Admission to the Saint Louis Zoo has been free since 1916, one of the few major zoos in the United States that charges nothing to enter. This policy is the direct legacy of the 1904 World's Fair: after the fair ended, the Smithsonian Institution donated its exhibition of living animals to the City of St. Louis, and local citizens voted to create a special taxing district to support a free public zoo. That vote, more than a century ago, established a civic commitment that has never been reversed.
The zoo has grown into one of the finest in the world, with over 14,000 animals representing nearly 500 species, across 90 acres within Forest Park. It is particularly renowned for its research and conservation programs, including work on black-footed ferrets — one of North America's most endangered mammals, brought back from near-extinction partly through captive breeding here — and on cheetahs, penguins, and sea lions. On a spring or summer weekend, the zoo is one of those great St. Louis equalizers: families from every neighborhood and every income level converge here, pushing strollers, buying overpriced snacks, watching giraffes and children watch each other with mutual fascination.