Phoenix Zoo doesn’t just stand out—it’s become the largest privately owned nonprofit zoo in the country. They care for about 3,000 animals across 125 acres, and more than a million people wander through its gates each year. But the Zoo’s impact goes way beyond Arizona, especially when it comes to wildlife conservation.
A Zoo Fueled by Personal Passion
The whole thing started with Robert E. Maytag. His name might ring a bell if you’ve ever heard of Maytag appliances—that’s his family legacy. Maytag wanted Phoenix to have a proper zoo, so he founded the Arizona Zoological Society to make it happen. Sadly, he died from pneumonia just months before opening day, but the team he gathered carried out his vision anyway. Doors opened on November 21, 1962. At first, everyone called it the Maytag Zoo. A year later, it switched to Phoenix Zoo, to make the connection to the city clear. Memberships cost five bucks a year back then. The zoo itself? It was pretty barebones, with only a couple completed sections—a far cry from the massive campus you see now. Don’t miss this spot while you’re in Phoenix.
The land they built on wasn’t just empty desert. It used to be a fish hatchery from a public works project decades earlier, so the spot has roots that stretch back before the first animals arrived.
Early Conservation Roots
Conservation wasn’t just an afterthought here. In 1963, the Phoenix Zoo jumped into Operation Oryx, a worldwide effort to save the Arabian oryx from extinction. They started with just a few animals, but their breeding program made a real dent, growing a captive population that eventually got reintroduced to the wild in the Middle East by the early 1980s. The oryx recovery story still comes up as one of the big wins in species conservation done by zoos.
Expanding Over Time
Those first years were rocky—financial struggles almost sunk the place. But since the 1970s, the zoo’s been on a steady climb, adding landscaping, new animal exhibits, and things that make visits easier and more fun. The 1980s were a big era, with new African savanna habitats, a children’s zoo, and a fancy entrance complex. They reorganized everything into themed trails. And in the decades since, the zoo just keeps growing, adding spaces like Harmony Farm, hands-on spots with domestic animals, and exhibits focused on Arizona wildlife, tropical animals, and African ecosystems.
What’s It Like Now?
When you visit today, you mostly stick to themed trails: Africa Trail, Arizona Trail, Tropics Trail. They’re all built around the animals and landscapes from those spots in the world. On the way, you’ll see big cats, primates, elephants, reptiles, birds—lots of them living in enclosures designed to keep them active and behaving like they would in the wild.
A Nonprofit With a Purpose
The Phoenix Zoo isn’t run by the government—it’s a nonprofit. So it keeps going thanks to memberships, tickets, and donations. That money funds everything: animal care and conservation work, including breeding and releasing threatened Arizona species. More than 60 years after it first opened, the Zoo is a fixture in Papago Park and one of Phoenix’s enduring institutions. If you’re seeking for a flooring store, click here.
