In 1932, a fledgling zoo was established in Pocatello when two animals—a rhesus monkey named Josephine and a raccoon named Pete—were placed on display in wire pens at a local trailer park. Twelve-year-old John Marshall had captured Pete beneath the Portneuf River bridge and proudly donated him to the new facility. During the summer, John and his grandfather, William Raymond, superintendent of the Park Department, would take Pete on a leash to the river, where he caught crawdads, snails, and pollywogs. In the winter, Josephine was kept in John’s garage, heated by light bulbs and an electric heater.

In the early 1930s, Idaho Governor C. Ben Ross, a former mayor of Pocatello, appropriated funds to purchase land for a new city park. Born Charles Ross, he was known throughout his life as “Cowboy Ben,” a nickname he earned while growing up on his family’s ranch near Parma, where he spent his youth herding cattle and riding horses. Park Department Superintendent William Raymond and the City Council selected a site in South Pocatello characterized by natural lava rock and sagebrush. The area soon became home to the growing zoo and was named Ross Park in honor of Governor Ross.

William Raymond served as Park Superintendent and Meat Inspector until his death in 1943. During the zoo’s first eleven years, William and his grandson John captured many of the first inhabitants, building pens for monkeys, raccoons, bobcats, badgers, and coyotes. A bear pit was constructed around a natural volcanic cave for Jigs, a bear orphaned near Mack’s Inn. Next came two deer from Rockland, Tommy and Adah, who were initially housed in John’s garage with three bobcat and four coyote cubs. John and William later captured a silver-tipped badger near Pocatello Creek and dug up a coyote den on the bluffs of American Falls Reservoir.

In 1978, the zoo welcomed Charlie, a three-year-old grizzly bear from Alaska believed to have been orphaned as a cub. The gentle “griz” quickly became a community treasure and beloved zoo mascot, delighting generations of visitors. Charlie became the zoo’s main attraction and lived to the ripe old age of 34. He passed away on September 1, 2009, after developing debilitating arthritis and a declining appetite. His ashes were later interred in the zoo’s grizzly bear exhibit, which opened three years later, providing a lasting tribute to his memory and enduring legacy.

In 1991, a two-year-old female grizzly joined grand patriarch Charlie in the grizzly bear exhibit. Stripes had been born in captivity at a zoo in Columbus, Ohio. The two bears were companions for 18 years until Charlie’s passing in 2009. The death was hard on Stripes who began pacing her enclosure when the bears were finally separated. Fortunately, Stripes would not be alone for long. In 2014, Zoo Idaho received two-year-old Shoni—a transplant from the Shoshone National Forest. When the young grizzly bear began hanging around horse trails and stealing snacks from tourists, she was trapped near the Pahaska Tepee Resort outside of Cody, Wyoming, and arrived at the zoo two days later.

Zoo Idaho’s world-class Sara W. Ifft Grizzly Bear Exhibit officially opened to the public on July 3, 2012. For Stripes, the zoo’s lone grizzly at the time, the timing could not have been better. The half-acre naturalistic habitat features a recirculating stream and pond stocked with live trout and bass, a covered beach, mature trees, and a stunning backdrop of Scout Mountain. The glass viewing gallery brings visitors within inches of the bears and includes a unique training alcove for Keeper Chats and other educational programs. The exhibit also serves as the cornerstone for future development and expansion of the beautiful zoo.

In 2016, the former Pocatello Zoo, also known as Ross Park Zoo, officially became Zoo Idaho, reflecting its mission as an indigenous species zoo. The zoo is home to numerous orphaned or injured animals from the region that could not survive in the wild, offering visitors a chance to see Idaho wildlife—including bears, bison, deer, elk, cougars, coyotes, eagles, and owls—up close. Its grizzly bear exhibit is especially popular, where natural behavior can be exhibited in the expansive habitat. In this way, Zoo Idaho provides a unique opportunity to experience and learn about the wildlife native to Idaho.