It originally began with 64.5 acres (26.1 ha) in the middle of the city, but has spread into the neighboring blocks and several reserves in Cincinnati's outer suburbs.

[9] One year later, the Zoological Society of Cincinnati purchased a 99-year lease on 65 acres (26 ha) in the cow pasture known as Blakely Woods.

Architect James W. McLaughlin, who constructed the zoo's first buildings, designed the earliest completed zoological exhibits in the United States.

[11] The zoo began with eight monkeys, two grizzly bears, three white-tailed deer, six raccoons, two elk, a buffalo, a laughing hyena, a tiger, an American alligator, a circus elephant, and over four hundred birds, including a talking crow.

This marked the zoo's transition from its period of financial insecurity to its modern state of stable growth and fiscal stability.

[9] In addition to its live animal exhibits, the zoo houses refreshments stands, a dance hall, roads, walkways, and picnic grounds.

Renovated in 1989, this classroom is used for live animal demonstrations for school groups and zoo visitors presented regularly during the summer.

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.

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.

It allows guests to look down at some of the zoo's ring-tailed lemurs on a 30-foot (9.1 m) tall, man-made rock with many lush and shady areas, surrounded by a small stream.

Other featured species include okapi, yellow-backed duiker, plains zebra, eastern bongo, and Visayan warty pigs.

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."

"[15] In 2015, AZA and Species Survival Plan (SSP) determined that parents Faru and Seyia were a good genetic match and recommended that they breed.

Lucille, a two-year old binturong,[16] 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.

Bamboo exercise bars are the stage for yellow-cheeked gibbons and siamangs who entertain visitors with their acrobatic antics and loud whooping calls while climbing on their giant jungle gyms.

Opened in 1985, this naturalistic woodland landscape includes many native Chinese plant species to simulate the natural forest habitat of the red panda.

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.

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.

[17] Jungle Trails takes visitors through a 2.5-acre (1.0 ha) 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.

Birds housed include Bali mynas, boat-billed herons, buff-crested bustards, Guam rails, Inca terns, masked lapwings, sunbitterns, thick-billed parrots, penguins and puffins.

[33][34] In 2018 the zoo launched an expansion campaign named "More Home to Roam" with the goal of raising $150 million to be used on developing new attractions and infrastructure.

The Rhino Reserve renovations and a 1,800 vehicle parking garage will hopefully be open by 2023, Elephant Trek will open in fall of 2024, and the old elephant exhibit will be changed into Giraffe Junction, where they will repair the concrete dome, replace the roof, install new windows, adding a new garden area, and a habitat for giraffes.

[38] As result on the COVID-19 pandemic, the zoo tabled its original plan to build a parking garage and bumped Elephant Trek to the top of the priority list.

[40] The zoo is one of only a dozen in North America to house and breed bonobos (also known as pygmy chimpanzees), an endangered species of the great apes.

However, unlike Martha, the location of the remains of Incas are unknown with possibilities that he may be on display unlabelled at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History.

[49] In August 1929, Susie was transported from Europe to the United States aboard the airship Graf Zeppelin accompanied by William Dressman.

[52] Dressman, who stayed on as Susie's trainer after she was loaned to the zoo, taught her how eat with a knife and fork and orchestrated two performances every day.

[66][67][68] The incident received global publicity; comedian and actor Ricky Gervais, rock guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May, and journalist and television personality Piers Morgan criticized the shooting,[69] while real estate developer and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and zoo director and notable animal expert Jack Hanna both lamented the shooting but defended the zoo's decision to prioritize the boy's safety.