Peshawar zoo's construction formally started on February 3, 2016, with the ground breaking ceremony being attended by Imran Khan and Chief Minister of KPK, Pervez Khattak.

In November 2018 a herd of Arabian oryx arrived from UAE, making this the first endangered species of ungulate to be imported by the zoo.

Species housed here include an Indian leopard, rhesus macaques, a grey wolf and Bengal tigers.

Other notable animals present at the zoo include giraffes, blackbucks, markhors, grey gorals, black bears, Javan green peafowl, Himalayan griffon vultures, Peregrine falcons and Indian cobras.

The cubs were born to a pair of leopards originating from the Hazara and Malakand regions of Pakistan.