It was originally designed around nursery rhymes and included a castle with moat, replica of Noah's Ark, petting zoo and miniature railroad.

The foundation's number-one goal was to provide financial support for capital improvements, animal acquisitions and promotional and marketing activities.

Here, visitors can view the zoo's pair of red pandas from an indoor enclosure with attached travel tunnel, allowing the animals additional space in an outdoor exhibit.

Opened in spring 2013 at a cost of $4.1 million,[6] the zoo welcomed its new expansion of the existing African Boardwalk on the east side of the park.

Prior to the expansion, the zoo held a smaller collection of African species, including Reticulated giraffe, Hartmann's mountain zebra, addax, rhim gazelle, grey crowned cranes, and helmeted guineafowl.

It includes 5,600 sq ft (520 m2) of slides, mazes, monkey bars, sand pits, fossil digs, and mining sluice.

Animals in this area include Nigerian dwarf goats, llamas, miniature donkeys, zebu, Meishan pigs, Brahma chickens, koi fish, trumpeter swans, and dromedary camels.

Notable residents of the pavilion include Ross and Meru,[12] two harbor seals that came to the Blank Park Zoo from British Columbia.

The exhibit welcomed its newest resident,[13] a young sea lion named Meatball, in spring 2020 from the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in California.

The primary projects of the committee must be international, focus on protecting animals or their natural ecosystems, and have some tie to the Blank Park Zoo.

Based on initial information, Blank Park Zoo CEO Mark Vukovich stated,[15] "the two animals were playing together and unfortunately the okapi was injured".

In April 2020, Blank Park Zoo announced the death of 3 year-old Duchess, a female Hartmann's mountain zebra, that died[16] following an accidental high-speed run-in with a fence post.