The Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park is an AZA (Association of Zoos & Aquariums) zoo in Syracuse, New York. It is owned and operated by Onondaga County Parks with support from the Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. The zoo is home to more than 900 animals representing 216 species on . Some of the more popular animals include Asian elephants, Humboldt penguins, Amur tigers, a Komodo dragon and the only Giant Pacific octopus exhibit in Central New York. The zoo opened a new Animal Health Center in 2022 that is the largest zoological medical center in New York state outside of the Bronx Zoo. The Rosamond Gifford Zoo has been a continuously accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) since 1987. History Origins In 1900, Lyman Cornelius Smith donated $10,000 and zoological collection to establish a zoo. The first incarnation of the zoo was a small, four acre facility in Burnet Park owned and operated by the Syracuse Department of Parks and Recreation. After opening in 1914, the zoo's first expansion began in 1916 with the construction of stone exhibits for bears and a waterfowl pond. By 1933, the zoo had doubled in size, and by in 1955 a children's zoo and monkey exhibit had been built. Decline The zoo's decline began in the early 1960s as Syracuse's tax base started to shrink and financial support for the zoo began to erode. In 1974, two teens broke into the zoo and killed and injured several animals. The city's financial position and the break-in fueled public debate over the future of the zoo. In 1970, a volunteer group founded the Friends of the Burnet Park Zoo and the city received a grant to enlarge the zoo to , add a boardwalk, a western plains habitat, and construct a new perimeter fence. In 1979, the city of Syracuse transferred control of the zoo to Onondaga County Parks to determine its future. Renewal A study by County Parks staff produced a forty-page renovation plan for the zoo which involved shutting down the old zoo and constructing a new zoo with spacious, naturalistic animal habitats replacing the old cages. The plan was approved by the Onondaga County legislature in 1981. The old zoo was closed in 1982 and the $13 million project ($10 million of which was provided by the county and the rest by the Friends of the