Full of Zeal for the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo #AtoZChallenge

This is it!  My last post in the #AtoZ Challenge and what better way to end it but with a trip down memory lane via the ZOO.  

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo got its start in 1882 but was located in Wade Oval in Cleveland's University Circle.  Once it was decided that the art museum would be built there in 1907 the zoo was moved to its current location.

In 1940, the Cleveland Natural History Museum assumed control but before they did the zoo went from having animals of local origins to creating Monkey Island, Sea Lion Pools and bear exhibit. Once the Natural History Museum took over an Asian elephant was brought to live at the zoo and by 1955 the zoo staff and supporters organized an African safari and obtained three elephants, two hippos, two rhinos, three giraffes, and many smaller animals. The following year the Pachyderm Building opened to house many of the animals acquired on the safari.

The zoo has been managed by several different entities over the years and in 1975 the zoo was transferred to the Cleveland Metroparks where it remains today.  The zoo continued to grow and evolve, adding new exhibits most notably in 1992, The RainForest, followed by Wolf Wilderness in 1997, Australian Adventure in 2000, The Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine in 2004 and Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's newest exhibit, African Elephant Crossing, opened on May 5, 2011.

Post by Ready Set Parenthood.

I enjoy the zoo.  I do but for the longest time I was the only one that did.  I took Goofy to the zoo for Boo at the Zoo thinking he would love it and he didn't.  Costumes, candy, and animals - no.  I tried again when he was a little older and he like it a little more but really he only went because he liked the train.

I still kept trying but the only think that interests him is the train and the playground.  He tolerates the animals, but I keep trying.

Baby girl on the other hand, loves the animals and tolerates the walking.  Its a good thing the zoo is free on on Mondays during the summer.  Rainforest, too!

Are you a zoo zealot?