The Best Zoo In The World - Henry Doorly Zoo

Exactly how much do you know about our zoo here in Omaha? Henry Doorly zoo to be exact. Ill wait a minute to let you think…

Does Riverview Park ring a bell? How about Riverview Park Zoo? Didn’t think so. Back in the late 1800’s our zoo was called Riverview Park Zoo.  In 1963 the name was changed to Henry Doorly Zoo. Who was Henry Doorly? The son in law of the world Heralds publisher Gilbert Hitchcock. Fun fact, Doorly became a reporter for the herald in 1903.

Henry Doorly was always on a mission to improve the city and let me tell ya he did just that. He was and still is a legend. When he died in 1961. After his passing, his daughter convinced her mother Margeret Hitchcock Doorly that Omaha needed a new zoo. So in 1963 she donated $750,000, which in today’s day in age is more than $4,000,000 bucks! The catch was that the zoo be named after her husband.

            Okay so back in the day when it was called Riverview Park, there was about 120 animals all together. Oh and I keep hearing we had a couple of bison on loan from good old “buffalo bill”. I don’t know where people are getting their information nowadays. Only 120 Animal’s on 130 acres? Wow, it’s difficult to wrap my head around it because now we have thousands of animals and so many indoor and outdoor exhibits! I love the zoo in Omaha, NE. When I go to the Scott Aquarium I feel like I am a mermaid, don’t judge. When I am in the Lied jungle I feel like Tarzan is going to come out of nowhere, swinging from a vine screaming “AHHHH AHA AHAAAA.” The point is when I am visiting any of these in and out door exhibits I feel like I am in that part of the world. The recreation of them is absolutely amazing!  So I wonder is it rare animals, the vast exhibits or just the visitors that come from around the world that make this zoo rated #1 across the Earth?