[4] The zoo operates on an area spanning 14.7 acres (5.9 ha) and is located in the vicinity of the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock (Tségháhoodzání).

[4] The zoo dubs itself "a Sanctuary for Nature and the Spirit",[1] and according to its mission statement, it aims to conserve "native plants and animals, including rare, sensitive and endangered species"[2] with an emphasis on fauna and flora that is important and significant to Navajo culture and traditions.

In this spirit, it houses primarily injured and orphaned animals native to Navajoland[1] and implements cultural and educational programs in cooperation with schools and similar facilities in the area.

More recently, the zoo re-homed their three exhibit snakes in 2015 for cultural concerns,[7][8] and became one of 20+ facilities across the U.S. to house the federally endangered black-footed ferret.

Major improvements for visitors include: more exhibit signage, a paved parking lot, concrete sidewalks, more seating around the zoo grounds, a covered stage for events, and installation of a 40-octagon pavilion for parties.

[12] Since 2008, the zoo had lobbied for funding and a permit to build an eagle sanctuary in order to be able to distribute the animals' feathers to tribal members for ceremonial purposes in accordance with federal law.

According to requirements under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, any remains of dead eagles are collected by the federal government and transported to a central repository in Colorado; members of Native American Indian nations then have to apply individually to receive parts, such as feathers, in a lengthy process with wait-times that can exceed several years.

[21] Subsequently, during his first days in office, Bluehouse's successor, Kelsey A. Begaye, received more complaints and letters protesting the zoo's closure than concerning any other political issue.

[19] Opponents to the shut-down maintained that most of the animals were unable to survive in the wild and would perish, and that the zoo's facilities had become one of the last possibilities for future generations of Navajos to see the sacred creatures and thereby relate to traditional stories, due to the fact that most younger Navajos are more accustomed to dealing with domesticated livestock rather than untamed animals.

[19] According to Harry Walters, an anthropologist and former chairman of the Center for Diné Studies at Diné College in Tsaile (Tséhílį́), the incident demonstrates a crucial difference between Navajo and Western culture in the way visions and supernatural experiences are handled: "Rather than focus on the sightings to determine if who saw it was nuts or not – that's what a Westerner would do – we look at it as a message: 'Are we going the way we should?'"