Elephant Reserve (currently unoccupied) The Herbivora building was constructed in 1906 for $50,000, a huge sum at the time, which was home to the zoo's
Elephants,
Giraffes,
Hippopotamuses, and
Rhinoceroses until the late 1990s. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, it is considered one of the most spectacular historic buildings in the world. At long and wide, this was the largest and most complete concrete animal building in the world, intended for hoofed animals. In 2000, the attraction became Vanishing Giants, featuring
giraffes,
okapis, and
elephants. From 2007 to 2008, the giraffe and okapi yards were renovated into a food court area, and their respective species were moved to other areas in the zoo. It has since undergone several renovations and became the Cincinnati Zoo's Elephant Reserve at that time. Elephant Reserve was the home to two subspecies of the
Asian elephant in a exhibit with a 60,000-gallon pool in the female yard. The zoo has been trying to breed the two, but they have been unsuccessful since their last baby in 1998. As of October 1st, 2024, the elephants were moved to the Elephant Trek. The current Elephant Reserve is to become Giraffe Tower sometime in the future.
P&G Discovery Forest Renovated in 1989, this classroom is used for live animal demonstrations for school groups and zoo visitors presented regularly during the summer. The building houses a few species, including a
Linnaeus's two-toed sloths,
blue-and-yellow macaws, and
boa constrictors. It also contains many small animals used for demonstrations as part of the zoo’s visitor engagement program.
Eagle Eyrie This flight cage opened in 1970 as one of the largest flight cages of its time. Originally containing
bald eagles, these were moved elsewhere, and the exhibit currently features a
Steller's sea eagle and an
Andean condor.
Reptile House The Reptile House is America's oldest surviving zoo building, built in 1875. Originally, it housed monkeys and other primates until 1951. Now, it is home to over 30 reptile species from around the world in both indoor and outdoor exhibits. Selected species include
Chinese alligators,
Gila monsters,
brown anoles,
emerald tree monitors,
quince monitors,
Pascagoula map turtles,
pancake tortoises,
spider tortoises,
poison dart frogs,
Titicaca water frogs,
hellbenders,
black rat snakes,
corn snakes,
rattlesnakes,
pine snakes,
king cobras,
Indochinese spitting cobras,
boa constrictors,
emerald tree boas and
West African Gaboon vipers. Neighboring the Reptile House are two outdoor exhibits featuring the
Galápagos tortoises and rescued bald eagles, the latter formerly contained
Japanese macaques.
Gorilla World This exhibit opened in 1978 as a naturalistic, rain forest habitat for the Cincinnati Zoo's
western lowland gorillas. The Cincinnati Zoo leads the country in
gorilla births with 48. Elle was the last gorilla born at the zoo in 2015. The zoo holds the record for having 6 gorilla births in one year in 1995. In this same year, one of their gorillas gave birth to the world's first test-tube gorilla. Near the gorilla exhibits, the zoo also features
black-and-white colobus monkeys.
Night Hunters (
Leopardus pardalis) and her cub at the zoo The Carnivora Building was built in 1952. In 1985, it was renovated to become the Cat House. From 2010 to 2011, it was renovated again to become the Night Hunters exhibit. It is home to many nocturnal and/or predatory animals previously found in other exhibits throughout the zoo, including
aardvarks,
aardwolves,
binturong,
black-footed cats,
fishing cats,
clouded leopards,
common vampire bats,
fennec foxes,
Indian flying foxes,
northern greater galagos,
large-spotted genets,
ocelots,
Pallas's cats,
ringtails, a
Gambian pouched rat,
sand cats, and
tawny frogmouths. During the day, lights inside the building are kept very low to allow visitors to view the animals in their natural nocturnal habitats.
Cat Canyon Cat Canyon links the Night Hunters experience with the former Tiger Canyon area to include new exhibits for
cougars,
Malayan tigers, and
snow leopards. Cat Canyon provides an exciting, sensory adventure into the world of the great feline predators while strengthening the Zoo's commitment to the conservation of threatened species through education and scientific research in the wild and at the zoo. Included at the end of this trail is an exhibit housing
Eurasian eagle-owls.
World of the Insect Opened in 1978, this is the largest building in North America devoted to the display of live insects. The Cincinnati Zoo has been given four awards by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association for successful propagation of insects, and World of the Insect received the prized American Zoo and Aquarium Association exhibit award in 1979. This building also features the longest ant exhibit in the world, housing colonies of
leafcutter ants. Some of its species include
Antilles pinktoe tarantulas,
Brazilian whiteknee tarantulas,
dragon-headed katydids,
Eastern lubber grasshoppers,
marbled crayfish,
Texas bullet ants and
water scorpions. Despite being an insect house, it also displays
Fire belly newts, the
Phelsuma grandis,
poison dart frogs,
Argentine horned frogs and even
naked mole-rats Dragons! This building features five species of colorful monitor lizards ranging from Southeast Asia and Australia. In the past, this exhibit housed other animal species until the zoo received the largest
Komodo dragon to ever live in captivity in the Western Hemisphere, named Naga. He was a gift from
George H. W. Bush from the
Indonesian Government. The Cincinnati Zoo was the second U.S. zoo to exhibit Komodo dragons and the second zoo to breed them outside of
Indonesia. The exhibit was renovated in 2009 and opened in June 2010. A few other species of lizards such as
armadillo girdled lizards,
blue tree monitors and
Nile monitors are also housed in this complex.
Lemur Lookout This open-aired exhibit was built in 1962 as Baboon Island and renovated as Ibex Island. It allows guests to look down at some of the zoo's
ring-tailed lemurs on a tall, man-made rock with many lush and shady areas, surrounded by a small stream.
Wings of Wonder Wings of Wonder is an educational live show featuring different species of birds.
Otto M. Budig Manatee Springs Manatee Springs, a $4,500,000 attraction, opened on May 21, 1999, and was awarded the Munson Aquatic Conservation Exhibitry Award and a Significant Achievement Exhibit Award from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association in 2000. The sights, sounds, and smells of
Florida greet visitors as they enter Manatee Springs. Close-up viewing on both dry land, as well as dramatic underwater viewing of over 45 magnificent species provide an exciting experience for every Zoo visitor. Manatee Springs facilities include a greenhouse (304 m2) and an exhibit building (1035 m2). The entire facility (1339 m2) includes 171 m2 (1,900 ft²) of staff and support areas and 369m² (4,100 ft²) of filtration equipment space on two levels. The manatee tank is 120,000 gallons with 3 viewing areas including a bubble window. In addition to the central exhibit with
Florida manatees, other Florida species are featured, including
American alligators,
American crocodiles,
alligator gars,
alligator snapping turtles,
coastal plain cooters,
loggerhead musk turtles,
greater sirens,
two-toed amphiumas and the invasive
Burmese python.
Siegfried and Roy's White Lions of Timbavati This exhibit opened as Big Cat Canyon in 1975, containing three one-year old White tigers. In February and August of 1988, the Zoo obtained rare
white lion cubs donated to the zoo by
Siegfried and Roy. These lions successfully bred four offspring in April 2001, but as of May 2022, they had all died. The exhibit temporarily contained
Bennett's wallabies and now contains the zoo’s
Mexican wolf population.
Rhino Reserve Built in 1935 as the African Veldt with large hoofed animals, the series of exhibits was renovated in 1997 to become Rhino Reserve. This area is home to Flamingo Cove with over twenty
greater flamingos. The Cincinnati Zoo ranks as a U.S. leader in breeding
eastern black rhinos with eighteen births over the course of their existence. Other featured species include
okapi,
yellow-backed duiker,
plains zebra,
eastern bongo, and
Visayan warty pigs. On July 17, 2017, a black rhino calf, Kendi, was born to parents Faru and Seyia. Kendi's birth was captured on camera and can be viewed on the zoo's website. Curator of mammals at the zoo, Christina Gorsuch states, "This calf is only the fifth eastern black rhino born in the last two years in North America." She goes on to say "Every rhino calf born is incredibly important for the population, which includes fewer than 60 in North America. Calves will stay with their mothers for 3–4 years which means that the average female can only have one calf every 5 years." In 2015, AZA and
Species Survival Plan (SSP) determined that parents Utenzi (known in Cincinnati as Faru) and Seyia were a good genetic match and recommended that they breed. Faru came to Cincinnati from Atlanta in the summer of 2015 and was introduced to Seyia. Kendi was sent to
San Diego Zoo Safari Park October of 2019 and later to the
Honolulu Zoo in 2022. Faru and Seyia's second calf, a male named Ajani Joe, was born in August 2020. Faru/Utenzi was moved to the
Lincoln Park Zoo in September 2022. The zoo's two current rhinos, Seyia and A.J, are planned to be transferred out in 2025.
Spaulding Children's Zoo Renovated in 1984–1985, of exhibits that feature common
barnyard animals, animals of the eastern American woodlands, and animals of the southwest American desert such as
alpacas,
llamas,
Nigerian Dwarf goats,
Juliana pigs,
guinea pigs as well as
Brazilian porcupines,
radiated tortoises and
southern tamanduas. There is a nursery where guests can see either babies born at the zoo or babies that came to the zoo. Volunteers and keepers bring a certain harmless animal out every day for guests to be able to touch, and learn more about them. Lucille, a two-year old binturong, is the ambassador for the
Cincinnati Bearcats, there is also a
ground squirrel named Yam, Scamper, a rescued
American red fox, and a
Virginia opossum named Opal who was rescued in Northern Ohio in early 2023, she was brought to the zoo to educate guests about the importance of local wildlife.
Gibbon Islands Completed in 1972, Gibbon Islands occupies the former location of the old Opera Pavilion. (From 1920 to 1971, the Cincinnati Zoo was home to the
Cincinnati Opera Summer Festival.) These two islands are surrounded by water that flows from Swan Lake. Bamboo exercise bars are the stage for
yellow-cheeked gibbons who entertain visitors with their acrobatic antics and loud whooping calls while climbing on their giant jungle gyms.
Red Panda Habitat taking a stroll at the zoo Opened in 1985, this naturalistic woodland landscape includes many native Chinese plant species to simulate the natural forest habitat of the
red panda. One pair of red pandas was a gift to the Cincinnati Zoo from the
Beijing Zoo in China. These lavish exhibits are opened aired, connected by a small flowing stream under low elevated bridge. It also provides many tall trees for the three red pandas to relax and sleep on.
Swan Lake This big body of water takes up a lot of the zoo's ground near the entrance. The Cincinnati Zoo was the first place to exhibit and breed
red-crowned cranes,
trumpeter swans,
wood ducks and various other waterfowl species are kept here.
Wolf Woods Wolf Woods opened in 2005 after a renovation of Otter Creek. After another renovation in the summer of 2011, the second section focuses on the conservation story of the
Mexican gray wolf native to the
southwestern United States. Here, a rustic, historical trapper's
cabin has been converted into a Mexican wolf field research station. Other species include the
gray foxes,
North American river otters, and
barred owls.
North America Formerly Bear Ridge, the exhibit was retooled to house North American wildlife, along with
American black bears and
sea otters in Fall 2025. A short “Adventure Trail” at the top of North America was also added that allows visitors to explore rockwork, find surprise animal statues in nooks, and cross over a rope bridge that simulates a hiking experience in a national forest or park. It was also formerly Lords of the Arctic, which opened in 2000, housing species representing the northern parts of the world in a attraction. Originally housing
polar bears; the last individual having died in 2021, the exhibit also featured
Arctic foxes.
Jungle Trails Jungle Trails takes visitors through a naturalized rain forest habitat, teeming with rare and exotic wildlife and hundreds of plant species from Asia, South America, and Africa. Each region in the exhibit is divided by outdoor and indoor habitats with enjoyable viewing of the Zoo's collection of rare primates birds, reptiles, insects, small mammals. The attraction received the AZA prestigious exhibit award in 1994, a year after it opened. First, a series of outdoor exhibits features
Sumatran orangutans,
white-handed gibbons,
Müller's gibbons,
helmeted curassows and
blue-throated macaws. Next, an indoor building houses
pygmy slow loris,
golden-headed lion tamarins, and
white-faced sakis, in addition to indoor housing for the orangutans and gibbons. Further on, another series of outdoor exhibits features
black howlers,
bonobos,
Coquerel's sifakas, and
Angola colobuses. The second building features
West African pottos, and an
aye-aye.
Birds of the World (
Ramphastos ambiguus swainsonii) Birds of the World features a wide-variety of bird species from throughout the entire world, including a selection of aviaries that guests can enter to get up close and personal. Birds housed include
Bali mynas,
boat-billed herons,
buff-crested bustards,
Guam rails,
Inca terns,
masked lapwings,
sunbitterns,
thick-billed parrots,
penguins and
puffins. (outside) •
Salmon-crested cockatoo •
Cape Barren goose •
Major Mitchell's cockatoo (inside) • South America:
Scarlet ibis,
Sunbittern,
Boat-billed heron,
Southern lapwing,
Indian peafowl (indigenous to Asia),
Peruvian pigeon,
Cattle egret,
Blue-grey tanager,
Red-capped cardinal,
Yellow-rumped cacique,
Inca tern,
Guira cuckoo,
Matamata turtle •
Blue-faced honeyeater,
Asian fairy bluebird • Australasia:
Bali mynah,
White-breasted woodswallow,
Guam rail,
White-naped pheasant pigeon,
Nicobar pigeon,
Masked lapwing,
Shama thrush,
Collared finchbill,
Blue-crowned laughingthrush • Mexico:
Thick-billed parrot •
African Savannah:
Buff-crested bustard,
Golden-breasted starling,
Red-and-yellow barbet,
Yellow-fronted canary,
Crested coua • Southeast Asia:
Rhinoceros hornbill • Northern Oceans:
Atlantic puffin,
Pigeon guillemot,
Common murre,
Smew,
Common eider,
King eider,
Harlequin duck,
Horned puffin • Southern Oceans:
King penguin,
Magellanic penguin,
Southern rockhopper penguin,
Chiloe wigeon,
Black-faced ibis • Free Flight Aviary:
Victoria crowned pigeon,
Ruddy shelduck,
Chestnut-bellied malkoha,
Kea,
Magpie goose,
Lady Ross's turaco,
Red-legged seriema,
Pied imperial pigeon,
Ring-billed gull Africa demonstrates reaching for prey The $1.6 million Dobsa Giraffe Ridge opened on June 6, 2008, and allows guests to feed
Masai giraffes from a tall elevated platform. Guests can also view the giraffes in their indoor stalls especially during winter. In the 2010s the zoo built an Africa exhibit, the largest animal exhibit in its history. Phases I and II, completed in 2010, added an exhibit for cranes and expanded the Cheetah Encounter yard so that the
cheetahs had a 40% larger running space. Phase III opened on June 29, 2013, and included a wider vista that offers visitors an opportunity to see
African lions,
servals, a
bat-eared fox,
African wild dogs, and a new cheetah exhibit. A new Base Camp Café, said to be the greenest restaurant in the US, was also added in the 2013 season. Phase IV, the largest phase of the Africa expansion, opened on June 28, 2014. It introduced a wide savanna with
lesser kudus, a
saddle-billed stork,
common ostriches,
crested guineafowl,
pink-backed pelicans,
Rüppell's vultures,
lappet-faced vultures, and
grey crowned cranes. Phase V, the final phase of the expansion, opened on July 23, 2016, adding an area for
Nile hippos, Hippo Cove, which provides both above and below-water viewing. On the morning of January 24, 2017, Bibi gave birth to a six-weeks premature calf. in Hippo Cove The baby female hippo, named
Fiona by zoo staff, is the first hippo to be born at the zoo in 75 years. Fiona was also the first
Nile hippo to ever be captured on an
ultrasound image. After intensive care from zoo keepers, veterinarians, and NICU specialists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Fiona survived. The story of her trials and success made her an internet celebrity and city hero, and has dramatically increased zoo attendance. Henry's health declined later in 2017 and he was euthanized on October 31. On August 24, 2022, Bibi gave birth to another calf which weighed roughly 60 pounds. This calf was named Fritz, which was decided through a public vote.
Painted Dog Valley at the zoo •
African painted dog •
Meerkat Hippo Cove •
Hippopotamus •
Nile tilapia Roo Valley In August 2020, the Cincinnati Zoo finished the first part of their master plan "More Home To Roam". They turned their old Wildlife Canyon exhibit (former home of the critically endangered
Sumatran rhino) into an exhibit called Roo Valley, the exhibit features the Zoo's first-ever kangaroo walkabout, with a new beer garden and restaurant, a big rope course over the habitat, and provides the largest outdoor
little penguin habitat. Roo Valley adds five new species to the zoo as well, including
red and
western grey kangaroos,
Australian wood ducks,
New Zealand scaups and
freckled ducks, the latter three species living side by side with the little penguins.
African Penguin Point In September 2020, the Cincinnati Zoo finished the second part of the master plan. They turned their old sea lion habitat, sometimes referred to as "Seal Falls" until the passing of Duke the
California sea lion in 2019, into a bigger exhibit for their
African penguins, increasing their breeding success rate, while at the same time including some other African sea birds like the
white-breasted cormorants,
great white pelicans, and
yellow-billed ducks.
Harry and Linda Fath Elephant Trek On June 15, 2021, the Zoo Broke ground on the Biggest Habitat in Zoo History: The Harry and Linda Fath Elephant Trek. The Elephant Trek is five times the size of the Zoo's former elephant habitat. The current exhibit opened on October 1st, 2024 and is home to a multi-generational herd of eight
Asian elephants, including a family unit from the
Dublin Zoo and four elephants that the zoo had before construction. It includes swimming pools, streams, overhead feeding stations, mud wallows, and enrichment opportunities at every turn. These enrichments encourage movement and other natural behaviors. The herd of eight can access three different yards that serve different purposes and can accommodate separation for training and medical procedures. It is also home to
Vietnamese pheasants and
Azure-winged magpies. Phase 2 opened on April 14th, 2025 and includes
Siamang’s Point, a
rhinoceros hornbill exhibit,
Asian small-clawed otters and a
Babirusa for the Clawed River Otter Habitat and the New Picnic Shelter Complex. ==Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW)==