The Mokopane Biodiversity Conservation Centre was established in 1979 and opened to the public in October 1981, as a satellite of the National Zoological Garden (NZG), Pretoria Zoo. In 2004 the NZG was proclaimed as a National Facility, as part of the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF). In April 2018 the Mokopane BCC was transferred to the National Department of Environment, Fisheries and Forestry as campus of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).