It was originally opened in 1986 with 30 species of animals, mostly local to Romania.

The zoo was opened to the public in 1986, and was home to about 30 species, most of which were native to Romania.

[1] It was originally administered by the Horticultura Autonomous Authority, which was eventually turned into a commercial enterprise.

[1] In its early years the zoo was poorly administered, and in order to remedy this, the city acquired the land in 2002 and started a feasibility study on rehabilitating the zoo.

Renovation started with the infrastructure (electrical, sewage, and pumping systems) in 2004 and 2005 and continued in 2006 with parking, walkways, bridges and construction of habitats.