After the formation and construction of a duck pond in Thompson Park, community members began bringing their own animal exhibits to the area. Thompson Park is in north Amarillo along the Dumas Highway and encompasses 667 acres of beautiful land. Next to the recreation area is Wonderland Amusement Park. This amusement park was built in 1951 after the director of Parks and Recreation for Amarillo promised Paul and Alethea Roads that he would beautify the area. The park also contains a few playground areas as well as a pool, a disc golf course, and the Amarillo Zoo.
The Amarillo Zoo began two years after the duck pond was built in 1955 when barnyard exhibits were put in place. It was called “Children’s Story Land Zoo” and contained 25 animals that were primarily known for being kept in a barn. The land it sat on was about 2.5 acres big and was expanded to 14 acres in 1989. This was also the year the name was changed to Amarillo Zoo. Over the years, animals such as coyotes, bears, monkeys, and various other species were added. When the demand for the zoo grew, various other structures were put in place such as a children’s playground petting zoo.
With the expansion of the land the zoo was located on came the growth of the number of animals the zoo contained. Major exhibits such as the Spider Monkeys, plains animals, and the North American Blackbear. Over the course of its lifetime, the zoo grew and grew and in 2006, the Cat Management Building was opened. This structure is home to four different species of large cat. In 2009, the Herpetarium opened to accommodate 26 exhibits built to house reptiles and amphibians both exotic and native. A 3600 square foot education center was constructed and opened in 2013 with classroom space, the zoo’s education animal collection, exhibits, and office space.
Every year, the Amarillo Zoo attracts 200,000 visitors and continues on its course of development. Animal exhibits include a variety of mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, and invertebrates. Notable mammal exhibits include the African Lion, American Blackbear, Bengal Tiger, Black Handed Spider Monkey, and Serval. Reptiles worth seeing while visiting the Amarillo Zoo include the African Spurred Tortoise, the Ball Python, the Green Iguana, and Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.
The Amarillo Zoo hosts educational programs in the form of field trips, camps, ZooSchool, ZooMobile, and homeschool at the zoo. If you pay the zoo’s website a visit, you can see educational worksheets that the zoo provides for different grade level’s field trip visits. For Pre-K and Kindergarten aged kids, a “Tails and Toes Scavenger Hunt” worksheet is provided. For Grades 1-3, an Adaptation, Food Chain, and Vertebrate 5 Worksheet are available. For grades 4-6 an Adaptation Survival, Food Web, and Wildlife Conservation Worksheet is accessible.
If you aren’t part of a school group and aren’t interested in any camps or other educational programs offered by the zoo, you can visit between the hours of 9:30 AM and 5:00 PM. Infants between 0 and 2 years are free, children 3 through 12 are $2.50, seniors 62 or older are $3.50, and adults between 13 and 61 are $4.50. They also offer volunteer opportunities for community members who are interested in animals of all kinds.
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Map from Amarillo Zoo to WilsonHaag:
Map from Amarillo Zoo to American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum: