 At one time the park also featured a zoo , pony rides , and a refectory . In 1893 the park board gave permission for a Shetland pony concession and began to accept gifts of animals for a zoo in the lower glen . The zoo grew in size , and by 1899 a bear pit and an alligator tank had been added . Although very popular , when Theodore Wirth became the new park superintendent in 1906 , the zoo was removed at his urging . The animals were donated to Longfellow Gardens , however a fenced area containing deer and elk remained until 1923 . To this day the area is sometimes referred to as " the deer pen " . 
