In August 1933, the Staten Island Zoological Society was created and the park built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

[3] On March 25, 1935, the Egbert-Robillard Bill was passed by the New York State Senate to have the city provide maintenance for the zoo.

Two months later on May 7, 1935, the Governor of New York signed an agreement to allocate public funds for the zoo to cover operational and maintenance costs while the exhibits, animal care and educational programs were to be maintained by the Staten Island Zoological Society [4] With the land now owned by the city and a Zoological Society in place to run and administer the site, zoo construction commenced in 1933 as part of the Federal Government's works program to convert the 8-acre estate into a zoo.

[7] In the late 1920s, the retreat was closed and the 20 acres of the estate were eventually acquired and split between the Staten Island Zoological Society for use as a parking lot and by the Saint Peter's Cemetery for expansion of burial sites.

A Black Leopard named Mr Leo Pard suffered severe nerve damage due to lead poisoning.

Local legend maintains that the society was partially formed from the Staten Island Reptile Club which was located nearby on Britton Street and Broadway.

The Society included Harold O'Connel, Ellsworth Buck, Dr. James Chapin, George Allison, and Howard Worzel.

[4] A The New York Times article in 1944 reported that there were "over 600" animals at the zoo, including a binturong, an ocelot, a spider monkey, a herring gull,[5] as well as an African leopard named Tommy.

[11] In 1949 the Times reported that the zoo held over 1,200 animals, including a concave-casqued hornbill, a white pelican, a Pel's fishing owl, a black mangabey ape, a pair of Guatemalan quetzal birds, a regal python, and "perhaps the only bushmaster snake in the country.

"[6] The zoo is also the home of Staten Island Chuck, a groundhog who is the official Groundhog Day forecaster for New York City, and Grandpa, a Black-handed Spider Monkey who made local newspapers when he accurately "predicted" the outcome of six out of nine matches during the U.S. Open Tennis Championship.