GORILLAS LAND

Stablished in 1933, the Topeka Zoological Park is located within Gage Park, just off I-70 in the north central portion of the city. Despite its size, it has a number of exhibits, including one of the first indoor tropical rain forests in the United States. Altough they lost their accreditation in 2001 due to bad management, Topeka Zoo is currently member of WAZA and AZA. The zoo is divided in different zones, on which they keep species such as koalas, black bears, lemurs, hippos, african and asian elephants, giraffes or tortoises between others.Topeka Zoological Park started keeping gorillas in 1969 with the arrival of Max (September) and Tiffany (October) from Dallas and Kansas respectively, where they were born. The first and only baby gorilla at Topeka Zoo was born in November 1992 to mother M'Wasi* and was sired by Jojo, but it was a stillbirth.

In 1985, the Gorilla Encounter exhibit opened, which gives visitors an opportunity to enjoy an interactive experience with the Zoo’s gorilla as they walk through a glass tunnel, one of the first of its kind, and examine the gorilla habitat.