At the time, the collection consisted mainly of non-exotic animals, except for "Miss Fancy," a lone elephant donated by the Birmingham Advertising Club which had purchased it as a promotional novelty from a struggling circus stranded in the city.

They were put in contact with the few municipal zoos existing in that period and plans began for providing a new permanent home for the growing attraction.

[7] The Works Progress Administration built a fish hatchery and a number of pavilions from the Hartselle sandstone quarried out of the mountain within the park's borders.

[1] The budget would be spent to build six exhibits with the opening of the zoo that included "Monkey Island," an elephant house, bear moat, birdhouse, snake pit and seal pool.

The Jimmy Morgan Zoo operated as a quasi-private venture until city of Birmingham decided to assume responsibility in November 1955.

[1] In 1999, members of the Alabama Zoological Society worked with Birmingham mayor Richard Arrington Jr. and other political leaders to set up a public-private partnership to operate the zoo.

The new organization established a transitional funding package with contributions from four government entities to support BZI during its first five years of operation.

[10][11] A fourth bull elephant named Tamani arrived from Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo in April 2012 to complete the herd.

[23] In June 2022, a five-year-old eastern black rhinoceros named Moyo successfully arrived from the Saint Louis Zoo.

[24] Around that same time in summer of 2022, a five-year-old female eastern black rhinoceros named Kesi arrived from the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium to be Moyo's potential mate.

The exhibit is revolutionary; a US zoo had never before housed multiple males together and attempted to replicate these bull herds recently discovered in the wild.

Trails of Africa includes an interactive boma yard, safari cafe, waterhole exhibit, and many more small accessories.

[28] After the completion of the main exhibit in early 2011, the 50-year-old pachyderm building was renovated to allow staff to provide a higher quality of care for the three southern white rhinoceroses that resided there.

A new giraffe yard, added in April 2012, allows the zoo's young herd to continue to grow and allow visitors a closer look at the animals who]le on the new feeding platform.

All three southern white rhinos (Max, Laptop, and Ajabu) were permanently transferred to a private conservation facility in December 2021.

Birds Mammals Reptiles Amphibians Fish On February 15, 2006 a zookeeper was taken to the hospital for minor injuries after being mauled by the resident female lion, Sheeba.

[33] On July 18, 2022 the zoo's sixteen-year-old lioness Akili was fatally injured due to a confrontation with its new residential lion, Josh.