Demolition teams have arrived at a long-abandoned zoo in Detroit, which has been untouched for over two decades.

Located on Belle Isle, this 13-acre zoo has remained closed since 2002, with neglect allowing nature to overtake its fences and buildings.

Thanks to funding from the American Recovery Act, demolition efforts commenced earlier this month and are set to continue through the year’s end. The process involves dismantling crumbling structures, hazardous enclosures, and precarious pathways.

Plans for the site include the creation of new trails, enhanced canal access, and the addition of 110 parking spaces to rejuvenate the area.

Amanda Treadwell from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources explained to WXYZ Detroit that much of the former zoo’s infrastructure is severely deteriorated and poses significant safety risks.

‘It’s been hazardous for years, and we’re working to remove every unsafe element.’

The Belle Isle Zoo opened in 1895 with only a few deer and a single bear. As Detroit grew in the early 20th century, the zoo expanded and became a major city attraction. 

By 1910, officials formally renamed it the Detroit Zoo. Over the following decades, the island housed elephants, bears, monkeys, kangaroos, and other animals and reached an estimated population of about 150 creatures at its peak.

New animal grottos, viewing pavilions, and feeding stations appeared throughout the 1920s and 1930s as Detroit invested in Belle Isle’s cultural facilities. 

Demolition crews have started tearing down the crumbling structures. The decaying zoo is pictured

The Belle Isle Zoo first opened in 1895 with some deer and a bear for visitors to view. Polar bears at the zoo are seen in this file photo

The zoo grew to house elephants, monkeys, kangaroos, seals, tigers, and alligators 

Demolition crews are working to remove invasive plants and unsafe zoo structures while protecting mature trees and local wildlife. The start of the demolition is pictured

One of the zoo’s most beloved residents arrived in 1923, when Detroit schoolchildren helped buy an Asian elephant named Sheba. 

A young girl wrote a letter to the Detroit News asking whether students could pool their money to purchase an animal the zoo did not yet have. 

The newspaper seized the idea and launched ‘Elephant Day,’ a citywide campaign that encouraged children to donate their lunch or milk money.

More than 150,000 students contributed and raised about $2,000, which helped cover most of the $2,750 cost of the 600lb elephant. 

The News even sent a reporter to New York to accompany Sheba as she traveled by train to Buffalo and then by boat to Detroit.

Sheba became an instant sensation. Reporters described her as ‘five tons of gray, ponderous beauty,’ and locals quickly nicknamed her ‘The Schoolchildren’s Elephant.’ 

She remained one of the zoo’s star attractions for decades, and additional elephants joined her in later years. 

She lived at the Belle Isle Zoo until she died on January 2, 1959.

Penguins at the Belle Isle Zoo. At one point there were 150 animals at the zoo for visitors to admire

A grizzly bear leaning against cage at Belle Isle Zoo years before its closure and eventual demolition

Visitors watching raccoons in a fenced enclosure at the Belle Isle Zoo

The Belle Isle facility began to fade after Detroit opened the larger, modern Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak in 1956. 

Many of the marquee animals moved to the suburban campus, and the island site struggled with shrinking budgets and outdated enclosures.

By the 1970s, Detroit’s financial crises deepened the decline. 

Buildings deteriorated, attendance dropped, and the zoo gained a reputation for worn exhibits and aging infrastructure.

In 1980, Detroit attempted a revival by rebranding the facility as Safariland. 

Workers installed African-themed huts and built elevated wooden boardwalks to give visitors an overhead view of the animals. 

The concept drew early curiosity but failed to restore long-term attendance. 

By the late 1990s, the city lacked the funding to continue operating the site and the zoo closed permanently in 2002.

One of the walkways that was previously used by visitors to view animals from

Vines and weeds have overtaken the zoo’s African-themed huts since its closure

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is tapping into funds from the American Recovery Act to clear away the decaying Belle Isle Zoo. A demolition crew is pictured 

After the closure, the zoo sat untouched for more than two decades. 

Vegetation overtook the fencing, fallen trees covered the pathways, and the buildings decayed in place. 

The site became a popular destination for urban explorers, graffiti artists, and photographers who entered through broken parts of the fence and documented the ruins online.

YouTubers with a knack for adventure have regularly showed viewers the deteriorating elevated walkways from the 1980s redesign. 

Many planks had rotted, and entire sections sagged or collapsed beneath overgrown branches. 

Explorers also walked through the old animal tunnels where staff once moved animals between exhibits. Some of the metal gates and pull-handles still hung from the walls.

One creator, Mobile Instinct, filmed the zoo’s central area and pointed out the large stone buildings, archways, and staircases where staff likely held shows. 

He noted that the site appeared in the 2011 Hugh Jackman film Real Steel. A major robot boxing scene was shot in the middle of the abandoned complex. 

The zoo’s iconic wooden domes, designed in 1980, stand in ruin before their removal

Graffiti-covered walls inside the abandoned zoo tell the story of two decades of neglect

The YouTuber also showed the remains of a bird exhibit, a concession room filled with debris and peeling lead paint, a rusted refrigerator, and a boarded ticket booth. 

He said the site smelled of old animal enclosures and described how nature continued to reclaim every corner of the property.

‘It was just sitting idle for so long, and you just had the guys coming in doing their graffiti,’ Glen Ryder of Harper Woods told CBS News. ‘I think they were having a hard time even keeping people out of there all the time.’