Since the fire Sunday night, the zoo has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from the community. You are the light in a devastating situation. Thank you. Right now, we are assessing the damage and taking inventory of what was lost. The cleanup...

Statement Regarding Fire at the Zoo

by wentworth | June 5, 2023 | Uncategorized | 0 Comments

The Metro Richmond Zoo is deeply saddened to report a large fire occurred in behind-the-scenes work areas of the zoo on Sunday, June 4. At 9:50 PM, a zoo employee onsite called 911 to report the fire. First responders arrived rapidly and began fighting the fire. All...

Orangutan Learns How to Nurse from a Breastfeeding Zookeeper

by wentworth | March 30, 2023 | Uncategorized | 0 Comments

Zoe the orangutan needed help breastfeeding. Her first baby, Taavi, had to be hand-raised after she failed to nurse him and hold him properly. It’s likely Zoe never learned how to be a mom since she was orphaned at nine months old when her own mother died...

Cheetah Surgery

by wentworth | February 22, 2023 | Uncategorized | 0 Comments

On February 2, the Metro Richmond Zoo performed a leg surgery on Bo, a 9-year-old male cheetah. Previously, zookeepers noticed Bo had an injury to his left, rear leg. The zoo’s vet team took x-rays and discovered he had a calcaneal fracture in the heel bone from an...

World’s Oldest African Penguin Turns 43

by wentworth | January 31, 2023 | Uncategorized | 0 Comments

The world’s oldest African penguin is one year older! Help us wish ET, one of our female African penguins, a very happy birthday. She turned 43 years old on January 28. According to our best available data, ET is the oldest currently living African penguin in the...

Baby Hippo Name Announcement

by wentworth | January 26, 2023 | Uncategorized | 0 Comments

Thank you to the thousands of people who participated in our baby hippo naming poll. We had 18,963 total votes. We are thrilled to officially announce the winning name for our pygmy hippo calf... Say hello to Petunia!!! Petunia is confident, brave, and spunky. She...