What makes a home?

Simmering pots of soup and fresh baked bread in the kitchen? Ample room for celebrations and gatherings? For humans and animals alike, answers vary, but for most, it’s the time spent together and caring that make a place feel like home.

Asian elephants like to walk on sand and soft earth. They need to forage for hay and their favorite fruits and veggies, and enjoy a freshwater pool for keeping cool in the summer. Sea otters Lincoln, Juno and Uni Sushi, on the other hand, love their chilly saltwater pools and copious amounts of sustainably harvested seafood. They are curious and playful explorers, so the animal-care teams provide different toys every day to keep things interesting.

More than 2,000 animals with unique diets and needs live here.

This year, as people have adjusted to working from home, zoo animal-care staff have been on the front lines, tending to each individual and creating innovative and enriching activities to help the animals stay active and engaged. At Steller Cove, keepers and volunteers built a puzzle for the harbor seals that releases fish when solved. Over in the Great Northwest, the cougars look like very large kittens when chasing an enormous salmon installed on a zip-line. At the Oregon Zoo Foundation, our team is adapting and innovating too!

This year, we hosted our first virtual gala and ran our first crowdfunding campaign, for red pandas.

The Oregon Zoo provides comprehensive and compassionate care for its animals. The Oregon Zoo Foundation activates that care through the support of generous zoo members, donors and organizations. Together we work to provide homes for all of the animals to thrive.

Our annual Gratitude Report gives an inside look at the collaborative impact of the Oregon Zoo, Oregon Zoo Foundation and the community. We can’t do this work alone — it takes a herd.