Palm Beach Zoo, Zoo in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States.
Palm Beach Zoo covers 23 acres in Dreher Park in West Palm Beach, Florida, and houses hundreds of animals, many of them endangered. Its three-acre Tropics of the Americas complex, opened in 2004, holds two Mayan pyramids over 40 feet tall and a walk-through cave. The Henry and Charlotte Kimelman Tiger Falls opened in 2000, and the Tiger River habitat was added in 2015.
The zoo began in 1951 when West Palm Beach bought Bacon Park, a former tent campground and landfill. Renamed Dreher Park in 1957 for parks superintendent Paul Dreher, it started as a petting zoo in a red barn holding one goat, two ducks, one goose and two chickens. The Henry and Charlotte Kimelman Tiger Falls opened in 2000, and the 18-million-dollar Tropics of the Americas complex opened in 2004.
The zoo presents animals from different continents and invites visitors to learn about habitats like wetlands and tropical forests. Through animal encounters, people gain a deeper understanding of why protecting these environments matters.
The zoo sits in Dreher Park in West Palm Beach, with the last admission at 4:15 pm and closures on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Plan for plenty of walking between the Florida Wetlands, Asia and Tropics of the Americas sections, and check the daily keeper talk times before setting out.
The zoo's Melvin J. & Claire Levine Animal Care Complex holds Gold LEED certification from the Green Building Council and houses the Center for Conservation Medicine. The zoo was also the first to partner with the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
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