caribbean flamingo
* Chilean flamingo
* Greater flamingo
* Lesser flamingo
* White-naped crane
* Mandarin duck
* King eider
* Magpie goose
* American Pekin duck
* Muscovy duck
* Sarus crane
* Brogla
* Siberian crane
* Sandhill crane
* Canada goose
* Wood stork
* Anhinga
* Double-crested cormorant
* Tricolored heron
* Black-crowned night heron
* Laughing gull
* Yellow-legged gull
* Silverjaw minnow
* Koi (fish)
* Black-necked stork
* African openbill
* American white ibis
* African sacred ibis
* Straw-necked Ibis
* White-faced whistling duck
* Black-bellied whistling duck
* Whooping crane
* Cape Barren goose
* Black-crowned night heron
* Yellow-crowned night heron

**Budgie Aviary**

* Budgerigar
* Cockatiel
* Eurasian eagle-owl
* Great horned owl
* Everglades rat snake
* American goldfinch
* Jacobin cuckoo
* Chestnut-breasted malkoha
* Eurasian hoopoe
* European turtle dove
* Mourning dove

**Lorikeet Aviary**

* Red lory
* Rainbow lorikeet
* Black-throated magpie-jay
* Bronze turkey
* Cabot's tragopan
* Crested fireback
* Crested wood partridge
* Golden pheasant
* Great argus
* Green peafowl
* Green woodhoopoe
* Grey-headed bushshrike
* Golden-breasted starling
* Himalayan monal
* Indian peafowl
* Lady Amherst's pheasant
* Narragansett turkey
* Ocellated turkey
* Superb starling
* Socorro dove
* Taveta golden weaver
* White-cheeked turaco
* Vulturine guineafowl
* White-throated magpie-jay
* Wild turkey
* Gambel's quail
* Yellow-fronted canary
* Red bishop
* Magpie shrike
* Red-and-yellow barbet
* Buff-crested bustard

**Other Animals**

* Rock hyrax
* Southern ground hornbill
* Abyssinian ground hornbill
* King vulture
* Von der Decken's hornbill
* Black curassow
* Wattled guan
* Horned guan
* Keel-billed toucan
* Toco toucan
* Long-wattled umbrellabird
* Black umbrella heron
* Great egret
* Great blue heron
* Wattled crane
* Gray langur
* Red-crested cardinal
* Silvered leaf langur
* Common squirrel monkey
* Umbrella cockatoo
* Eastern box turtle
* New Zealand kaka
* Kea
* Kakapo
* Bat-eared fox
* Banded palm civet
* Herring gull
* Congo peafowl
* Silver pheasant
* Common pheasant
* Peregrine falcon
* Pygmy falcon
* Fire salamander
* Eastern newt
* Sierra newt
* Red salamander
* Chuxiong fire-bellied newt
* North American donkey

### African Plains and American Tropics

* Grant's zebra
* Greater kudu
* Lesser kudu
* White-bearded wildebeest
* Scimitar-horned oryx
* Chapman's zebra
* Elk
* Common eland
* Thomson's gazelle
* Ostrich
* African buffalo
* Marabou stork
* Maguari stork
* Oriental stork
* Ruppell's griffon vulture
* Verreaux's eagle
* Lappet-faced vulture
* Secretary bird
* Crested guineafowl
* Osprey
* Capybara
* Addra gazelle
* Impala
* Lowland nyala
* Greater rhea
* Père David's deer
* Southern cassowary
* Reticulated giraffe
* Rothschild's giraffe
* Southern white rhino
* Black rhino
* African lion
* Guinea baboon
* Cheetah
* African crowned crane
* Saddle-billed stork
* Yellow-billed stork
* Painted stork
* Jabiru
* Milky stork
* Abdim's stork
* Woolly-necked stork
* Storm's stork
* Greater adjutant
* Lesser adjutant
* Crested coua
* Helmeted guineafowl
* Blue jay
* Red-billed oxpecker
* Yellow-billed oxpecker
* Eastern yellow-billed hornbill
* African bush elephant
* Asian elephant
* Hippopotamus
* Smooth-fronted caiman
* Pygmy goat
* Warthog
* Red river hog
* Naked-mole rat
* Aardwolf
* Cape porcupine
* Okapi
* Yellow-backed duiker
* Indian rhino

## St. Vincent Dolphin Pavilion

The Indianapolis Zoo's highlight is a large dolphin pavilion, which features a combination of approaches to dolphin/human interaction and some new architecture, including:

Underwater Viewing Dome
The pavilion has a 30-foot (9.1 m) diameter, 12-foot (3.7 m) high, underwater dome placed squarely in the middle of the dolphin performance pool – a first for U.S. zoos. Opened on Memorial Day weekend 2005, zoo visitors can view dolphins from underneath the surface of the water.

St. Vincent Dolphin Theater
On top of the water, the interior of the St. Vincent Dolphin Theater features a million-gallon plus pool where dolphin presentations occur daily. There are 7 bottlenose dolphins: Bo (F), Maddie (F), Jag (M), Neo (M), Wahoo (F), Apollo (M), and Turner (M).

Dolphin In-Water Adventure
The Indianapolis Zoo has the Midwest's only in-water dolphin program for the public, allowing guests to interact with the dolphins in their exhibit during the theater.

## Other Rides and Attractions

* Flamingo Feed Experience
* Feed a Budgie or Lorikeet
* Feed a Giraffe
* Race-a-Cheetah
* Kombo Family Coaster
* White River Junction Train Ride
* Endangered Species Carousel
* Skyline
* Playground
* Tots Treehouse and Play Area
* Tibetan Animal Feed Experiences

## Questions

DID THEY HAVE ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES?: Yes!

### Alligators and Crocodiles: The Fight to Survive

* American alligator
* Orinoco crocodile

Did they have an Australian and Asian Walkthrough coming to spring of 2022?: Yes! In spring of 2022, we will have kangaroos, African Wild dogs, little blue penguins, emus, European animals (including sheep, swans, and ibexes), peacocks, otters, and more animals to come.