Perth Zoo is a 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).
History
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.
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.The Australian Open's nomadic past, from Perth Zoo to Adelaide Oval, plus Brisbane, Sydney and New Zealand
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 jacaranda tree on the zoo's main lawn, a memory plaque to be unveiled 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.
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.
Governance The head managers of Perth Zoo have from its opening to the present been:
The Zoological Parks Authority has been known as:
Exhibits Perth Zoo's largest three precincts are the African Savannah, the Asian Rainforest and the Australian Bushwalk, with other precincts including the Australian Wetlands, Nocturnal House, Penguin Plunge, Primate Trail, Reptile Encounter and the zoo's Main Lake. All the exhibits are designed to mimic the animals' natural habitats and utilise passive barriers where possible, to improve the well-being of the animals.
African Savannah The African Savannah opened in November 1991 and replaced a variety of barred cages, aswell as an old public oval at the zoo. It was the largest construction project undertaken at the zoo when it was created, and the exhibit recreates the African savannah. Visitors view the animals from a path that simulates a dry riverbed running through the savannah. The resident animals are:
African lion African painted dog Cape porcupine Meerkat Plains zebra Radiated tortoise Ring-tailed lemur Rothschild's giraffe Southern white rhinoceros Spotted hyena
Additionally natives to the continent and islands of South America are housed in an area nearby in the zoo. This area has: Bolivian squirrel monkey Galápagos tortoise
Asian Rainforest The Asian Rainforest opened in phases between 1984 and 2007 (officially named Asian Rainforest however in 1999), and is home to a number of threatened Asian species. These include:
Asian small-clawed otter Binturong Komodo dragon Northern white-cheeked gibbon Sumatran orangutan
Sun bear
The zoo contributes to the conservation of many of these species in the wild.
Australian Bushwalk The Australia Bushwalk opened in its current setup in 1997, and takes visitors on a journey through the Australian landscape where they can see:
Bush stone-curlew Dingo Emu Koala Red kangaroo Short-beaked echidna Tammar wallaby Tasmanian devil Western brush wallaby Western grey kangaroo
A specially designed exhibit in this area visitors can access on a slight detour is the 'Numbats Under Threat' exhibit, which showcases the endangered Western Australian marsupial and several other species in both the large main enclosure and the walkthrough exhibit fronting the entrance. The species in this area are:
Numbat Quokka Rufous whistler Splendid fairy-wren
Another detour takes visitors to the 'Western Australian Black Cockatoo' exhibit aviaries, planted with cockatoo food trees and home to:
Baudin's cockatoo Carnaby's black cockatoo Forest red-tailed black cockatoo
A walk-in aviary is located close in the 'Australian Bushwalk' area of the zoo and is home to:
Black-winged stilt Blue-and-yellow macaw Brush bronzewing Elegant parrot Indian peafowl Purple-crowned lorikeet Sun conure
Australian Wetlands This exhibit begins with an entrance building which exhibits:
Green tree frog Splendid tree frog Western swamp turtle White-lipped tree frog
The Australian Wetlands main area is a wetlands habitat which houses:
Australasian shoveler Black swan Black-necked stork Black-winged stilt Blue-billed duck Brolga Bush stone-curlew Eastern great egret Freckled duck Glossy ibis Green pygmy goose Little pied cormorant Pied heron Plumed whistling duck Radjah shelduck Royal spoonbill
The main exhibit walkway leads to an area (built in 1998 and upgraded 2015) which exhibits for:
Estuarine crocodile Freshwater crocodile
Penguin Plunge Penguin Plunge opened in 1998 and includes a pool of filtered salt water with underwater viewing, a beach, a reef, and a rookery. The exhibit is home to:
Australian little penguin Bridled tern
Nocturnal House The Nocturnal House was opened in 1977 and is designed in a circular viewing layout that lets visitors circumnavigate the interior of the building while viewing nocturnal animals (mainly Australian-native species) under simulated moonlight. Species kept in this building include:
Bilby Black-footed tree-rat Cane toad Chuditch Dibbler Feathertail glider Ghost bat Hide beetle Jungle carpet python Margaret River hairy marron Monteith's leaf insect Pilbara olive python Quenda Rough-scaled python Savannah glider Spiny leaf insect Sunda slow loris Tawny frogmouth Western ringtail possum
Primate Trail The Primate Trail exhibit opened in 1985 and is home to lemurs and monkeys including:
Black-and-white ruffed lemur Common marmoset Cotton-top tamarin Emperor tamarin Pygmy marmoset Ring-tailed lemur
Red-rumped agouti (a pair are also housed in an exhibit in this part of the zoo)
Reptile Encounter The Reptile Encounter reptile-house was opened on World Environment Day in June 1997. It contains 17 exhibits designed to match the animal's natural habitat. The building is climate controlled, and displays reptile species from around the world including:
Bell's hinge-back tortoise Black-headed python Centralian blue-tongued skink Common death adder Corn snake Dugite Inland bearded dragon Madagascar giant day gecko Merten's water monitor Pebble-mimic dragon Perentie Pygmy spiny-tailed skink Rough-scaled python Southwestern carpet python Tiger snake Veiled chameleon Western blue-tongued skink Woma python
Gibbon Crossing Opened in July 2025, the two large tropical islands on the zoo's main lake with tall trees are connected with hundreds of metres of aerial pathway ropes high connected to a climbing tower base. The ropes extend out to the trees on the zoo's main lawn so the gibbons can climb along the rope pathways and back to the island habitats. Javan gibbon Northern white-cheeked gibbon
Main lake Near the entrance to the zoo is the main lake, completed in 1972. Many different species of native water birds freely flock to the lake including:
Australasian darter Australasian shoveler Australian pelican Australian shelduck Australian white ibis Black swan Black-faced cormorant Cattle egret Dusky moorhen Eurasian coot Gray teal Great cormorant Little black cormorant Little pied cormorant Nankeen night-heron Pacific black duck Silver gull White-eyed duck
A nearby tropical forest with a boardwalk through the centre is home to:
Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo Southern cassowary
The Rainforest Retreat The zoo's Rainforest Retreat was planted between 1994 and 1996, and is a area of the zoo which showcases botanical flora of the tropical zones of the world through a winding rainforest path. Additionally, several species of threatened frogs have been bred and raised in this area of the zoo for wild release, including sunset frog, orange-bellied frog and white-bellied frog.
Additional Photo Gallery
Scenic Heritage Trail The Scenic Heritage Trail is a self-guided walk that takes visitors around the zoo and shows off its historical buildings. Buildings included in this walk are the bird feed shed, kite cage, bear caves, hay shed, mineral baths from 1898, replicas of tennis shelters from 1903, the Scout Hall built in 1931, the 1947 carousel that is still in use, and the Gate Zoo Residence that was built in the 1960s.
Conservation
The zoo participates in a number of breeding programs for endangered species, both native Australian and non-native species. Some Australian species are bred for release into managed habitats in Western Australia, whereas the non-native species are for increasing genetic diversification in zoo population.
Exotic species