John Ball Zoological Garden

Early history The original was donated to the city by noted pioneer and explorer John Ball upon his death in 1884. Shortly after, another was added and this marked the beginning of additional amenities, including ponds, a theater, a band shell, playgrounds, ball fields, trails, and the zoo. City commission records provide the first mention of animals on the property in 1891, when there was a debate about whether city money should be used to purchase more animals to add to the existing wounded and orphaned animals. was started in 1949 with an opening date of June 1, 1950. During the 1950–1960s, John Ball Zoo was built in the hills of the property. In 2004, a ballot was put forward to voters in Kent County to relocate the John Ball Zoological Gardens; the referendum was defeated, and the zoo will remain at its current location for the foreseeable future. rests in the shade in the African Veldt Exhibit In 2005, a new $75–100 million master plan for the zoo was made involving all of the zoo and property. Besides the existing camels, African veld, chimps, petting zoo, and animal hospital exhibits, it reworks the whole zoo. The new plan for the zoo features a system of streams named "Grand Rivers of the World" that would connect the zoo to the property surrounding the zoo. On April 27, 2007, the zoo broke ground on the first phase of the new master plan, starting construction of a $4.1 million "BISSELL Lions of Lake Manyara" exhibit. The zoo has not had a lion since "Gilda", their last lion, died of old age in 2005. The exhibit was built for six lions, but only three were placed in the exhibit. On June 21, 2008, the new green lion exhibit was open to the public. s in the Stingray Lagoon Kent County including in the 2008-2009 Capital Improvement Allocation half the cost of renovation of the Monkey Island Exhibit. The other half of renovation is supposed to come from the zoo society. In 2014 the zoo formed a non profit to take ownership of the zoo independent of Kent county to help facilitate further growth for the institution. On July 8, 2016, the stingray lagoon exhibit was closed after all 18 cownose stingrays and three spotted bamboo sharks died due to a mechanical malfunction. A heavy rainstorm, which shorted a pump circuit, was blamed for the deaths. The backup system intended to alert zoo officials of a pump failure also failed. Inclined railway In August 2012, an inclined railway was opened at the zoo. A train of three cars linked together provides a four-minute ride to the upper areas of the park. The zoo calls it a funicular, but technically it is in the category of inclined elevator since there are not two vehicles (or trains in this case) that counterbalance each other. In either case the configuration as a three-car train rather than one car makes it an unusual example. ==Animal collection==

Most animals at John Ball Zoo were born in another zoo. Few of the animals are taken from the wild. Almost all the wild animals are at the zoo because they sustained injuries and can no longer live in their natural habitat. In 2004, the zoo added a Komodo dragon named Precious. Precious died in December 2014, of natural causes. During 2005, the zoo created an Australian walk-through exhibit that featured wallabies and budgies. The wallabies, if they want to, can come out in the walk way to be petted. On May 9, 2007, the river otters had a baby boy. It first went out in the exhibit mid-July. In early September, the female black-footed cat had two kittens. The ring-tailed lemur exhibit was started in March 2009 and came out in May. In 2010, the zoo brought in a troop of Guinea baboons, the largest alligator outside of Florida, moved their flamingos to another pond, and altered the old tiger exhibit to hold a rock hyrax and a group of colobus monkeys. In 2021, John Ball Zoo announced that a new habitat at the entrance of the zoo was in the process of being built for pygmy hippos, the exhibit will also be home to a pair of white storks. The exhibit is planned to open in 2023. In 2022, John Ball Zoo hosted two male koalas from the San Diego Zoo Global Education and Conservation Project. After they arrived, their exhibit opened on May 11, 2022. The zoo also offers a number of 'Close Encounters' guests can book for an additional cost, including visiting with a red panda, feeding a hippo, or interacting with a sloth. ;Mammals • African lion • Amur tiger • Black-headed spider monkey • Black howler monkey • Cape porcupine • Canada lynx • Capybara • Chimpanzee • Cotton-top tamarin • Cougar • Dromedary camel • Eastern bongo • Geoffroy's spider monkey • Giant anteater • Goeldi's monkey • Grizzly bear • Meerkat • North American porcupine • North American river otter • Pygmy hippopotamus • Red-necked wallaby • Red panda • Ring-tailed lemur • Six-banded armadillo • Snow leopard • Warthog • White-faced saki monkey • White-nosed coati ;Birds • African grey parrot • Bald eagle • Barn owl • Black swan • Budgerigar • Chilean flamingo • Crested screamer • Common barn owl • Egyptian goose • Golden eagle • Great horned owl • Kelp gull • Magellanic penguin • Pied crow • Snowy owl • Southern ground hornbill • Sulphur-crested cockatoo • Toco toucan • Von der Decken's hornbill • White stork ;Reptiles • Baron's racer • Boa constrictor • Carrot-tail viper gecko • Chinese crocodile lizard • Chuckwalla • Cuvier's dwarf caiman • Green keel-bellied lizard • Geyr’s spiny-tailed lizard • Gila monster • Grand Cayman blue iguana • Green anaconda • Green tree python • Madagascar giant day gecko • Northern water snake • Reticulated python • Tiger ratsnake • Western diamond back ;Amphibians • Emperor newt • Chacoan horned frog • Dyeing poison dart frog • Golden poison dart frog • Grey tree frog • Kaup's caecilian • Magnificent tree frog • Mantella frog • Panamanian golden frog • Poison dart frog • Red-eyed tree frog • Reed frog • Sambava tomato frog • Vietnamese mossy frog ;Fish • Brook trout • Lake sturgeon • Leopard shark • Moray eel • Nurse shark • Rainbow trout • Señorita • Wolf eel ;Invertebrates • Brazilian salmon tarantula • Giant cave cockroach • Giant Japanese spider crab • Sea anemone • Sea star • Sea urchin • Spiny lobster ==Education and conservation==

Education John Ball Zoo School is a sixth grade only magnet school for the Grand Rapids Public Schools. Each year, sixty students are selected for the school. The school teaches the normal Grand Rapids Public Schools curriculum but with a specialization using the zoo as a lab. The John Ball Zoo school has extra curricular studies and admission is based mostly on students' Michigan Educational Assessment Program scores. The students are required to complete large projects, including studying current events and environmental issues as part of the specialized curriculum. Learning is done mostly by hands-on experiences; for instance, students are able to go to the zoo frequently and have extended yet limited access to go inside certain animal enclosures. Wildlife Conservation Fund In 1985, a conservation fund was started by John Boyles. The fund pays special attention to native Michigan animals, but also has funded programs in support of endangered amphibians and reptiles. The Wildlife Conservation Fund has funded projects that helped conserve wildlife and habitats in 30 countries. == See also ==