Cameron Park Zoo, Zoo in Waco, United States

Cameron Park Zoo is a 52-acre natural habitat zoo inside Cameron Park in Waco, Texas, beside the Brazos River. It opened on July 18, 1993, and keeps about 1,700 animals of 300 species among native vegetation, waterfalls, a lake and ponds. Exhibits include a reptile house, Lemur Island, the Brazos River Country saltwater reef aquarium and the Asian Forest with orangutans, Komodo dragons and Sumatran tigers.

The facility was founded in 1955 under the name Central Texas Zoological Park before later becoming Cameron Park Zoo. Since its beginning, it has grown into a modern center focused on animal care and research.

The zoo began in the 1950s when local wildlife enthusiasts gathered animals to spark public interest in wildlife, and visitor donations paid for more animals and enclosures. In the 1970s it started educational programmes, and after the City of Waco took over its management it moved to Cameron Park, reopening on 18 July 1993. A conservation fund supports work outside the zoo.

The zoo occupies 52 acres inside Cameron Park, next to the Brazos River and adjoining limestone cliffs that give a view over Waco. Paths pass waterfalls, a lake and ponds among the park's native vegetation, so allow several hours on foot. The Brazos River Country exhibit, opened in 2005, holds a 50,000-gallon saltwater reef aquarium and a swampland habitat.

The zoo keeps a single female African savanna elephant named Tembo, born in the wild in 1977 and brought to Waco on 15 January 1979. The Brazos River Country exhibit, opened in 2005, holds a 50,000-US-gallon saltwater reef aquarium and a large swampland habitat, and nearly doubled both the animal population and the zoo's size.