The Sacramento Zoo opened on June 2, 1927 as the 4.2-acre William Land Park Zoo, with 40 animals brought from local parks. In 1949 it welcomed SUE, the Sacramento Union Elephant, bought with money raised through a newspaper drive.
The zoo expanded to 14.3 acres in the early 1960s. The Sacramento Zoological Society, formed in 1958, took over day-to-day operation in 1997.