The Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) is a nonprofit organization that operates the Detroit Zoo and the Belle Isle Nature Center. Founded in 1911, DZS opened the Detroit Zoo on its current site in Royal Oak, Michigan on August 1, 1928, and has grown into one of Michigan’s largest paid family attractions, hosting 1.3 million guests annually on 125 acres. More than 2,000 animals of more than 200 species live at the Zoo.
DZS is recognized for several pioneering exhibits and policies: the National Amphibian Conservation Center (opened 2000, the first major facility of its kind in the world), the Arctic Ring of Life (one of the largest polar bear exhibits in the world), and the Polk Penguin Conservation Center (opened 2016, the largest penguin enclosure in the world). In 2005, DZS became the first major U.S. zoo to retire its elephants, relocating Wanda and Winky to the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary in California. Under a long-term operating agreement signed with the City of Detroit in 2006, DZS manages day-to-day operations while the City retains asset ownership; in 2008, voters in three metropolitan Detroit counties approved a millage to support Zoo operations.
DZS’s mission is “to create meaningful connections between people, animals and the natural world so all can thrive.” Its work is organized around four key commitments — Animals, People, Environment, and Resources — and five core values: Caring, Integrity, Equity, Curiosity, and Innovation. In addition to the Detroit Zoo, DZS operates the Belle Isle Nature Center on Belle Isle Park, which provides free nature-based programming to more than 100,000 visitors annually in the heart of metropolitan Detroit. The Society’s Center for Zoo and Aquarium Animal Welfare and Ethics is a leader in animal welfare science, and DZS runs an extensive sustainability program — including a campus-wide anaerobic digester — that has earned it recognition as one of the greenest zoos in North America.
