Denver Zoo, Zoo in Denver, United States.

Denver Zoo is an animal park in the City Park neighborhood that displays over 3,000 animals from more than 600 species across open grounds. Enclosures follow geographic zones, letting visitors move through African savannas, Asian tropics and polar habitats in succession.

A black bear called Billy became the first animal in the collection in 1896, housed initially in a simple pen at the city park. Later, cage bars were removed in favor of open enclosures, a shift that marked a new approach among North American animal facilities.

The zoo's name comes from the city, and it is run by the Denver Zoological Foundation, created in 1950, with part of its funding from the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. Its first elephant, Cookie, arrived that same year. A memorial stone at the zoo honours Velox, a female polar bear housed on Bear Mountain from 1941 to 1961 who became mascot of the 31st Infantry Regiment in 1952.

The zoo covers 80 acres inside City Park, so allow several hours to walk the full loop of exhibits. The ticket pavilion sign lists zoo hours as 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. A perimeter fence, built in 1957, separates the grounds from the rest of the park; cars were banned from the zoo in 1959, so the visit is on foot.

Bear Mountain, opened in 1918, was built from dyed and textured concrete cast from Dinosaur Mountain near Morrison, Colorado. Its south tip was modeled on Mesa Verde National Park, and a memorial stone for Velox, a female polar bear that lived there from 1941 to 1961, is displayed at the zoo.