Lake Superior Zoo is turning 100 years old

Over 100 years ago, so many things changed in the way we view the world, technology, and more. However, in Duluth, one business has stood the test of time…The Lake Superior Zoo!

The zoo is celebrating 100 years and will celebrate the milestone on Friday, July 21st, as a part of Zoo-La-Palooza.

“For the first time since the old days when we didn’t have admission prices, we’re able to invite people to the zoo for absolutely free.” Click here to learn more about Lake Superior Zoo-La-Palooza event.

They have been through a lot of changes and ups and downs in a centennial, like how the standard of the zoo and the care that it provides to all the animals that have called the zoo “home!”

“The association of zoos and aquariums now offers accreditation to zoo or aquarium type facilities that just allow and holds zoos and aquariums accountable for having a certain standard of care. We used to have sea lions that we kept in the creek, and the sea lions were probably very happy about that, but we’re not able to do that now,” said Routley.

Routley also mentioned this about the zoo, “The main building used to have this row of cages in the downstairs, and a lot of people our age and older will remember that. I remember that from back in the 1990s. I think it was about 1992 when we actually got rid of all those cages and opened up this lower area to be Taj, our tiger, her habitat.”

The Lake Superior Zoo is the 19th oldest zoo in the United States, and with that comes a lot of history for people that have visited the zoo and for the many years that it’s been in the Northland.

“For a city, the size of Duluth, Minnesota, to have an Association of Zoo and Aquariums (AZA) accredited facility, as there are only 200 hundred, is kind of a feather in the cap of the city. It’s defiantly something to celebrate, and we love to invite everyone to celebrate with us this Friday at Zoo-La-Palooza.”