Known for its farm land and small towns North Dakota may seem empty and boring, but North Dakota is home to the Dakota Zoo in Bismarck, one of the state’s hidden gems.     
    According to dakotazoo.org, the Dakota Zoo was founded in 1961 by Marc & Betty Christianson.  They decided to open a zoo and had the help of many friends and volunteers.  The Dakota Zoo opened its gates on June 3, 1961 with 75 mammals and 23 birds, and 40,000 visitors passed through the gates that first year.
    Over the years as the number of animals increased the word of the zoo began to spread and the people of North Dakota really started to love the little zoo.  It was the perfect place for school field trips, and for families to visit
    Starting in 1988 the Dakota zoo began to get involved in campaigns to raise large sums of money.  The first campaign the Dakota zoo was involved in was the Beyond the Bear Necessities capital campaign, and they raised over $1.2 million   
    Today the Dakota zoo is now housing over 600 animals, birds, reptiles and fish representing 125 species and visited by more than 130,000 people each year.