Joseph Prentice donated land for the zoo with the stipulation that the city must keep at least 50 monkeys at all times.

He donated 16 acres (6.5 ha) to the city of Santa Ana in 1949 and stipulated that the zoo have at least fifty monkeys at all times.

[10] In April 2010,[11] Santa Ana Zoo opened a new exhibit, Tierra de las Pampas or "Land of the Grasses.

Covering 2 acres (8,100 m2), Tierra de las Pampas houses giant anteaters in one exhibit, and greater rheas and guanacos in the larger one, with a footpath between them.

The exhibit consists of a water moat and a forested riverbank set against a cliff face, with a wooden deck for visitors to see the animals.

This walk-through aviary displays a variety of South American birds in a lushly planted habitat with meandering streams.

One of the most popular attractions at the Santa Ana Zoo is the Zoofari Express children's train.

The zoo also features a Conservation Carousel with a 33 animal line-up including the giraffe, giant panda, African elephant, cheetah, hummingbird, gorilla, bald eagle, jaguar, zebra, Bengal tiger, otter, panther, seal, sea dragon and a custom-made anteater.

He left the animal, unharmed, outside a Newport Beach hotel the next day with notes identifying him & instructing he be returned to the zoo.

In July 2019 Kasbar pleaded guilty in federal court to unlawfully taking an endangered species and U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford sentenced him to three months in prison, run concurrently with a state sentence for a series of residential burglaries.