Approximately twenty years later (in 1991), after voting and finances from a grant, the zoo expanded to the current size of 202 acres (82 ha), adding Australia in 1993, International Festival in 1994, and Africa in 1995.

The Promenade was also added in 2006, which is a wide path straight to the African elephants exhibit, which allows guests to reach Africa much faster.

The new entrance admission gates opened in May 2008, with an educational center and a North American river otter and trumpeter swan exhibits.

[7] In October 2013, the Helzberg Penguin Plaza opened, funded by an ongoing series of fundraising events as well as a 1/8th cent sales tax collected from the 2 county Zoological District.

The admission gates and facilities (such as restrooms, gift shop, and food) are located in the entrance to the Kansas City Zoo.

In 2010, polar bears were re-introduced to the zoo near the existing North American river otter and trumpeter swan pool just inside the World Gate.

The $11 million exhibit features a 140,000 US gallons (530,000 L) pool serviced by a massive waterfall, multiple indoor and outdoor viewing angles with 2.25-inch-thick (57 mm) glass windows, and space for up to two additional polar bears.

Several snack bars are located throughout Africa, as well as the Rafiki Restaurant and Equator gift shop in the Nanyuki Market (Kenya).

Botswana contains nine African bush elephants (eight female, one male) in an exhibit of 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) stretching 0.25 miles (0.40 km) with a water pool at one end.

The walk-through Scrubland Aviary is home to several species of birds, including a white-cheeked turaco, white-faced whistling ducks, cattle egrets, a bare-faced go-away-bird, marbled ducks, lilac-breasted roller, taveta weavers, superb starlings, and a white-headed buffalo weaver, as well as side exhibits for red ruffed lemurs and silvery-cheeked hornbills.

A log-themed bridge crosses to the eastern black rhinoceros exhibit and a top-notch 3 acres (1.2 ha) enclosure housing chimpanzees.

This side of the African plains features Masai giraffes, Grant's zebras, gray crowned cranes, and ostriches.

Uganda section has a small outdoor theater stage (Ruwenzori Theatre), and is home to spacious enclosures with African wild dogs and a troop of Guinea baboons, which sit adjacent to one another.

Australia lies in the northernmost part of the zoo; there you can find a large field that is home to free-roaming red kangaroos.

It features a walk-through Woodland Aviary, which includes black swans, tawny frogmouth, straw-necked ibis, pied imperial pigeon, silver gull, smew, magpie goose, cockatiel, eclectus parrot, plumed whistling duck, long-billed corella, chestnut teal, wompoo fruit dove, Australian shelduck, white cockatoo, and sulphur-crested cockatoo.

Near the former ape house, Asian waterfowl, such as red-crowned crane, Mandarin duck, and common shelduck can be viewed in a wetlands exhibit.

After moving from the outdated Great Ape House in 2002, the Bornean orangutan were relocated to a new exhibit in Tiger Trail that featured a large outdoor "primadome."

The 3,400 square foot exhibit, which houses six Bornean orangutans in a more naturalistic outdoor environment than their previous two enclosures offered, opened to the public in May 2015.

The original 1909 building is located behind the sea lions, which has seen many renovations over the years and was most recently reopened in early 2009 as the Tropics House.

Originally known as the "Bird and Carnivora House", it featured a gabled roof heavily ornamented with architectural terra cotta and a large arching window.

The gabled ends and eaves featured decorative carved stone bird heads – kingfishers, owls, and parrots.

[19] The enclosure's first birth came when Abby and Indigo, the zoo's blue monkey couple, welcomed their newborn baby on November 4, 2009.

Through the years, the small grotto was home to various animals including Arctic foxes, hyenas, colobus monkeys, binturong, coatimundi, river otters, aardwolf, red pandas, maned wolves, white-tailed sea eagles and king vultures.

Many of the mangabeys were lured back to the exhibit with food; however, eleven remained loose for the entire summer until they were eventually captured as the weather began to turn cooler.

As of 2023, Beaks and Feet Boulevard has been removed, and most of the area is now taken up by the Sobela Ocean Aquarium, with the Chilean flamingo pond being the last remaining exhibit still in use from The Valley.

The Great Ape house's distinctive mid-century design had been compared to structures in Disney's Tomorrowland, as well as the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

Eventually the apes were all relocated to different areas of the zoo with only orangutans remaining in the exhibit by the time it was closed in 2003, with the opening of their new enclosure in Tiger Trail.

Discussion of the ape house's demolition began as early as 2001; however, the possibility of redevelopment has emerged as support for the zoo has increased dramatically since then.

While it was still in operation, former zoo director Ernest Hagler suggested moving out the animals and turning the building into a gift shop or restaurant.

It was never re-purposed and after sitting empty for over a decade, the building was ultimately demolished in September 2015, to make room for a new addition to the zoo, tentatively titled Predator Canyon.