About The Saint Louis Our Mission

The mission of the Saint Louis Zoo is to conserve animals and their habitats through animal management, research, recreation, and educational programs that encourage the support and enrich the experience of the public. Located on 90 acres in , the Saint Louis Zoo The Insectarium is one of a handful of is home to 655 species of animals, many of them rare exhibits in dedicated solely to bugs. and endangered. It is one of the few free in the It hosts more than 20 major exhibit areas, with more nation and has been named #1 zoo by Zagat Survey’s than 100 species of live insects and includes a geodesic U.S. Family Travel Guide in association with dome filled with flora, fauna, beautiful butterflies, Parenting magazine. The Zoo annually attracts 3 million moths and katydids. visitors, who can see more than 19,000 wild animals— including the thousands of leafcutters, ants and Four Continent Journey butterflies at the Zoo. The Zoo’s Rivers Edge allows visitors to journey Since its 1910 founding, the Zoo has been renowned along a mythical waterway through four continents. for its beautiful naturalistic exhibits, its diverse collection This naturalistic environment showcases multiple species of animals and its innovative approaches to animal from , hyenas, hippos and rhinos to a herd of management, wildlife conservation, research and education. three generations of elephants. The Zoo’s Education Department staff—the largest The first walk-through sub-Antarctic penguin exhibit among the nation’s zoos—offers programs designed to help in North America, Penguin & Puffin Coast offers visitors of all ages and abilities learn through experience, two spacious domed exhibits, complete with rugged involvement and discovery. Of the three million visitors coastlines, towering rockscapes and underwater viewing hosted annually by the Saint Louis Zoo, approximately 1.7 of lively penguins, puffins and various water birds. million visitors interacted with an Educational Interpreter, With its lushly landscaped habitats, flowing streams, Zoo Docent or Zookeeper who provided educational huge deadfall trees and vines, the Donn & Marilyn experiences and information. Lipton Fragile Forest is an outdoor summer habitat for Animals Always orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas. During the fall and winter, the great apes may be seen in their winter The Saint Louis Zoo cares for a number of rare and homes at Jungle of the Apes, a comfortable, endangered animals like Asian elephants, the horned guan, stimulating environment fostering natural group Amur tiger, Matschie’s tree kangaroo, Speke’s gazelle, behaviors and interactions. With exhibits like this, the golden-headed tamarin, and Chinese Zoo facilitates the breeding of these endangered species. alligator. The Zoo has one of the finest collections of hoofed mammals in the nation and a spectacular natural Stingrays outdoor setting for tigers, leopards and other big cats. Its House is home to more than 700 animals— From April to September, at Stingrays at Caribbean Cove from alligators, snakes and crocodiles to frogs, toads featuring Sharks visitors can watch, and salamanders. touch and occasionally feed the unique and With waterfalls, fountains and pools, the Zoo’s Bear Bluffs fascinating stingrays, as have served as a model for other zoos and as home to they glide through a spectacled, sloth and grizzly bears. warm saltwater pool. The Zoo is also well-known for its diverse array of bird species, with a waterfowl collection that is one of the Sea Lion Sound largest of any zoo in North America and hundreds of Opened in 2012, Sea Lion exotic species, many of them endangered. The Emerson Sound makes it possible for the first Children’s Zoo features friendly animals to see and time in North America for visitors to touch, animal shows, educational play activities, a walk through an underwater tunnel into playground and even water geysers. the sea ’ habitat, with sea lions swimming all around them. With a landscape inspired full-time nutritionist—the Saint Louis Zoo is one of by the Pacific Northwest coast, Sea Lion Sound has only a handful of zoos to have a nutritionist on staff. attracted visitors into several viewing areas at the Zoo’s It takes as many as 24 man hours per day to prepare new sea lion and seal habitat. the bulk foods and special diets needed throughout the Saint Louis Zoo. Saving Endangered Species The Saint Louis Zoo is a world leader in saving Research endangered species and their habitats, leading the nation The primary focus of the Zoo’s Research Department with the greatest number of active Association of Zoos is reproduction. This includes studies of behavior, and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plans. SSPs physiology, endocrinology and gamete biology. Zoos are long-term programs for conservation breeding, must enhance captive breeding programs for future habitat preservation, field conservation, reintroduction conservation recovery of threatened and endangered and supportive research for threatened and endangered species. Because managing recovery programs species. U.S. zoos and aquariums spend $160 million involves controlling as well as increasing reproduction, annually on field conservation projects and have funded development and testing of contraceptive methods is also 4,000 projects in more than 100 countries. important. In fact, the Saint Louis Zoo is home to the Through its WildCare Institute, the Zoo focuses on AZA Contraception Center, which serves zoos across wildlife management and recovery, conservation science, the nation. and support of the human populations that coexist with Revenue Sources, Economic Impact wildlife in 12 conservation hotspots around the globe, In 1916, the citizens of St. Louis voted a tax for including four in . The WildCare Institute, with construction and operation of the Zoo. Through the the support of its conservation fellows, takes a holistic years the community continues to support the Zoo, approach to troubled ecosystems by addressing with approximately one third of its budget coming from wildlife management and recovery, conservation property taxes in St. Louis City and County, a third science, and support of the human populations that from food service, gift shops and parking lots and a third coexist with wildlife. from private donations, corporations, foundations and The Zoo’s Institute of Conservation Medicine focuses memberships. In 2012, 1,488 active volunteers provide on diseases that affect the conservation of threatened more than 95,000 hours, valued at almost $2.1 million. and endangered wildlife species. Scientists study the In 2010, the Regional Chamber and Growth Association origin, movement and risk factors associated with analyzed the Zoo’s economic impact—a measure of the diseases so that they can better understand the impact way dollars associated with the Zoo circulate through of diseases on the conservation of wildlife populations, the region. Analysts found that the Zoo’s annual the links between the health of zoo animals and free- impact was $187.5 million based on a range of living wildlife populations and the movement of diseases factors from direct spending for goods and services between wildlife, domestic animals and humans. of almost $52 million to attracting $26.3 million Animal Care in out-of town spending. The Zoo’s Endangered Species Research Center & On The Web: Veterinary Hospital complex hosts a central Zoo website: stlzoo.org treatment area, research laboratories, an animal Facebook: facebook.com/stlzoo quarantine wing, and administrative space. Twitter: twitter.com/stlzoo A clinical pathology laboratory allows for YouTube: youtube.com/stlzootube careful study of diseases. The Zoo’s veterinary Media contact: (314) 781-0900 ext. 4633, ext. 4639 staff continues to make “house calls” to animals which can be treated more comfortably where they are housed. At the Orthwein Animal Nutrition Center, the experienced staff works hard to make sure the animals eat well. The Zoo’s staff includes a