The Sacramento Zoo is a zoo located in William Land Park in Sacramento, California. It opened on June 2, 1927, with 40 animals. At that time, it occupied, which remained the case until the early 1960s when the zoo expanded to its current., the zoo had just over 500 animals on site.HistoryThe zoo opened as the 4.2acre "William Land Park Zoo" on June 2, 1927, with 40 animals brought together from various local parks, including monkeys, raccoons, birds, and deer.In 1948, the Sacramento Union Newspaper sponsored a drive to raise money to buy the zoo an elephant. In the fall of 1949, SUE (the “Sacramento Union Elephant”), so named by local teenage sisters Jacklyn and Carolyn Bolton via a contest sponsored by the Union, arrived at the zoo, much to the delight of area visitors. In 1955, the zoo bought “Winky”, Sue’s companion.The Sacramento Zoological Society formed in 1958 to support and raise funds for the zoo as city funding began to dwindle. The year 1958 also brought along the start of the zoo’s educational programming, at that time, one of only nine zoos in the United States to have such a program. In 1997, the society took over day-to-day operation of the zoo.The zoo was expanded to in the early 1960s, with new habitats built in most areas of the zoo. In 1965, the zoo received its first grizzly bear and two orangutans, and began charging 25 cents for admission. The current name was adopted in 1970, along with the completion of the reptile house and the creation of a docent program.
