In 1927 the zoo purchased two lions, "King" and "Queen" from the Longfellow Zoological Gardens in Minneapolis.

[5] In 1932 a lioness with two of her cubs temporarily escaped her cage and was found on the zoo grounds.

[6]In 1932 the zoo was forced with the decision to kill six of the fifteen lions in their care as they were "unable to sell them at any price".

[7] A young lion named "Maggie" died after being poisoned by someone who fed her strychnine in 1936.

[9] By the 1940s the zoo housed deer, bison, elk, lions, cougars, black bear, rhesus monkeys, llama, coyotes, various rodents, and waterfowl.

Currently the zoo houses over 160 animals, some of the major ones being lions, tigers, leopards, bison, black footed ferret, brown bear, red panda, reticulated giraffe, timber wolf.

Due to cleanup efforts on the grounds and buildings, the zoo did not open for the 2012 season.