Our Mission

Mission Statement: The Alaska Zoo is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to promoting conservation of Arctic, sub-Arctic and like climate species through education, research and community enrichment.

Our Values

Our History

The Alaska Zoo (formerly The Alaska Children’s Zoo) opened to the public in August of 1969. The zoo’s story of origin is very uniquely Alaskan.

How We Began

It all began back in 1966 with the arrival of a baby circus elephant named Annabelle. A grocer in Fairbanks had won a Crown Zellerbach tissue sales contest and the company was offering a prize of “$3,000 or a baby elephant”. While this was likely a gimmick by the company at the time, the grocer surprised everyone when he chose the elephant. So Annabelle the Asian elephant was brought from her life as a young circus elephant to the Last Frontier of Alaska.

The grocer quickly realized that he was lacking the ability and facilities to care for a baby elephant in the wilds of Alaska. With winter approaching, he decided to reach out to people who might have a warm place for Annabelle to live. He landed on the doorstep of Sammye Seawell, then owner of the Diamond H Horse Ranch in Anchorage. She had horse sense, was great with animals and most importantly – she had a heated horse stall. So Annabelle came to live with Sammye and the two developed a close and special relationship. She was known for taking Annie for walks near her horse ranch property and many neighbors would later recall seeing her with Annie walking down the wooded roads.

It didn’t take long for word to get out that Sammye had an elephant in town. People were contacting her and stopping by night and day to see Annie. As time went on, Sammye started to consider a better way to let the public interact with Annie while also pursuing her interest in providing care and homes for orphaned and injured wildlife. She quickly saw the need for this as she was approached by wildlife officials who had an orphaned black bear, later named Tuffy, and an orphaned Arctic fox, later named Sally. In 1968, the Alaska Zoo was incorporated as a nonprofit, land next to the horse ranch was prepared and the Alaska Children’s Zoo opened its gates on August 2nd, 1969.

From that point forward, the Alaska Zoo became a place for locals and visitors to make memories. Generations of families have raised their kids on our trails, fostering a connection with animals and the natural setting of the zoo’s grounds. Hundreds of thousands of animals have been through the zoo’s facility, many finding permanent homes here while others were sent on to other zoo homes.

Zoo employees have worked tirelessly to save the lives of animals in need, building strong partnerships with local, state and federal wildlife agencies as well as local and corporate businesses. Our education programs have grown to offer all of the programs you would expect to find at any large city zoo. We do all of this as a nonprofit, built on the solid foundation of dedicated employees and zoo supporters whose donations and visitation have made the zoo what it is today.

We are thankful for all of the memories we have from the past years. It all started with a baby elephant, a compassionate animal lover and a dream to provide our community with a connection to animals and programs.

Our Continuing Mission

Since our gates opened in 1969, we have cared for orphaned and injured wildlife as the only zoo in Alaska. We are proud of how far we have come to care for wildlife in need and to provide quality education and conservation programs for the local community, those across Alaska and visitors from around the country as well as internationally.

While the zoo has increased in animal numbers and facility infrastructure over the decades, we are proud to remain true to our core mission of providing homes for animals who need them. We work closely with wildlife officials and other zoos to provide animal placements in good permanent homes on our naturally wooded grounds. We are a nonprofit organization receiving no city, state or federal funding for operations. We truly appreciate your support of our mission!