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Timeline

Zoombies (2016) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2016 · 90 mins · English
JustWatch #26,188 3
Directed by
Glenn Miller
Starring
Aaron Groben, Marcus Anderson, Jennifer Titus, Andrew Asper, Cedric Jonathan, Kaiwi Lyman

A mysterious virus sweeps through a safari park, reanimating the animals as undead creatures. Those remaining in the park must find a way to contain the outbreak and prevent the zombie animals from escaping and spreading the contagion throughout the city. The situation quickly escalates as the creatures become increasingly aggressive and numerous.

On this page (5)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (13)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch Zoombies (2016)

Where can you watch Zoombies? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV and Hoopla: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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13 events in order · contains spoilers

Zoombies Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Zoombies (2016) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Intern orientation day at Eden Wildlife Zoo

    Intern orientation kicks off at Eden Wildlife Zoo with college students touring the facility and meeting staff. The day showcases the zoo's rare animals and everyday operations, framed as a routine introduction. Normalcy, however, is about to be shattered as the day unfolds.

    When
    Morning, orientation day
    Where
    Eden Wildlife Zoo, northern Arizona
  2. Monkeys in the clinic suffer a cardiac event

    Several monkeys in the clinic suffer a cardiac arrest, prompting urgent veterinary care. Veterinarians administer intracardiac epinephrine to restart the animals' hearts, but the contagious pathogen spreads to all monkeys in the room, turning them into predatory zombies. The infection quickly threatens everyone present in the clinic.

    When
    Soon after the initial veterinary intervention
    Where
    Zoo clinic
  3. Attack in the clinic and alarm is raised

    The transformed monkeys attack the veterinarians, killing one of them. Dr. Gordon survives long enough to activate the alarm, signaling that something has gone terribly wrong. The clinic erupts into chaos as the outbreak spreads.

    When
    Moments after transformation
    Where
    Zoo clinic
  4. Security team investigates the clinic disappearance

    Johnny goes to check on the veterinarians but does not return. The security team, joined by college student Gage, makes their way to the clinic and discovers Johnny dead and Gordon barely alive. The monkeys attack again, killing two guards, forcing the survivors to flee.

    When
    Shortly after the alarm
    Where
    Clinic vicinity, Eden Wildlife Zoo
  5. Zoo lockdown as the infection spreads

    Ellen Rogers, the zoo manager, orders a full lockdown to contain the outbreak. The disease rapidly spreads throughout the zoo, even infecting a group of wild hogs that attack three students. The situation grows increasingly dire as containment fails.

    When
    Shortly after the lockdown begins
    Where
    Eden Wildlife Zoo
  6. Giraffe attack and Amber’s rescue

    Lizzy, Gage, and Rex arrive as infected giraffes attack the students, and they manage to rescue Amber. Gage is injured in the chaos, and Amber seizes their jeep, forcing the group to improvise a new mode of transport. Tension rises as danger closes in from multiple directions.

    When
    Shortly after lockdown
    Where
    Zoo grounds near the student area
  7. Elephants transport and lemur chaos

    To escape, the group uses elephants, but lemurs in the trees spook the herd, tossing Lizzy, Rex, and Gage from the elephants to the ground. Rex suffers a crushed leg, and Daxton with intern A.J. fend off the lemurs as the group seeks refuge inside the gorilla lab. The situation becomes a claustrophobic scramble for safety.

    When
    Soon after their jeep escape
    Where
    Elephant yards and gorilla lab
  8. Gorilla Kifo turns on the lab

    Daxton checks on the zoo's endangered gorilla Kifo and finds him infected. Kifo breaks into the gorilla lab and kills Daxton, while Rex initially stabs the creature. In retaliation, Kifo crushes Rex’s head, marking a brutal setback for the survivors.

    When
    During the gorilla outbreak
    Where
    Gorilla lab
  9. Police attack ends in tragedy

    A police team arrives to eliminate the threat but is overwhelmed by a pride of infected lions. The confrontation ends in fatalities, underscoring how quickly the outbreak spirals beyond human control. The survivors press onward with dwindling options.

    When
    Midday
    Where
    Zoo perimeter
  10. Amber, Thea, and koala blood clue

    Amber reaches the front gate and is mauled by an infected lion. Thea is attacked by an infected koala but kills it with a baseball bat. Ellen analyzes the koala’s blood and discovers an enzyme in the cerebral cortex linked to the disease, prompting attempts to release birds to halt transmission, which ultimately prove unsuccessful.

    When
    Midday to afternoon
    Where
    Front gate and koala area
  11. Jeep crash and the zipline plan

    Lizzy, Gage, and A.J escape and find a dying Amber in their jeep. They are attacked by infected lions, kill them, but crash the vehicle. They attempt to reach the watch tower via an unfinished zipline, during which A.J falls to his death, leaving Lizzy and Gage to reunite with Ellen and Thea.

    When
    Afternoon
    Where
    Road toward watch tower
  12. Aviary plan and Chelsea's fate

    The group theorizes that birds may be infected and decide to burn the aviary to prevent spread. They hurry to rescue Chelsea and her intern Ricky from the aviary, discovering Ricky dead and Chelsea alive but eviscerated, with an infected bald eagle using her as a nest. Smoke and flames rise as Ellen’s plan unfolds.

    When
    Late afternoon
    Where
    Aviary
  13. Final escape and Kifo’s return

    Ellen appears to shoot Kifo at the gate as the four survivors are rescued by a helicopter. Just as they’re lifted away, Kifo opens his eyes, revealing that the mighty creature is still alive and a threat beyond the reach of the helicopter.

    When
    Climactic moment
    Where
    Zoo gate and airlift zone

Last updated: October 27, 2025 at 16:47

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Timeline questions answered

Zoombies Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Zoombies (2016): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

How did the zombie outbreak start at the zoo?

The outbreak began in the zoo clinic where veterinarians were treating monkeys for a mysterious disease. When a monkey suffered cardiac arrest, the vets administered intracardiac epinephrine to restart its heart, but this medical intervention somehow triggered the dormant pathogen to activate, turning the monkeys into aggressive zombie-like creatures that attacked the veterinarians.

  • outbreak origin
  • monkeys
  • clinic
  • epinephrine
  • virus activation
Q2

Why did the animals become aggressive after treatment?

The epinephrine used to revive the dying monkey appears to have acted as a catalyst that activated the dormant pathogen in all the monkeys in the clinic. Once activated, the contagious virus spread rapidly among the primates, transforming them into predatory creatures with one instinct: attack any human.

  • aggression
  • epinephrine
  • virus spread
  • primates
  • transformation
Q3

How did the virus spread from monkeys to other animals?

After the initial monkey outbreak, the disease jumped species rapidly. The infected monkeys attacked and killed veterinarians, and the highly contagious pathogen spread through the zoo's animal population. Wild hogs became infected next, then giraffes, followed by lions, koalas, lemurs, and eventually the gorilla Kifo.

Foreshadowing: The lockdown was meant to contain the outbreak, but the disease had already spread beyond the clinic before anyone realized what was happening.

  • virus transmission
  • species jump
  • hogs
  • giraffes
  • lions
  • contamination
Q4

What did Ellen discover about the disease source?

Ellen Rogers analyzed the blood of an infected koala that attacked her daughter Thea and discovered the disease was linked to an enzyme found in the cerebral cortex of koalas. This revelation suggested koalas might be the original carrier or source of the pathogen, though by this point the outbreak had already spread throughout the zoo.

  • koala enzyme
  • cerebral cortex
  • disease origin
  • Ellen discovery
  • virus source
Q5

Why did releasing the birds fail to stop the outbreak?

Ellen ordered Chelsea the birdkeeper to release the birds from the aviary, theorizing that keeping birds caged might accelerate disease spread through confined contact. However, the plan proved ineffective, the birds were either already infected or the disease had progressed too far to be contained through this method.

  • birds
  • aviary
  • containment failure
  • Chelsea
  • release plan
Q6

How did the survivors escape using elephants?

After Amber stole their jeep during the giraffe attack, the remaining survivors, Lizzy, Gage, Rex, and later AJ, were forced to improvise. They rode non-infected elephants as a new escape vehicle through the zoo grounds. However, the elephants were spooked by infected lemurs in the trees, causing the riders to fall and leading to Rex's fatal injury.

  • elephants
  • escape
  • lemurs
  • Rex injury
  • transportation
Q7

What happened to the gorilla Kifo at the end?

Kifo, the endangered gorilla, was infected in the gorilla lab and killed Daxton before attacking Rex, whom he crushed to death. Ellen appeared to shoot Kifo at the zoo gate as the survivors escaped via helicopter. However, in the final moments, Kifo's eyes fluttered open, revealing he survived and remains a threat even as the humans flee.

Foreshadowing: Daxton's decision to check on Kifo despite knowing the animals were infected directly led to his death and the gorilla's breakout.

  • Kifo
  • gorilla
  • ending
  • survival
  • helicopter escape
  • ambiguous ending
Q8

Why did AJ fall from the zipline?

AJ and the others attempted to escape by using an unfinished zipline to reach a watch tower after their jeep crashed. During the escape attempt, AJ slipped and fell to his death, leaving only Lizzy and Gage to continue to the rescue point.

  • AJ
  • zipline
  • fall
  • death
  • escape attempt
Q9

Why was Amber killed at the front gate?

Amber managed to reach the front gate and pleaded with Ellen to open it for the survivors. However, before anyone could escape, an infected lion attacked and mauled her to death at the gate, just moments before rescue would have arrived.

  • Amber
  • lion attack
  • front gate
  • death
  • rescue
Q10

Why were the police unable to contain the lion pride?

A police team arrived at the zoo perimeter to eliminate the infected animals and rescue survivors, but they were quickly overwhelmed by a pride of infected lions. The lions' natural predatory abilities combined with the zombie virus made them deadly opponents, resulting in the entire police team being killed.

  • police
  • lions
  • overrun
  • casualties
  • containment failure
Q11

How did the infection spread so quickly throughout the zoo?

The infection spread rapidly due to multiple factors: the zoo housed many animal species in close proximity, the initial outbreak happened in a clinic with multiple animals, and the virus was highly contagious. Within hours, it jumped from primates to hogs, giraffes, lions, koalas, lemurs, and gorillas, essentially overwhelming the entire facility before effective containment was possible.

Foreshadowing: The alarm was raised immediately after the clinic attack, but the disease had already spread beyond the initial location.

  • rapid spread
  • containment failure
  • zoo animals
  • infection timeline
  • escalation

Movie threads

More Movies Like Zoombies, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Zoombies tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Containment thrillers like Zoombies

Stories where characters desperately try to stop a dangerous threat from spreading. If you liked the desperate struggle to contain the outbreak in Zoombies, you'll enjoy these movies. This section features similar stories where characters are locked in a tense race against time to stop a dangerous threat from escaping a confined location and spreading chaos.

  • frantic
  • desperate
  • suspenseful
  • claustrophobic
  • anxious
  • chaotic
  • Tone: tense, desperate
  • Pacing: fast, relentless
Why these movies?

The story pattern: These narratives typically begin with an initial breach or outbreak, forcing a group of protagonists into immediate action. The plot follows their escalating and often improvised efforts to seal, destroy, or control the threat, frequently facing internal conflict and dwindling resources. The stakes are intensely local at first but carry the terrifying implication of global consequences if they fail.

Why they belong together: Movies in this thread share a core structure of imminent escalation. They create a specific type of suspense built on the fragile barrier between a localized disaster and a wider one, focusing on action, strategy under pressure, and the ever-present fear of containment failure.

Fast-paced creature features like Zoombies

Relentless action-horror with non-stop attacks from monstrous threats. Fans of the non-stop zombie animal action in Zoombies will find more chaotic fun here. This section collects movies with similar high-intensity pacing, where survival hinges on escaping relentless attacks from monstrous creatures in a desperate, action-packed struggle.

  • chaotic
  • frantic
  • suspenseful
  • violent
  • anxious
  • relentless
  • Tone: tense, chaotic
  • Pacing: fast, non-stop
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative is straightforward and driven by action sequences. Character development is often secondary to the immediate threat, as the plot moves swiftly from one attack or escape to the next. The story serves as a framework to showcase inventive creature designs and escalating set pieces, prioritizing thrilling survival mechanics over complex themes.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their shared emphasis on pace and spectacle. They deliver a consistent experience of high-octane chaos, focusing on the visceral thrill of the chase and the creative ways characters fend off monstrous threats, making them ideal for fans of pure, unadulterated creature horror.

Every angle

Zoombies (2016) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Zoombies in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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