Utah’s Hogle Zoo has been a Salt Lake City landmark since it opened on August 1, 1931, on land donated by James A. Hogle and his wife at the mouth of Emigration Canyon. Nearly a century later, the AZA-accredited zoo remains one of the Intermountain West’s premier wildlife attractions, drawing more than one million visitors annually.
Spread across 42 acres of hillside terrain, the zoo is home to roughly 800 animals across a wide range of species, from Siberian tigers and snow leopards in the Asian Highlands to polar bears and sea lions in the Rocky Shores exhibit. In 2024, the zoo expanded further with the Wild Utah exhibit, spotlighting native wildlife like cougars and desert bighorn sheep just three acres from the main path.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
- Opened: August 1, 1931
- Size: 42 acres
- Animal count: About 800 animals
- Annual visitors: Over 1 million
- Famous for: Century-long elephant conservation legacy and AZA accreditation held by fewer than 10% of U.S. zoos
The Zoo Experience
Visitors move through themed habitats including the African Savanna, home to giraffes, zebras, and lions, and Rocky Shores, where polar bears, grizzly bears, and sea lions share a naturalistic Alaskan-style landscape. The Great Apes area features an active breeding program for gorillas and orangutans, while Asian Highlands showcases some of the zoo’s rarest big cats.
The newest addition, the Aline W. Skaggs Wild Utah exhibit, opened in May 2024 as a three-acre expansion dedicated entirely to the state’s own wildlife, including cougars, desert bighorn sheep, gray foxes, and desert tortoises, alongside hands-on educational stations for families.
A Nearly Century-Long History
The zoo’s roots trace back to an earlier Liberty Park facility before relocating to its current Emigration Canyon site in 1931. One of its most storied early residents was Princess Alice, an elephant purchased from a traveling circus in 1916, whose calf Prince Utah became the first elephant born in the state.
In 2023, after more than a century of elephant care, Hogle Zoo ended its elephant program and relocated its remaining elephants, Christie and Zuri, to the Kansas City Zoo, closing a defining chapter of the zoo’s history while it continues expanding other conservation-focused exhibits.
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Utah’s Hogle Zoo FAQs
When did Utah’s Hogle Zoo open?
Utah’s Hogle Zoo opened on August 1, 1931, on land at the mouth of Emigration Canyon donated by James A. Hogle and his wife.
How big is Utah’s Hogle Zoo?
The zoo covers 42 acres of hillside terrain in Salt Lake City and is home to roughly 800 animals.
Does Utah’s Hogle Zoo still have elephants?
No. The zoo ended its elephant program in 2023 after more than 100 years of elephant care, relocating its last two elephants, Christie and Zuri, to the Kansas City Zoo.
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Photo: Bobjgalindo / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.