Director's Statement

Welcome to the Little Rock Zoo! On behalf of our Zoo family, let me welcome you to one of Arkansas’ greatest treasures since 1926. We here at the Little Rock Zoo are committed to providing a fun, educational environment for wildlife conservation education.  The 725 plus animals at our Zoo are all important ambassadors for their animal friends in the wild.  When you see an animal at the Zoo we hope that the wonder and amazement of these animals moves you to consider how you can help conserve wildlife now and in the future.

Our Zoo is undergoing several improvements.  We’ve just completed more than 5 million in renovations from the 2004 Bond project including the transformation of the old lion house into Café Africa, the construction of a new interactive lorikeet exhibit called “lorikeet landing,” renovations to the bear moat, primate house, and other areas of the Zoo along with the construction of a new entry plaza, gift shop, and cover for the Over-the-Jumps Carousel.  We just broke ground on the all-new Laura P. Nichols Penguin Pointe habitat that will feature underwater and above water viewing of African penguins.  

But these changes are just the beginning of what is to be an exciting conversion of our Zoo into one of the south’s greatest institutions for wildlife conservation and education.  The Arkansas Zoological Foundation, a non-profit 501 c(3), is raising funds toward the Zoo’s Master Plan, a multi-phased, multi-million dollar plan that will totally renovate our Zoo.  Exciting changes are underway and you can help make a difference at the Little Rock Zoo!

We hope you enjoy this site and will take the opportunity to visit us soon at the Little Rock Zoo!  

Sincerely,



Mike Blakely, Director
Little Rock Zoo