Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden

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Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden
Oklahoma City Zoo logo.png
Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden
Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden
35°31′16″N97°28′21″W / 35.5212°N 97.4724°W / 35.5212; -97.4724
Date opened1902 (Wheeler Park Zoo) [1]
1920 (as Lincoln Park Zoo) [2]
Location Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
Land area130 acres (53 ha)
No. of animals2,000+ [3]
No. of species500+ [4]
Annual visitors1.108 million (2024) [5]
Memberships AZA, [6] AAM [7]
Major exhibitsCat Forest, Children's Zoo, Expedition Africa, Great EscApe, Herpetarium, Lion Overlook, Oklahoma Trails, Sanctuary Asia, Wetlands Walkway
Website www.okczoo.org

The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden is a zoo and botanical garden located in Oklahoma City's Adventure District in northeast Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Contents

The zoo covers 130 acres (53 ha) and is home to more than 2,000 animals of more than 500 species. It is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Oklahoma City Zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the American Alliance of Museums. The zoo receives over 1 million visitors a year.

Exhibits

Other attractions within the zoo include the giraffe feeding platform, the Elephant Express tram, the Endangered Species Carousel, the Sea Lion Presentation, Stingray Bay, Wild Encounters, elephant presentations, and the Jungle Gym Playground.

Surrounding the zoo are the Zoo Amphitheater, Lincoln Park, Northeast Lake and the Lincoln Park Golf Course. The zoo is located Oklahoma City's Adventure District at the crossroads of I-35 and I-44. Other attractions in the Adventure District are the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Science Museum Oklahoma (formerly called the Omniplex), the ASA National Softball Hall of Fame, and Remington Park Racing/Casino.

List of animals

Mammals
Birds
Invertebrates
Fish

Former exhibits

Dolphin sculpture. Oklahoma City Zoo 5-26-2014 (14279902521).jpg
Dolphin sculpture.

Famous animals

Commemorative manhole cover for Judy the elephant. OKC Zoo May 2007 - 76 (497215846).jpg
Commemorative manhole cover for Judy the elephant.

Judy was a famous elephant of the zoo having been a part of the zoo for almost 50 years. [13]

Malee was an Asian elephant born April 15, 2011, weighing 300 pounds, the child of one of the Oklahoma City Zoo's elephants, Asha, and a male elephant named Sneezy who lives at the Tulsa Zoo. The Zoo held birthday parties for her every year. [14] [15] On September 30, 2015, zookeepers noticed discoloration of her trunk. After two failed treatments, she died at 4 AM CST on October 1, 2015. The cause of death was determined to be elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, which the other elephants at the zoo aside from her sister Achara also had. [16]

Tusko was a male Indian elephant who was subject to a controversial drug experiment at the zoo, when it was then known as the Lincoln Park Zoo. [17] [18] On August 3, 1962, researchers from the University of Oklahoma injected him with 297 mg of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), which is nearly three thousand times the human recreational dose (for an animal weighing roughly one hundred times as much as a human). [19] Within five minutes he collapsed to the ground and one hour and forty minutes later he died. [20] [21] It is believed that the LSD was the cause of his death, although some speculate that the drugs the researchers used in an attempt to revive him may have contributed to his death. [22] [23]

See also

References

  1. Stephens 2006, pp. 9
  2. Stephens 2006, pp. 37
  3. "Oklahoma City Zoological Park | wildlife, conservation & education | Britannica".
  4. "Blooms and Butterflies: Signs of Spring at the OKC Zoo".
  5. "Okc Zoo Sets New Annual Attendance Record".
  6. "Currently Accredited Zoos and Aquariums". aza.org. AZA . Retrieved January 7, 2010.
  7. "List of Accredited Museums" (PDF). aam-us.org. American Alliance of Museums. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  8. "Great EscApe". okczoo.com. Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden. Archived from the original on January 20, 2010. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
  9. "Cat Forest/Lion Overlook". okczoo.com. Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden. Archived from the original on December 30, 2009. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
  10. "Oklahoma Trails". okczoo.com. Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden. Archived from the original on January 1, 2010. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
  11. "Butterfly Garden". okczoo.com. Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden. Archived from the original on December 30, 2009. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
  12. "Island Life". okczoo.com. Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden. Archived from the original on December 31, 2009. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
  13. Johnson, Larry. "Judy Visits The Library". Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma County.
  14. "Malee's 1st Birthday Bash at the OKC Zoo" (Press release). OKC Zoo. April 6, 2012. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  15. "OKC Zoo planning second Birthday Bash" (Press release). OKC Zoo. April 8, 2013. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  16. Patterson, Matt (October 1, 2015). "Virus eyed in death of Malee, zoo's 4-year-old elephant". The Oklahoman. Archived from the original on May 12, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  17. Pilkington, Mark (February 26, 2004). "Tusko's last trip". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  18. "The tragic tale of the elephant given world's largest LSD dose". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on December 16, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  19. Jensen, Johan (August 8, 2002). "A dose of madness". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  20. West, Louis Jolyon; Pierce, Chester M.; Thomas, Warren D. (December 7, 1962). "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: Its Effects on a Male Asiatic Elephant" . Science. 138 (3545): 1100–1103. doi:10.1126/science.138.3545.1100.
  21. "Erowid LSD (Acid) Vault : LSD Related Death of Elephant in 1962". www.erowid.org. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  22. "Largest single dose of LSD administered". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on December 24, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  23. Marcus, Ben (June 27, 2016). "LSD and the Elephant: A True Story". Illinois Science Council. Retrieved January 7, 2025.

References