HISTORYThe Phoenix Zoo opened more than 60 years ago. See what it looked likeUp close with the residents at the Phoenix Zoo in 1968.The RepublicThe Phoenix Zoo opened on Nov. 21, 1962. Nancy Maytag cuts the ribbon, assisted by Robert Mattlin, the first director of the Phoenix Zoo. In the background are local dignitaries, including Mayor Sam Mardian; Gov. Paul Fannin; Eugene Pulliam, publisher of the Arizona Republic and Arizona Gazette; and Walter Bimson, president of the Valley National Bank.Provided By The Phoenix ZooOn opening day in 1962, Phoenix Zoo visitors flock across the Bunny Bridge that led to the Children's Zoo. The first-day attendance of 12,401 set a single-day record that stood for 20 years. There were only two sections completed when the zoo opened: the Arizona Exhibit and the Children's Zoo.Provided By The Phoenix ZooTwo children feed an elephant at the Phoenix Zoo in 1963.Dorothy McLaughlin, APARobert Maytag, founder of The Phoenix Zoo and grandson of the founder of the Maytag Appliance Company, in his home in 1961 or 1962. The first animals acquired for the zoo included this parrot. It was temporarily housed at the Maytag residence in Scottsdale. Maytag died of pneumonia before the zoo opened, but his widow, Nancy Maytag, took over and completed the project.Provided By The Phoenix ZooVisitors to the Phoenix Zoo got to play with the elephants back in 1962.Provided By The Arizona Zoological SocietySanta feeds a baby elephant at the Phoenix Zoo on Dec. 10, 1965.Earl McCartney/The RepublicAn elephant cools off at the Phoenix Zoo.Lud Keaton/The RepublicAn elephant poses for artists at the Phoeniz Zoo in 1965.The RepublicOrangutans at the Phoenix Zoo in 1965.Lud Keaton/The RepublicChildren get a closeup view of residents at the Phoenix Zoo in 1965.The RepublicChildren feed a Tapir at the Phoeniz Zoo in 1966.Lud Keaton/The RepublicPhoenix Zoo monkeys performing in 1968.The RepublicOrangutan's play in the 1975 orangutan exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo.Earl McCartney/The RepublicIn 1989, Ruby the elephant makes acquaintances with a group of 4- and 5-year-olds from the Sunburst Children's Center at Phoenix Zoo.Tim Koors/The RepublicRuby, an elephant at the Phoenix Zoo, painting with a brush held in her trunk as keeper Jerry Brown holds the canvas in 1992. About 250 paintings drawn by the Asian elephant have sold and Phoenix Zoo photographer Dick George penned her biography entitled "Ruby: The Painting Pachyderm of the Phoenix Zoo."Provided By Dick George/The Phoenix ZooA male orangutan sucks on an ice cube supplied by the Phoenix Zoo animal keepers to help them cope with the summer heat in 1998.Tim Koors/The RepublicHundreds of people lined up to take advantage of the free admission to The Phoenix Zoo in 1999.Christine Keith/The RepublicSarah Cuellar, a zoo keeper at the Phoenix Zoo, holds up an iguana in 2000.Emmanuel Lozano/The RepublicA back to school survival guide cover shot taken at the Phoenix Zoo's speckled bear exhibit in 2000.Sherrie Buzby/The RepublicTwo giraffes at the Phoenix Zoo in the 2000s.The RepublicZoo keeper Brandi Cooper uses a piece of cactus to try and coax Alliedaber to the scale for his annual weigh-in and physical exam in May 2000. Alliedaber, an Aldabra tortoise who is over a 100 years old, weighed in at 650 pounds.Mark Henle/The RepublicJeri Carlton, from Tempe, paddles her kayak through the lagoon, during the late evening in June 2001.Mike Rynearson/The RepublicSerena Barrack, 6, cools off in the new water sprayground called "Leapin' Lagoon" during June 2001.Mike Rynearson/The RepublicChildren frolick in the new water sprayground called the "Leapin' Lagoon" during June 2001.Mike Rynearson/The RepublicGiraffes are drawn to the high branches of a tree at the Phoenix Zoo Savannah exhibit in 2002.Tim Koors/The RepublicBess the Orangutan uses a palm frawn for shade to keep out of the sun Satuday at the Phoenix Zoo in 2005.Pat Shannahan/The RepublicA Grevy's zebra one week after its birth pictured on March 8, 2001, at the Phoenix Zoo.Angela Jimenez/The RepublicBighorn sheep stand on top of a butte at the Phoenix Zoo while a plane in the background descends toward Sky Harbor in 2001.Michael Chow/The RepublicOrthopedic surgeon Dennis Armstrong, right, of the Mesa Valley Lutheran Hospital, prepares to perform arthroscopic knee surgery on Hobbes, a 9-year-old cheetah, at the Phoenix Zoo's Animal Care Center in 2001. Cheetahs are the worldest fastest land mammals, but Hobbes' osteomalacia (softened cartilidge) was slowing him down.Angela Jimenez/The RepublicIndu, an Asian elephant, gets sprayed in her habitat by elephant keeper Steve Koyle in 2004.Christine Keith/The RepublicChildren react to the common boa constrictor that was revealed by Phoenix Zoo Outreach Coordinator Susan Gerros in 2004.Catherine J. Jun/The RepublicPhoenix zoo keeper Anna Young calls the aptor Altair to her hand, where she feeds the bird bits of mice meat in 2004.Cheryl Evans/The RepublicDr. Chris Visser works on an infected tooth in the mouth of Cookie, a 6-year-old African lion at the Phoenix Zoo in 2005.Tom Tingle/The RepublicA big horn sheep watches the sunset from a butte at the Phoenix Zoo with an almost full moon rising from behind on June 1, 2014.Michael Chow/The RepublicEllerie Lane, 2, and her mother Kate Lane get ready to feed a giraffe during the Phoenix Zoo's Prowl and Play event on Saturday, June 13, 2015.Rachael Le Goubin/The RepublicReba, an Asian elephant, is excited to get a shower courtesy of the Phoenix Fire Department during World Elephant Day at the Phoenix Zoo on Aug. 13, 2016.Cheryl Evans/The RepublicLouLou, a southern white rhino, wallows in the mud of her inclosure at the Phoenix Zoo during a heat wave on June 19, 2017.Mark Henle/The RepublicMiguu (left) the zoo’s only male giraffe and mother female giraffe Sunshine are fed by Courtney Wilson at the Phoenix Zoo in 2018.Nick Oza/The Arizona RepublicYou can't tell by its face, but this great horned owl is enjoying a cool shower from a zoo keeper on June 19, 2017, at the Phoenix Zoo.Mark Henle/The RepublicA giraffe is fed at the Phoenix Zoo in 2018.Nick Oza/The Arizona RepublicHow do you cool down like a tiger? In a pool of cool water. Jai, a male tiger at the Phoenix Zoo, chills out during a heat wave on June 19, 2017.Mark Henle/The RepublicChildren play in the snow with their siblings and friends at the Phoenix Zoo on Dec. 31, 2018.Nick Oza/The RepublicLilly Drier, 2, dug herself a spot to sit in the snow on July 13, 2019, at the Phoenix Zoo.Madeleine Cook/The RepublicA black-footed ferret kit from the Phoenix Zoo in 2022.David Wagner/The RepublicAurora, a baby giraffe, in the African Savanna exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo in 2023.Rob Schumacher/The RepublicAurora (right), a new baby giraffe, stays close to her mother Sunshine and another female in the African Savanna exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo on Dec. 5, 2023.Rob Schumacher/The RepublicA Galapagos tortoise at the Phoenix Zoo named Elvis receives a cooling shower on July 18, 2023, that offers relief from the extreme heat wave in central Arizona. Tuesday is the 19th day in a row of temperatures of 110 degrees or more which sets a new record.Rob Schumacher/The RepublicAurora, the new baby giraffe stays close to her mother Sunshine in the African Savanna exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo in 2023.Rob Schumacher/The RepublicDisplays illuminate the night at ZooLights at the Phoenix Zoo in 2024.Michael Chow/The RepublicMandril eating at the Phoenix Zoo in 2024.Trilce Estrada Olvera/The RepublicFlamingos trying to find a spot to build their nest at the Phoenix Zoo in 2024.Trilce Estrada Olvera/The Republic