Sequoia Park Zoo

Sequoia Park Zoo was founded in 1907 - the oldest zoo in California, and is owned and operated by the City of Eureka. Its beginnings were modest and typical of many zoos of its day: some native animals – elk, most likely, kept for various reasons and given to the city for the enjoyment of its citizens, who wished to create a metropolitan feel in the remote outpost of Northern California. A fence was erected to contain these animals inside the newly created city park, and a zoo was born.  During the early part of the 20th century, animals were brought to the zoo in happenstance manner, a black bear orphaned from an Alaska hunting expedition, a wallaroo purchased on the docks in Sydney, Australia and shipped back to Eureka by a sea captain, etc. During this century, quite a mix of species found a home at Sequoia Park Zoo: baboons, African lions, camels, chimpanzees, tigers, polar bears, bison and other large hoofstock, exotic birds, and small mammals.