It is located within Royal Park in Parkville, approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of the centre of Melbourne.

During the summer months they also hold sleep over events at the zoo that allows people to purchase tickets to "camp out" for a night under the stars.

Visitors can see historical cages including the heritage listed Elephant House, which has been renovated and adapted for use for customers paying to sleep overnight in tents at the zoo in popular Roar and Snore evenings.

In October 1857, the Zoological Society of Victoria was formed with the aim of introducing animals and plants from overseas.

Initially the zoo was important for the acclimatisation of domestic animals recovering from their long trip to Australia.

It was only with the appointment of Albert Alexander Cochrane Le Souef in 1870 that more exotic animals were procured for public display, and the gardens and picnic areas were developed.

[13] Colossal Biosciences and Zoos Victoria began a conservation project in October 2023 to preserve the Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon as well as sequence its genome.

[14][15] The carousel was manufactured in England and then brought to Australia in 1886 by a family that ran a touring carnival, visiting country towns in Victoria.

After touring with the carnival for over 60 years, in 1952 the carousel became part of a fun fair at the Melbourne Zoo, but was still owned by the same families.