The history of one of the largest zoos in Belarus begins in Grodno in 1927. Then, it was called a zoological department of the botanical garden which belonged to the men’s gymnasium. Initially, its fosterlings were only 17 animal species, and the first zoo inhabitant was a wounded black beaver brought by a teacher of the gymnasium, Yan Kokhanovsky. Cages with animals were placed right between the flower beds of the garden. It was hard to keep animals in these conditions: they needed more space and additional premises. The city administration allocated an abandoned cycle track near the Grodnichanka River. After the construction and repair work, the zoological department moved to a new house and got a new name – the zoological garden. It is still located there.

In 1936, the zoo numbered about 400 animals, including a lion, a leopard, a bear, and a bison. The Society of Nature Lovers provided funds for their maintenance. However, the zoo often had to seek help from the city authorities until, in 1939, it was recognized as a state zoo and started to receive full support. Since then, Grodno Zoo has begun a new life. The collection has been enriched regularly, and the number of visitors has grown rapidly.

During the Great Patriotic War, the zoo area was destroyed and plundered. After the city liberation in 1944, there was nothing left except for some animals. Only two donkeys, two deer, and a peacock remained, but their maintenance caused much trouble. Later under the leadership of director A.R. Ganusevich, people carried out restoration work and planted 150 fir trees. New animals arrived at the zoo. So by the end of 1946, the zoo became home to brown bears, wolves, foxes, raccoons, badgers, deer, camels, ostriches, partridges, an owl, and a peacock. In 1955, an Indian elephant and two Chinese alligators came here for the first time. Nowadays, the area of Grodno Zoo is almost 5,5 hectares, and there are about 4000 animals of over 300 species living in the zoo.