SAN ANTONIO – Did you know that the San Antonio Zoo is the third largest zoo in America?
That’s right!
FUN facts about the San Antonio Zoo:
- Stretches over 34 acres
- Houses more than 3,500 animals and an aquarium!
- More than 1,000,000 guests visit the San Antonio zoo annually - 13,155 of those are children participating in educational programs and 80,000 school children coming on field trips
Before it expanded to what it is today, a modest collection of animals compiled by historical San Antonio icon Colonel George W. Brackenridge was assembled in 1914 in what is now known as Brackenridge Park.
The collection included: buffalo, elk, deer, monkeys, a pair of lions, and four bears.
The first cageless exhibits in America opened at the San Antonio Zoo in 1929, followed by the Richard Friedrich Aquarium in 1948 and the Hixon Bird House in 1966.
Fast forward to 2018, and now you can see dinosaurs at the zoo - for real - this summer, Zoorassic park is taking over the zoo, featuring a wide variety of prehistoric pals.
So thanks, to Colonel George W. Brackenridge, for assembling your super team of exciting animals -- not knowing that one day the whole world would come to visit.
For more fun facts about San Antonio, visit ksat.com/sa300.
Information courtesy of the San Antonio Zoo.