[1] All animals in the zoo are orphaned, injured or have been disabled and are nursed back to health in hopes of releasing them.

[2] Since 2013, activists have been procuring legal means to close this and other zoos in Costa Rica, requesting animals be relocated to cage-free rescue centers.

[3][4] Simon Bolivar Zoo has its origin in the "Jardín de Plantas y Animales", a park created in 1884 by Swiss naturalist and botanist Henry Pittier.

It was first located near Liceo de Costa Rica, but had to be later relocated because neighbors complained about the noise of the animals.

Species list August 2017: Mammals; Bird species include; Great Curassow, Black Guan, Crested Guan, Gray-headed chachalaca, Indian peafowl, Gray Hawk, Swaison's Hawk, Bat Falcon, Barn Owl, Striped Owl, Spectacled Owl, Mottled Owl, Tropical Screech-Owl, Crimson-fronted parakeet, Olive-throated parakeet, Orange-chinned parakeet, White-crowned parrot, Yellow-naped parrot, Red-lored parrot, White-fronted parrot, Mealy Parrot, Great Green Macaw, Scarlet Macaw, Emerald Toucanet, Collared Aracari, Black-mandibled Toucan, Painted bunting and Yellow-bellied siskin Other species include; Various species of turtles, Emperor boa, Green vine snake, Side-lined Palm Pitviper, Tropical Rattlesnake, Fer-de-Lance, Eyelash Pitviper, American crocodile, Spectacled caiman, Strawberry poison frog, Blue-sided Tree Frog and Koi carp