Santa Ana Zoo celebrates its 70th anniversary and $2 million in funding for educational building

After Ethan Fisher looked over old photos of the Santa Ana Zoo from the 1950s, he marveled at how much the zoo has grown over the years.

“It’s amazing to look at those photos and really see that there was not a whole lot here,” Fisher, the zoo’s director, said over the phone this week. “Almost every tree within the zoo’s 20 acres was planted since the 1950s. You’re walking through this forest and you’re seeing the animals, and it’s amazing the amount of growth that has taken place within the zoo and then also around the zoo in the community.”

When the zoo opened in 1952, there were essentially only four species of monkeys and not much else, he said. The zoo didn’t even have a fence around it.

“Really, it was just a few cages with some monkeys in it,” said Fisher, who started at the zoo as a volunteer in 1999.

Over the years, a bear, golden eagles and some other native wildlife were added, he said. Fisher said the zoo development really took off in the 1980s, with the zoo developing a master plan in 1989. More modern exhibits were built in the ensuing years, including Amazon’s Edge, Colors of the Amazon Aviary, the Zoofari Express train ride and others.

“We want to be a place where the community can gather and learn about conservation and inspire them into action,” Fisher said. “Also, we want to provide the best welfare we can for the animals that are living in our care.”

A family watches a gibbon swing in his exhibit at the Santa Ana Zoo.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

As part of its 70th anniversary celebration on Tuesday, the zoo also announced that it secured $2 million in funding from state Sen. Tom Umberg for a new educational building.

Fisher said the funding will really help “move the needle forward” with the design and construction of the educational building. The zoo will now hire an architecture firm to design the building, then it will go out to bid to hire a contractor to construct the facility. Fisher estimated that it will take between 18 months to two years to complete the roughly 3,000- to 4,000-square-foot project.

Fisher described the planned building as a multiuse facility that can be used as a classroom for schoolchildren who are visiting the zoo for field trips. The building will also host meetings and exhibits.

“It’ll be an additional place in the zoo that we can do programs indoors — there’s not that many indoor facilities at the zoo,” Fisher said.

A bird exhibit on display at the Santa Ana Zoo.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

A major goal of the educational center will be to increase outreach to underserved youth in the community.

Fisher said the zoo is still in the process of planning the various programs for the new building, but it will likely include events that are part of the zoo program, “Community Connections: The Zoo & You,” which connects the zoo to the community through interactive programs for children.

As part of the program, kits can be sent to people’s homes, and they can be used in conjunction with a live Zoom session with zoo staff. Also, zoo staff will go to different parks in the city to provide educational activities for children.

“We have such a special place with the zoo in Santa Ana, and we want to leverage the informal science opportunities that the zoo can provide,” Fisher said. “There are not a lot of places where you can go locally and see wild animals or be in an urban forest. So that’s a great thing that we can offer to people within just a few miles of here.”

The zoo also provides a number of ways for youth to get involved with conservation efforts, including through internships, volunteering or helping out with the Frog Pod, where they can help raise endangered frogs for release back to the wild.

A cotton-top tamarin monkey stares at visitors as he rests on his perch at the Santa Ana Zoo.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

The educational building is part of the zoo’s master plan for the next two decades.

One of the major highlights of the master plan is an expansion of what has been known as “Monkey Row” into the “Primate Forest.” The monkey habitats will be enlarged, guests will be able to see the monkeys at eye-level on elevated walkways and there will be a garden trail. That’s expected to be tackled within the next couple of years.

The goat trails at the zoo will also be modified so guests can interact with the animals more freely.

In January, the zoo broke ground on the most complex project in its history — a $6.6-million river otter habitat that will also feature an elevated trail system for primates to travel overhead. The project is expected to open in summer 2023.

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