Kazar, Jill and Asha, the three reticulated giraffes at Plumpton Park Zoo, walking across their yard
Plumpton Park Zoo · Rising Sun, Maryland

Animals at Plumpton Park Zoo

Animals at the zoo200+
Taken in from ownersAbout half
Animal pages52
Once they arriveHome for life

Meet Our Animals

Meet the animals of Plumpton Park Zoo. Pick a group, look for the gold Rescued badge, or search by name.

Browse by group: Mammals · Birds · Reptiles & Amphibians

No animals match that search. Try another name, or see the A–Z list.


Our animals

Animals at our Zoo

Plumpton Park Zoo is home to over 200 animals. About half of them were taken in from owners who could no longer keep them. We will only take an animal in if we can improve its situation.

Once we take an animal in, this becomes their forever home. They will get expert veterinary care, along with dedicated professional zookeepers taking care of them each and every day.

Our giraffes hold court at the feeding station at 12:00 noon on weekdays and 11:00am and 1:00pm on weekends (11:00am and 1:00pm daily in summer), weather and giraffes permitting.

♥ Rescued

Look for the Rescued badge

About half of our animals are rescued. The gold badge on each card above, and on the animal’s own page, marks the ones that came to us needing a home.


Enrichment

Watch what your gift actually buys

All animals are provided what is called environmental enrichment. That is a program that alters each animal’s environment to stimulate natural behaviors.

Scent trails, puzzle feeders, cardboard boxes, blocks of ice. It looks like play, and it is — enrichment is how a tiger stays a tiger, a bear stays curious, and a parrot stays busy instead of bored. Our keepers build most of it by hand, the animals take it apart, and that is exactly the point. Then we build it again the following week.


Support

Where an enrichment gift goes

Admission covers about 70% of what it costs to run this zoo. Gifts cover the rest — and “the rest” is things like this. More than 200 animals live here, about half of them taken in from owners who could no longer care for them, and once an animal arrives, this is home for life.

Every dollar that reaches the zoo marked for enrichment is spent on enrichment. The zoo takes no administrative cut — none of it is moved across to salaries, utilities or overhead. It goes to the keepers as a supply budget and comes back as browse and produce, scents and spices, puzzle feeders, boomer balls, ice treats, and the lumber, rope and hardware they use to build the next round by hand.

The only deduction is the payment processor’s card fee, taken before the gift ever reaches us. Nothing is held back on this end.

Give today, and the next round of boxes, scents and puzzle feeders is on you.

Donate for Animal Enrichment



Come meet them in person

Plumpton Park Zoo, 1416 Telegraph Road, Rising Sun, Maryland.

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