The Perth Zoological Gardens were opened on 17 October 1898 by the Governor of Western Australia, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Gerard Smith.

Since the site was mostly sand and lacked nutrients and water, loads of manure needed to be brought in, and a well was bored in 1898 to allow irrigation.

The Zoological Gardens Courts, now Perth Zoo's main lawn, were considered the state's best tennis facilities at the time.

In August 2023 the decision was made to move the remaining elephants to next door South Australia, at Monarto Safari Park.

[13] Additionally the zoo has had several other noteworthy individual animals in both record longevity and significant contribution to global endangered species captive breeding programs.

Northern white-cheeked gibbon Phillip lived at Perth Zoo from September 1974 to July 2023 and is the record holder of longevity for the males of his species, and had fathered many offspring who in turn have been significant members of the global captive breeding program for the critically endangered species.

The African Savannah (opened in 1991) replaced a variety of barred cages, and was the largest construction project undertaken at the zoo when it was created.

Many different species of native water birds freely flock to the lake including: A nearby tropical forest with a board-walk through the centre is home to: The zoo's 'Rainforest Retreat' (planted between 1994 and 1996) is 4,350 square metre area of the zoo which showcases botanical flora of the tropical zones of the world through a winding rainforest path.

(a map of which can be downloaded from the website[25] or collected from the Information Centre) is a self-guided walk that takes visitors around the zoo and shows off its historical buildings.

Buildings included in this walk are the bird feed shed, kite cage, bear caves, hay shed, mineral baths from 1898, replicas of tennis shelters from 1903, the Scout Hall built in 1931, the 1947 carousel that is still in use, and the Gate Zoo Residence that was built in the 1960s.

Started in 2007, funds raised have been used for the conservation of African painted dogs, Asian elephants, Goodfellow's tree-kangaroos, Javan gibbons, northern white-cheeked gibbons, Rothschild's giraffes, southern white rhinoceroses, Sumatran orangutans, Sumatran tigers, and sun bears.

[28] Since 2006, Perth Zoo has made a significant contribution to conservation projects in the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park and the surrounding forested areas which support a rich diversity of life including a new colony of orangutans.

Perth Zoo works with the Frankfurt Zoological Society, Indonesian Government and the Australian Orangutan Project on this program and other conservation activities in Bukit Tigapuluh.

The zoo's Wildlife Conservation Action fundraising program has also contributed towards native Australian species under threat in the wild.

[32] In 2022 Perth Zoo bred 13 numbat joeys, and released 10 of them (and a wild rescued female) into Mallee Cliffs National Park in New South Wales.

The western swamp tortoise has only been recorded at scattered localities in a narrow, three-to-five kilometre strip of the Swan Coastal Plain.

Despite this barrier, in 2022 Perth Zoo released 191 western swamp turtles into Scott National Park and bush around Moore River area.

[34] Additionally between 2019 and 2023, 203 dibblers bred at Perth Zoo have been released into Dirk Hartog Island National Park.

The central rock-rat (Zyzomys pedunculatus) is a critically endangered rodent that was presumed extinct until it was rediscovered in the MacDonnell Ranges Northern Territory in 1996.

The last of the zoo's central rock rats were sent to Alice Springs Desert Park in 2007 and the breeding program closed.