[3] City leaders opted to house the collection in Grant Park, which remains the zoo's present location.

Original residents of the zoo included a black bear, a raccoon, a jaguar, a hyena, a gazelle, a Mexican hog, lionesses, monkeys, and camels.

In 1970, a small group of concerned citizens founded the Atlanta Zoological Society in hopes of raising funds and awareness for the institution.

A 20-year period of aggressive restoration followed, marked by several high-profile exhibit openings, including The Ford African Rain Forest, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

[6] Zoo Atlanta's African Savanna, opened in 2019 as part of the Zoo's Grand New View transformation, houses wildlife native to the grasslands and desert of Africa, including African elephants, lions, giraffes, plains zebras, ostriches, warthogs, meerkats, white rhinos, kori bustards, and a bontebok.

Notable reproductive successes include Arakan forest turtles, a critically endangered species harvested nearly to extinction for food and traditional medicine.

[13] Their names were announced on ABC's Good Morning America on October 23, 2013; 100 days after their birth, which is a Chinese tradition.

[15] Twenty-four western lowland gorillas have been born at the zoo since the opening of The Ford African Rain Forest in 1988.

The Asian Forest houses giant otters, a Komodo dragon and a red panda, as well as Bornean and Sumatran orangutans.

These include but are not limited to Bali mynas, white-headed buffalo weavers, superb starling, golden pheasant, king vulture, hooded vulture, Indian peafowl, blue-throated macaw, milky eagle owl, southern ground hornbill, tawny frogmouth, blue-throated laughingthrush, blue crane, wattled crane, and white storks.

Zoo Atlanta's mission statement is "We save wildlife and their habitats through conservation, research, education, and engaging experiences.

Species impacted by conservation support from Zoo Atlanta have included but are not limited to giant pandas, African elephants, golden lion tamarins, western lowland gorillas, Panamanian golden frogs, red pandas, clouded leopards, giant otters, Bornean orangutans, African vulture species such as hooded vultures and lappet-faced vultures, and native reptile species such as eastern indigo snakes and diamondback terrapins.

[19] Zoo Atlanta is a participant in the AZA Species Survival Plan for the following programs: Zoo Atlanta also participates in several international conservation initiatives for reptiles and amphibians, working to combat issues such as the Asian Turtle Crisis and Global Amphibian Decline.

Duane Rumbaugh, a professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta, was a longtime advisor and researcher on animal behavior and welfare.