Potter Park Zoological Gardens

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Potter Park Zoological Gardens


Date opened	1915
Location	Lansing, Michigan, USA
# of Species	100+
Accreditations/ Memberships	AZA
Website
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The Potter Park Zoological Gardens is a 58 acre zoo located in Lansing, Michigan within Lansing's Potter Park. The zoo is currently home to over 100 species of animals.

[edit] History

The zoo's history began in 1915 with the donation of 58 acres of land to the city of Lansing by J. W. and Sarah Potter, a prominent Lansing couple, for Potter Park. The park added 27 more acres of land in 1917, with the first animals being added to the park in 1920.

The zoo grew for the decades afteward until the late 1960's when the zoo began a decline from municipal neglect. However, in 1969, Jim Hough, a then-columnist of the Lansing State Journal, used his column to bring together concerned citizens and local-area residents to raise money to help revitalized the zoo. Their fundraising paid off when they raised enough money to purchase the zoo's first elephant, Bingo, in 1972 for $4,453.

In 1986, the Friends of the Zoo became the Potter Park Zoological Society, and incorporated as an organization.

In April of 2006, Mayor Virgil Bernero of the City of Lansing, submitted a request to the Ingham County Board of Commissioners to put on the ballot in November of that year a proposal to hand over operation and maintenance of Potter Park and Potter Park Zoo to Ingham County. The county board formed a city/council zoo task force, and the result of that was an agreement between the two entities that the City of Lansing would lease the zoo and park to Ingham County under the condition that an attached millage of $3.2 million was passed by county residents.[1] The millage passed on November 2, 2006.