Opinions on Children’s Zoos

Julio C Castro

Julio C Castro

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
After visiting San Diego and seeing what they have in store for their upcoming children’s zoo, I’ve been pondering on what everyone on here felt about it. Personally I don’t have much experience going to one and have felt that zoos in general seem to be for children. But I do see the appeal of children’s zoos: an highly interactive part of the zoo that immerses children into loving and appreciating animals on a different level. I don’t yet have children but do hope to one day so they can love and appreciate the zoo as I have. I’ve heard that some zoos have good children’s zoos like at Bronx and Philadelphia. Just want to know what everyone thought about them in general as well as: are they necessary? Aren’t zoos in general child friendly in regards to immersion, design, and signage? What are some that you would recommend others to visit? :) I’m excited to one day visit the SDZ children’s zoo once open especially with that price tag and general layout shown off in InPark Magazine. Please send me your ideas and opinions!
 
I think they're necessary. Lots of kids in cities don't know where milk comes from, so I think it's important for them to have exposure to domestic species.

Henry Vilas Zoo has an "exotic" Children's Zoo. (Aardvark, Lar Gibbon, Meerkats, Red Pandas..)
 
EsserWarrior said:
I think they're necessary. Lots of kids in cities don't know where milk comes from, so I think it's important for them to have exposure to domestic species.

Henry Vilas Zoo has an "exotic" Children's Zoo. (Aardvark, Lar Gibbon, Meerkats, Red Pandas..)
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I see your point and understand it, I’m a city kid and didn’t get much exposure to animals besides the zoo. And as for the Children’s Zoo you mention, that sounds honestly amazing and really awesome for kids to experience :D
 
Julio C Castro said:
I see your point and understand it, I’m a city kid and didn’t get much exposure to animals besides the zoo. And as for the Children’s Zoo you mention, that sounds honestly amazing and really awesome for kids to experience :D
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As I'm from Wisconsin, which is a very agriculture rich state, I've never seen any kids that don't know where food comes from. (But I don't live in the cities, so they may not in Madison or Milwaukee.)
 
EsserWarrior said:
As I'm from Wisconsin, which is a very agriculture rich state, I've never seen any kids that don't know where food comes from. (But I don't live in the cities, so they may not in Madison or Milwaukee.)
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Haha I get what you mean, although raised in LA I had some experience with farms out in Mexico when I’d visit my family and it truly gives you more respect for the hard work put into agriculture. And a Children’s Zoo with opportunities to interact with farm or domestic animals brings a perspective to kids that they may not think about :)
 
Julio C Castro said:
Haha I get what you mean, although raised in LA I had some experience with farms out in Mexico when I’d visit my family and it truly gives you more respect for the hard work put into agriculture. And a Children’s Zoo with opportunities to interact with farm or domestic animals brings a perspective to kids that they may not think about :)
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Milwaukee County Zoo has a large Children's Zoo. It has tons of domestic/native species, a bee farm, and an entire milking facility that explains the entire cow-to-store process.
 
EsserWarrior said:
Milwaukee County Zoo has a large Children's Zoo. It has tons of domestic/native species, a bee farm, and an entire milking facility that explains the entire cow-to-store process.
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I really, really, like Milwaukee's Children's Zoo. A mix of wild and domestic species, with lots of information on agriculture. It's what a farm area of a zoo should be.

Of course, there are good Children's Zoo following the more wild path as well, like at Lincoln Park.
 
While a few zoos in Arizona have play areas (jungle gyms to climb on), only one zoo has a real children's zoo. That is Phoenix Zoo, so apparently it is not seen as a necessity in my state. As a child (several decades ago!) I visited Los Angeles Zoo at least a couple times a year and we always went to the children's zoo, but I don't remember enjoying it any more than the regular part of the zoo. The old multi-faced reptile house (in the main zoo) was always a favorite of me and my cousin (my mother patiently waited outside for us because she had a severe case of herpetophobia).
 
This might just be a personal opinion of mine but I personally like it when children’s zoos have the following:

1. A collection of more exotic domestic animal breeds (such as silkie chickens or Ankole cattle).

2. A few relatively easy wild animals to interact with (St. Louis' children’s zoo is absolutely superb for this reason).

As for whether they’re necessary, I feel like they are in order to give children a hands-on lesson on animal husbandry. The Denver Zoo's llama enclosure was built for that purpose as it’s an interactive exhibit where keepers could educate children about the ins and outs of animal care.
 
Arizona Docent said:
It would be interesting to go through the new top 100 zoo and aquarium book to see how many of the 80 zoos listed have children's zoos. (I bet @snowleopard could rattle it off from memory). It would be even more interesting to see if any aquariums have a children's aquarium. The thread discussing the book can be found here: America's Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums
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Determining what constitutes a 'children's zoo' is sometimes a grey area. Establishments such as Disney's Animal Kingdom or Busch Gardens Tampa Bay have sprawling areas that are geared towards kids, but without actual signs declaring 'Children's Zoo' to visitors.

Browsing through my book, here's a list of major American zoos with children's zoos:

Bronx
Brookfield
Central Park
Cincinnati
Cleveland (Australian Adventure is promoted as a pseudo children's zoo)
Dallas
Great Plains
Henry Vilas
Honolulu
Houston
Lincoln Park
Los Angeles
Maryland (Maryland Wilderness is a kid-friendly section)
Minnesota (Wells Fargo Family Farm is spacious but with no exotics)
Oakland
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
Point Defiance
Saint Louis
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco
Sedgwick County
Toledo
Tulsa
Zoo Atlanta
Zoo Knoxville
Zoo Miami
ZooTampa at Lowry Park

That adds up to 32 out of the 80 zoos in the book with children's zoos.

Top children's zoo's for zoo nerds:

Oakland - the Wayne and Gladys Valley Children's Zoo is superb, with 3 acres of delights. There is a small yet nicely done Reptile and Amphibian Discovery Room with two dozen species, the House of Bugs building, a massive fruit bat exhibit, lemurs, otters, alligators, tortoises, etc. It's a 'zoo-within-a-zoo'!

Saint Louis - this children's zoo has rarities such as Tasmanian Devils, Short-beaked Echidnas and Matschie's Tree Kangaroos, plus North American River Otters, Fennec Foxes and Naked Mole-rats. Skip it at your peril.

Houston - there is a Bug House here that opened in 2014 and has approximately 25 exhibits, plus North American Porcupines, Swift Foxes and other animals.

Henry Vilas - there are Red Pandas, White-handed Gibbons, Indian Crested Porcupines, Meerkats and Aardvarks in this children's zoo.

San Francisco - there are Red Pandas, Meerkats and an Insect Zoo here.

Lincoln Park - there are Red Wolves and American Black Bears in this children's zoo!

Zoo Knoxville - there is a cool little Nocturnal House here, as well as Beavers.

ZooTampa at Lowry Park - Wallaroo Station is basically the zoo's kid-friendly area, complete with noisy rides. However, a zoo nerd would be foolish to skip it due to the presence of Queensland Koalas and Yelllow-footed Rock Wallabies.
 
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birdsandbats said:
I really, really, like Milwaukee's Children's Zoo. A mix of wild and domestic species, with lots of information on agriculture. It's what a farm area of a zoo should be.

Of course, there are good Children's Zoo following the more wild path as well, like at Lincoln Park.
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I guess I’ll have to make a trip to Wisconsin one of these days!
 
Arizona Docent said:
While a few zoos in Arizona have play areas (jungle gyms to climb on), only one zoo has a real children's zoo. That is Phoenix Zoo, so apparently it is not seen as a necessity in my state. As a child (several decades ago!) I visited Los Angeles Zoo at least a couple times a year and we always went to the children's zoo, but I don't remember enjoying it any more than the regular part of the zoo. The old multi-faced reptile house (in the main zoo) was always a favorite of me and my cousin (my mother patiently waited outside for us because she had a severe case of herpetophobia).
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I used to go to the Children’s Zoo here on LA often and still do but without interacting with the child centric items they have available. My parents were the same way with the old Reptile House haha
 
Gulopithecus said:
This might just be a personal opinion of mine but I personally like it when children’s zoos have the following:

1. A collection of more exotic domestic animal breeds (such as silkie chickens or Ankole cattle).

2. A few relatively easy wild animals to interact with (St. Louis' children’s zoo is absolutely superb for this reason).

As for whether they’re necessary, I feel like they are in order to give children a hands-on lesson on animal husbandry. The Denver Zoo's llama enclosure was built for that purpose as it’s an interactive exhibit where keepers could educate children about the ins and outs of animal care.
Click to expand...
That does appear very appealing even to zoo nerds who want to see the more exotic species while the children are able to learn more about animals that maybe they haven’t heard of while having a highly interactive experience :)
 
snowleopard said:
Determining what constitutes a 'children's zoo' is sometimes a grey area. Establishments such as Disney's Animal Kingdom or Busch Gardens Tampa Bay have sprawling areas that are geared towards kids, but without actual signs declaring 'Children's Zoo' to visitors.

Browsing through my book, here's a list of major American zoos with children's zoos:

Bronx
Brookfield
Central Park
Cincinnati
Cleveland (Australian Adventure is promoted as a pseudo children's zoo)
Dallas
Great Plains
Henry Vilas
Honolulu
Houston
Lincoln Park
Los Angeles
Maryland (Maryland Wilderness is a kid-friendly section)
Minnesota (Wells Fargo Family Farm is spacious but with no exotics)
Oakland
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
Point Defiance
Saint Louis
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco
Sedgwick County
Toledo
Tulsa
Zoo Atlanta
Zoo Knoxville
Zoo Miami
ZooTampa at Lowry Park

That adds up to 32 out of the 80 zoos in the book with children's zoos.

Top children's zoo's for zoo nerds:

Oakland - the Wayne and Gladys Valley Children's Zoo is superb, with 3 acres of delights. There is a small yet nicely done Reptile and Amphibian Discovery Room with two dozen species, the House of Bugs building, a massive fruit bat exhibit, lemurs, otters, alligators, tortoises, etc. It's a 'zoo-within-a-zoo'!

Saint Louis - this children's zoo has rarities such as Tasmanian Devils, Short-beaked Echidnas and Matschie's Tree Kangaroos, plus North American River Otters, Fennec Foxes and Naked Mole-rats. Skip it at your peril.

Houston - there is a Bug House here that opened in 2014 and has approximately 25 exhibits, plus North American Porcupines, Swift Foxes and other animals.

Henry Vilas - there are Red Pandas, White-handed Gibbons, Indian Crested Porcupines, Meerkats and Aardvarks in this children's zoo.

San Francisco - there are Red Pandas, Meerkats and an Insect Zoo here.

Lincoln Park - there are Red Wolves and American Black Bears in this children's zoo!

Zoo Knoxville - there is a cool little Nocturnal House here, as well as Beavers.

ZooTampa at Lowry Park - Wallaroo Station is basically the zoo's kid-friendly area, complete with noisy rides. However, a zoo nerd would be foolish to skip it due to the presence of Queensland Koalas and Yelllow-footed Rock Wallabies.
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Oh wow, I’d thought they would be much more common in most major zoos seeing as kids are amongst some of their densest age group to visit due to family/school trips. Henry Vilas, ZooTampa, and St Louis all sound truly enjoyable not just for kids but for most everyone!
 
While we're at it here are my top ten children's zoo (only off of ones I've seen in person):

Brevard Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
San Antonio Zoo
Dallas Zoo
Point Defiance Zoo
Bronx Zoo
Maryland Zoo
Saint Louis Zoo
Oakland Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo

Runner-Ups: Central Park Zoo, Jacksonville Zoo, Oklahoma City Zoo, San Francisco Zoo, Philadelphia Zoo
 
marvinjonesIII said:
While we're at it here are my top ten children's zoo (only off of ones I've seen in person):

Brevard Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
San Antonio Zoo
Dallas Zoo
Point Defiance Zoo
Bronx Zoo
Maryland Zoo
Saint Louis Zoo
Oakland Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo

Runner-Ups: Central Park Zoo, Jacksonville Zoo, Oklahoma City Zoo, San Francisco Zoo, Philadelphia Zoo
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All of these are zoos I want to visit one day, most excited for Bronx and Brookfield!
 
[QUOTE="snowleopard, post: 1186473, member: 473"
Maryland (Maryland Wilderness is a kid-friendly section)[/QUOTE]

In addition to the neat kid's things in Wilderness, like the tree slide and the lily pads, they have an actual children's zoo, though I don't think they label it as such on their maps for some reason. It's a big farm area with mostly domestic species, lots of education about farming, and more built-in play structures. The "grain silo" in this barn has a spiral slide.
 

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TinoPup said:
You're also missing one of my favorites - Virginia Zoo! ZOOFARM - Virginia Zoo in Norfolk
It's super colorful and welcoming, with both domestic and wild species. World of Reptiles is located within it.
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I just looked up the Zoo Farm at the Virginia Zoo, and it looks like the best of both worlds: wild and domesticated species all in one area with many coming from different parts of the world :)
 
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