sentences:  Niabi Zoo traces its history back to 1959, when local masonry contractor and animal lover, Gordon V. McLain, opened McLain's Wild Animal Farm to the public.It operated as a privately owned zoo for several years until Patti S. Wiman (1895–1976) purchased the farm and some surrounding land in 1963 and deeded it to the Rock Island County Forest Preserve District, which owns and operates it as a non-profit community attraction to this day.After the zoo reopened to the public as a property of the Rock Island County Forest Preserve District, slow but steady improvements began to take shape.