[8] The Toledo Zoo began in 1900 when a woodchuck was donated by Carl Hillebrand to Peter Mettler and the Walbridge Park.

In November 1901, the Toledo Zoo nearly lost its entire collection when the winter housing for the animals caught fire.

[12] In June 1913, the Toledo Zoological Society (TZS) was founded to spur development with William H. Roemer serving as the first president.

The Toledo Zoo became a public/private venture in 1926, allowing financial support from the city while leaving operations in the hands of the TZS.

With the remainder of their master plan nearing completion, Skeldon, Jones, and Colonel John S. Shelter brokered a deal with the federal government to use depression-era relief efforts to create jobs.

Federal funding would only cover labor costs, so the Toledo Zoo had to salvage parts from unused structures.

Skeldon created multiple agreements that allowed the Toledo Zoo the right to salvage as long as they cleared the land.

In the end, the Toledo Zoo was able to salvage all the stonework, lumber, and radiators needed to begin construction of the Reptilia (Reptile House).

The levy was for capital improvements only, so the money could not be used on animal care, staff members, or other items needed to run the zoo.

This outcry of debate dissolved the relationship with the People's Republic of China, and it was not until 1998 that they allowed another loan of pandas to the US, via the San Diego Zoo.

It has artificial termite mounds for the free-roaming African animals, such as the Grant's zebra, greater kudu, helmeted guineafowl, Dama gazelles, Masai giraffe, white-backed vulture, ostrich, watusi cattle, warthogs, and blue wildebeest.

The Arctic Encounter includes grey wolves, gray and harbor seals, California sea lions, and polar bears.

[41] Located in the first room of the Aviary are the demoiselle crane, blue-throated macaws, Southern pudu, birds from the Amazon Rainforest, and rhinoceros hornbills.

The children's area includes emperor tamarins, lowland pacas, southern three-banded armadillos, and Linnaeus's two-toed sloths.

[43] An outdoor pond area consisting of flamingos, Dalmatian pelicans, scarlet ibises, roseate spoonbills, white-breasted cormorants, and other local native and exotic waterfowl including a mudhen.

Ohio: After the Ice features dioramas of animals that roamed the land, such as woolly mammoths, saber-tooth cats, stag moose, ground sloths, giant beavers and American lions.

Oak Forest lets visitors see life from an ant's perspective and features creatures that are hidden such as an American toad, red-backed salamander, ring-necked snake.

Arthropods feature tarantulas, velvet ants, black widow, walking sticks, beetles, and coconut crab.

It currently contains African pygmy goats, silkie chickens, honeybees, leafcutter ants, feathertail gliders, a tamandua, guinea pigs, crayfish, corn snakes, cockatiels, rats, macaws, an opossum as well as various cats and rabbits.

Non-gamebirds include the North Island brown kiwi, crested pigeon, white-rumped shama, tawny frogmouth, chestnut-breasted malkoha, spectacled owl, blue-faced honeyeater, Chinese hwamei, red-billed blue magpie, crested coua, mandarin duck, lesser bird-of-paradise, snowy owl, fawn-breasted bowerbird, laughing kookaburra, and the Australian magpie.

[47] Since the reopening and restructuring of the Aquarium, guests can participate in various interactive experiences, including live dive feeding demonstrations, a touch tank, and ocean lab.

It features over one million Christmas lights, a winter village including an ice slide and ice bumper cars, the Arctic Blast game, a new light show projected on the carnivore cafe, model trains from the Swanton Area Railroad, and Santa Claus.

[8] Since moving the train from the south campus to the north, the Safari Railway allows guests an informational ride around the plains of Africa!

[47] Together with Live Nation, the Toledo Zoo hosts a summer series of concerts where well-known acts take over the historic Amphitheater.

[8] Located in Africa!, Tower Ridge allows guests of the zoo, to hand feed the herd of giraffes.

[8] Held in the spring, the annual wine-tasting event allows guests to enjoy various wine samples along with live music.

[63] Zoo Brew is an adults-only event, held in the fall, that highlights samples from local Toledo breweries.

Wild Toledo also has several partnerships with educational facilities within northwest Ohio where native prairies are installed and interpreted for students.

[66] Current conservation projects at the zoo include the Species Survival Program, Wild Toledo, as well as working in the Arctic with polar bears and the Steller's eider, working with Wyoming on a Wyoming toad effort, Reintroducing the Mitchell's satyr butterflies to Indiana and Michigan, working with Ohio and Mexico on the monarch butterfly, a Cuban boa project in Cuba, the Aruba Island rattlesnake program in Aruba, assisting Michigan with the piping plover, the Karner blue butterfly program in Michigan and Ohio, multiple projects in Ohio including hellbenders, native prairies, lake sturgeon, turtles, and the Kirtland's snake.

Internationally outside of North America, the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium is working on projects involving the Kihansi spray toad in Tanzania, snow leopard in Kyrgyzstan, the scaly-sided merganser in China, the Tasmanian devil in Tasmania, kiwis in New Zealand, and Pacific Island birds.