The Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo traced its roots to 1952, when 54 acres were set aside inside Fort Wayne’s Franke Park to create a nature preserve. Local enthusiasm for the preserve pushed city officials to build a full zoo, and on July 3, 1965, the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo opened on just 5.5 acres with 18 animal exhibits. It grew steadily over the following decades into the roughly 40-acre facility generations of Indiana families came to know.
Operated by the nonprofit Fort Wayne Zoological Society under a cooperative agreement with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, the zoo ran without tax funding, relying instead on admissions, memberships, and donations. By 2015, TripAdvisor ranked it the seventh-best zoo in the nation, and it drew well over 600,000 visitors most seasons. Beginning January 1, 2025, the attraction was officially renamed the Fort Wayne Zoo, closing out six decades under its original “Children’s Zoo” name.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Franke Park, Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Opened: July 3, 1965
- Size: About 40 acres
- Animal Count: Around 1,000 animals
- Species: About 200 species
- Annual Visitors: 600,000+ in recent seasons
- Famous For: Renamed the Fort Wayne Zoo in 2025 after 60 years as the Children’s Zoo
From Nature Preserve to Top-Ranked Zoo
What began as a modest 5.5-acre children’s zoo with 18 exhibits in 1965 expanded across Franke Park into a roughly 40-acre campus housing about 1,000 animals representing 200 species. The zoo’s nonprofit operating model meant growth was funded almost entirely through ticket sales, memberships, and donor support rather than municipal tax dollars.
That steady community investment paid off in national recognition: TripAdvisor named it the seventh-best zoo in the United States in 2015, and attendance regularly topped 600,000 guests a year.
Signature Exhibits and the 2025 Rebrand
Over the years the zoo added major exhibit areas including African Journey, Orangutan Valley, Tiger Forest, Red Panda Ridge, the Indiana Family Farm, and an Asian Trek area built on the former Indonesian Rainforest exhibit, giving visitors encounters ranging from African lions to red pandas.
On January 1, 2025, the attraction dropped “Children’s” from its name to become simply the Fort Wayne Zoo, reflecting its broadened appeal beyond a strictly kids’ attraction. That rename was unrelated to another milestone the zoo had been working toward separately: a roughly four-year, multimillion-dollar overhaul of its Coastal Cove habitat, a California sea lion and harbor seal exhibit originally built in 2002. The project had first been targeted for completion in summer 2024, but construction delays pushed its ribbon-cutting to May 23, 2025, when the sea lions returned from a stay at the Indianapolis Zoo to a rebuilt space with a larger beach and an 88,000-gallon water area.
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Let them photograph their own favorite animals — and keep your phone in your pocket.
Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo FAQs
When did the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo open?
It opened on July 3, 1965, on 5.5 acres in Fort Wayne’s Franke Park, on land that had been set aside as a nature preserve back in 1952.
How big is the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo?
The zoo grew to about 40 acres within Franke Park, home to roughly 1,000 animals representing around 200 species.
Why did the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo change its name?
Starting January 1, 2025, it was officially renamed the Fort Wayne Zoo to reflect decades of growth beyond a strictly kids’ attraction. That rename was separate from the reopening of its renovated Coastal Cove sea lion and harbor seal habitat, which had originally been targeted for summer 2024 but was delayed until a May 23, 2025 ribbon-cutting.
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Photo: UrbanAvenue / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.