Perth Zoo

About

Perth Zoo is a 17-hectare (41-acre) zoological park in South Perth, Western Australia. The zoo first opened in 1898, and by 2011 housed 1258 animals of 164 species and an extensive botanical collection. It is a full institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

The Perth Zoological Gardens (as Perth Zoo was originally called) were opened on 17 October 1898 by Gerard Smith, the Governor of Western Australia. Planning for the zoo had started in 1896 when the Acclimatisation Society first met, the original purpose of which was to introduce European animals to Australia and establish a zoo for conservation purposes. In 1897 this group invited the director of the Melbourne Zoo, Albert Le Souef, to choose a site. His son Ernest was chosen as the first director of the Perth Zoo, and work began in 1897.

The first exhibits built included two bear caves, a monkey house, a mammal house and a model castle for guinea pigs. The first animals on display included an orangutan, two monkeys, four ostriches, a pair of lions, and a tiger. At first there were only six staff members. The zoo had 53,000 visitors in its first nine months, and had not been closed for a single day since it was opened until it was temporarily closed from 24 March 2020 during the coronavirus outbreak. [ full citation needed ] [ self-published source ]

From the start, Ernest Le Souef worked to create a botanical collection as well as an animal collection to preserve for the future. Work on the gardens started as soon as the site was chosen and finalised. Since the site was mostly sand and lacked nutrients and water, much manure needed to be brought in, and a well was bored in 1898 to allow irrigation. The zoo included rose gardens, lupin fields, tropical plants, and palms. The original palm collection still stands and boasts over 61 species including Canary Island date palms that are now over 110 years old. The zoo also grew crops for animals including lettuce, alfalfa, carrots, lucerne and onions. This tradition is still alive, with the zoo producing fodder including hibiscus, bamboo, Fijian fire plant and mirror plant.

In 1909, the zoo hosted the Australasian Championships in tennis, the precursor to the modern Australian Open. The Zoological Gardens Courts, now Perth Zoo's main lawn, were considered the state's best tennis facilities at the time. [ full citation needed ]

In 2010/11, the zoo had a paid staff of about 248 (167 full-time equivalents), and about 300 volunteer docents.

Until her death in July 2022 aged 65, Tricia, a female Asian elephant, was one of the most famous animal residents at Perth Zoo, having lived at the zoo for 59 years since 1963. After living nearly twenty years on her own, she was joined by three rescued orphan three-year-old Asian elephants from Malaysia in December 1992 (of which male Putra Mas still resides at the zoo, until June 2025). Tricia was euthanised by zoo veterinarians due to ongoing age-related health issues. After a cremation, her ashes were placed under a forty-year-old 15-metre-tall (49 ft) jacaranda tree on the zoo's main lawn, a memory plaque to be unveiled [ when? ] in her memory. Additionally, a conservation guard hut in Sumatra was named in her honour. In January 2025, Perth Zoo sent their remaining female Asian Elephant Permai to Monarto Safari Park, who would be joined at the facility by the zoo's male elephant, Putra Mas, that November, which ended the zoo's housing of elephants after 125 years. [ full citation needed ]

Additionally, the zoo has had several other noteworthy individual animals in both record longevity and significant contribution to global endangered species captive breeding programs. Puan, a female Sumatran orangutan born in 1956, was gifted to the zoo by Ismail of Johor in 1968 along with three other orangutans. She had 11 offspring, and at the time of her death in 2018 aged 62 (a world record for her species) had 54 living descendants in various zoos around the world and even some released into the wild. Northern white-cheeked gibbon Phillip lived at Perth Zoo from September 1974 to July 2023 and is the record holder of longevity for the males of his species, and had fathered many offspring who in turn have been significant members of the global captive breeding program for the critically endangered species.

The head managers of Perth Zoo have from its opening to the present been:

- 1897–1935: E.A. Le Souef – as director

- 1932–1941: L.E. Shapcott – as president of the Zoological Gardens Board

- 1950–1967: W.K. Lyall – as superintendent of the zoo

- 1967–1984: Tom Spence – as zoo director

- 1984–1994: John De Jose – as zoo director

- 2017–2018: Maria Finnigan – as zoo acting CEO

- 2018–present: Wendy Attenborough – as zoo CEO

The Zoological Parks Authority has been known as:

- 1896–1967?: Western Australian Acclimatization Committee

The head managers of Perth Zoo have from its opening to the present been:

- 1897–1935: E.A. Le Souef – as director