Little Rock Zoo grows wilder after nine decades
Ninety years ago this summer, 6,000 Arkansans converged on Fair Park Municipal Zoo in Little Rock for a lightly publicized opening of a monkey house to view animals seen only in “Tarzan” movies.
In 1936, just four out of 10 Arkansas families owned a car, but 60% of the crowd on Sunday, Aug. 16, was from outside Little Rock.
Skeptics, locally and nationally, questioned why the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the Great Depression would fund “a $65,000 home for eight small monkeys” in a rural, Southern state with fewer than 2 million residents.
A big-city guest, however, disagreed. Steve Williams, a zookeeper at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, saw the crowd and told the Arkansas Gazette: “If there is anything the matter with this building, it is that it could have been built larger in view of the increasing crowds coming to visit.”
The since renamed Little Rock Zoo has been expanding for a century to more than 400 animals on 33 acres. Annual attendance topped 300,000 in 2025. On “dollar days” and quarterly “community days,” daily attendance can reach 15,000.
Main attractions
The first exhibit in 1924 featured a snake, and today reptiles, such as a pair of recently added Komodo dragons, are still a big draw. Jimmie the chimpanzee, a major attraction in 1936, entertained visitors for years. Little Rock remains one of a handful of zoos in smaller cities to house all three great apes: chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. It’s also home to four species of big cats, including two endangered Malayan tigers with fewer than 500 left in the wild. Playful penguins from the coast of South Africa thrive here.
The Little Rock Zoo has earned the reputation as a loving retirement home for many animals because of the extensive and often expensive care its zookeepers provide, says Susan Altrui, the zoo’s director since 2016.
Those aging animals include retired Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus elephants Zina, 65, and Babe, 51. Zookeepers keep the female elephants moving with bananas and sweet potatoes to counter arthritis. They even change the “furniture” in their area by moving logs or adding tires so “the girls keep exploring,” Altrui says. “We stimulate them mentally as well.”
This summer at the zoo, “Bugtopia: Wonder Magnified,” should stimulate old and young visitors alike. The traveling exhibit (through Sept. 20) features 14 animatronic insects and larger-than-life bug sculptures that bring the tiny world of insects into giant perspective. “We’re proud of the past and what we have,” Altrui says, “but it will take more investments to grow and become a regional draw like the St. Louis and Memphis zoos.”
New at the zoo
It’s called Project Zoo: Wildly Reimagined. Twelve million dollars from a 2022 city bond issue and private funds mark the zoo’s largest investment in 30 years. Construction started last summer and is on schedule to wrap up in late October.
After entering the gates, guests will encounter a revamped entry plaza and amphitheater. Three new buildings with indoor viewing of animals will house giant anteaters, Aldabra tortoises and lemurs. Capybaras, king-sized rodents, return to Little Rock and will cohabitate with the newest residents, squirrel monkeys from South America.
“The outdoor areas will be fun with tall (10-15 feet) climbing structures for the lemurs and monkeys,” Altrui says. “It will be entertaining for guests and great for the animals to show their natural behaviors on that kind of height. The indoor viewing is a big improvement. Most of our current exhibits don’t have that. The outdoor areas for the anteaters and tortoises will be new. Guests will even be able to feed the tortoises.”
Altrui frequently states the zoo’s mission: to inspire people to value and conserve our natural world through education and conservation, exceptional animal care and community accessibility. And she welcomes help from Arkansans to make that mission a reality.
“You can donate, but there are also volunteer opportunities for teens and adults,” Altrui says. “There are 3 million people in Arkansas. It would be huge if they spent a few of their dollars at the zoo to help feed the animals, pay our care staff and support our mission.”
Closer access to new animals (like Jimmie the chimp in 1936) in modern facilities at the Little Rock Zoo should only increase its growing attendance and support.
“The bond project and master plan are steps in the right direction,” Altrui says. “Major investments attract a larger audience. World-class exhibits bring new experiences.”
Admission to the Little Rock Zoo for adults is $12.95, seniors $10.95, kids $9.95, members $2 and ages 2 and under are free. Annual memberships start at $99. Zoo hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily with 10 a.m. the optimum time to view animals, Altrui says. Mister fans and abundant shade help cool guests.