Which zoo should I go to?

mweb08

mweb08

Well-Known Member
I'll be on a road trip across the country in about 2 months, where I'll be going to the Omaha Zoo, Columbus Zoo, and the Shedd Aquarium. Now, I should be able to go to one more zoo out of the following options:

Denver
Kansas City
St. Loius
Brookfield
Lincoln Park

Which one should I visit? Maybe I'll be able to go to two of those, so list a second choice if you have one.

Thanks.
 
I've heard that the St. Louis Zoo is one of the best, so I guess that would be a great one to go to. The admission is also free, which makes it even better:D. The St. Louis Zoo is one of the less talked about zoo here in Zoochat, so you could probably give us a full review of the zoo (and some photos) if you do go.
 
Which ones are you more likely never to go to? If there further away from where you live then I would do these. Meaning you will eventrually visit them all :D
 
I can vouch for the St. Louis Zoo, having just gone in October of last year. Free admission, outstanding animal collection and a great mix of renovated old and new state-of-the-art exhibits. My wife was in Chicago back in '07 and visited the Lincoln Park Zoo. My experience in St. Louis seemed more rewarding than her's at Chicago's Lincoln Park. I've heard many good things about all the others as well but have no personal experience to go on.
 
mstickmanp said:
I've heard that the St. Louis Zoo is one of the best, so I guess that would be a great one to go to. The admission is also free, which makes it even better:D. The St. Louis Zoo is one of the less talked about zoo here in Zoochat, so you could probably give us a full review of the zoo (and some photos) if you do go.
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So you want me to go there for your own selfish reasons.;)

Yeah, it seems like a good zoo based on the website and what some people on here have said along with the description in America's Best Zoos, plus the free admission is a big plus.
 
taun said:
Which ones are you more likely never to go to? If there further away from where you live then I would do these. Meaning you will eventrually visit them all :D
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Other than Chicago, it's an area of the country that I doubt I'll have much interest in visiting again anytime soon, if ever.
 
The Kansas City Zoo has a 95 acre Africa complex with a 4.5 acre elephant habitat, and a 3 acre chimp exhibit that is the best chimp exhibit in the country. They also have good habitats for rhinos and lions I have heard. They also opened the new Tropics house.

St. Louis is probably the best of the ones you listed. They have River's Edge which both authors of Americas Best Zoo's placed in their top 25 exhibits. Of course they also have Penguin and Puffin Coast.

Denver has Predator Ridge, which I have heard is a fantastic savanna exhibit where African carnivores are rotated through spectacular savanna habitats.

This is just my advice, but these are the three best of the ones you listed. If I had to narrow it down to two I would make it Kansas City or St. Louis.
 
I've only been to two on your undecided list: St Louis several years ago and Denver quite recently. St Louis is very good and the one I would vote for. Although no one on this site seems to agree with me, Denver is one of the worst zoos in America. Don't waste your time (unless you want to walk in the front gate to predator ridge, which is good, then turn around and walk out).
 
If you want to see big cats in tiny glass tanks and row upon row of hoofstock in generic square yards with no theming (representing no particular biome or geographic area), then by all means do not listen to me.
 
I'll throw my hat in the ring for Brookfield. I've been to Denver, St Louis, Lincoln Park and Brookfield. Brookfield may not have the greatest exhibits (though they do have some great ones), but they have a heckuva collection. It's a really big zoo with lots and lots of animals. That gets points for something. A visit there would also give you a chance to weigh in on the always controversial Tropic World, one of the earliest indoor rainforest complexes. It could certainly be improved, but it is something worth seeing. Wolf Woods is terrific, the African Rainforest is good, and the Fragile Kingdom is one of my favorite indoor exhibits. It's also neat to see the oldest living wombat on record. Oh, and the Swamp is pretty terrific. St Louis is really good, too.
 
Arizona Docent said:
If you want to see big cats in tiny glass tanks and row upon row of hoofstock in generic square yards with no theming (representing no particular biome or geographic area), then by all means do not listen to me.
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There are plenty of people here on zoochat who would back me up saying Denver is a great zoo, so just because you hate it doesn't mean everyone else will.
 
Since you'll already be in Chicago (for Shedd), I would definitely put Brookfield on the list. It is truly a great zoo, one of the best in the Midwest. For the second zoo, I'd go with either St. Louis or Denver -- probably leaning towards St. Louis because of its proximity to Chicago. While in St. Louis, I'd also recommend riding to the top of the famous Gateway Arch, near the Mississippi River.
 
ANyhuis said:
Since you'll already be in Chicago (for Shedd), I would definitely put Brookfield on the list. It is truly a great zoo, one of the best in the Midwest. For the second zoo, I'd go with either St. Louis or Denver -- probably leaning towards St. Louis because of its proximity to Chicago. While in St. Louis, I'd also recommend riding to the top of the famous Gateway Arch, near the Mississippi River.
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Well I'm going to be passing through each of those cities I listed, I just likely won't have time to go to all the zoos, so Brookfield is the best zoo on that list in your opinion?

Yeah, I did the arch when I was about 9, but it would be good to do again as an adult.

Thanks.
 
Brookfield is a huge zoo with massive acreage and an impressive animal collection. If you are interested in "quantity" then that is one of the top 10 zoos in North America and it will take most of the day to fully visit. However, the zoo has many average to mediocre exhibits, and in the next decade or so close to half of the zoo is going to be redeveloped. Wolf Woods is fantastic and there are still a lot of quality enclosures in the African section, but the emphasis is on the mammoth animal collection.
 
snowleopard said:
Brookfield is a huge zoo with massive acreage and an impressive animal collection. If you are interested in "quantity" then that is one of the top 10 zoos in North America and it will take most of the day to fully visit. However, the zoo has many average to mediocre exhibits, and in the next decade or so close to half of the zoo is going to be redeveloped. Wolf Woods is fantastic and there are still a lot of quality enclosures in the African section, but the emphasis is on the mammoth animal collection.
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Considering I'm a member of the San Diego Zoo, which has a huge animal collection, and will be visiting other zoos on this trip, I think I would prefer better exhibits compared to larger collection. Plus, needing to spend all day isn't really a positive in this scenario.
 
mweb08 said:
Considering I'm a member of the San Diego Zoo, which has a huge animal collection, and will be visiting other zoos on this trip, I think I would prefer better exhibits compared to larger collection. Plus, needing to spend all day isn't really a positive in this scenario.
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Quite honestly, you'll need to spend (most of) "all day" to thoroughly see Brookfield, St. Louis, or Denver. They're all very big.

If seeing some key or rare (in zoos) animals is among your criteria, here are some to help you make your choice:

Brookfield: Wombats, aardvarks, okapis, Congo buffalo, dolphins, naked mole-rats, fishing cats, caracals.

St.Louis: Hippos (underwater viewing), bush dogs, Chinese giant salamanders, takins, okapis, Somali wild asses, warty pigs, gerenuks, sifakas, naked mole-rats.

Denver: Spotted hyenas, aye-ayes, Komodo dragons, quetzels, sea eagles, Dall sheep, gerenuks, Cape buffalo, takins.
 
@ANyhuis: great list! There are many factors in visiting a zoo, and rare species is one that perhaps gets overlooked at times. Size of the collection, exotic species, exhibitry, favourite animals...there are many wonderful reasons to visit a major zoo. If someone were intrigued by primates then they could do no wrong with Denver.
 
snowleopard said:
@ANyhuis: great list! There are many factors in visiting a zoo, and rare species is one that perhaps gets overlooked at times. Size of the collection, exotic species, exhibitry, favourite animals...there are many wonderful reasons to visit a major zoo. If someone were intrigued by primates then they could do no wrong with Denver.
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Totally agree! Speaking of those primates (the most complete collection in the nation), did anyone see that Denver had a historic birth of an aye-aye announced today?

Quite honestly, I think it's quite a thrill to see the Cape buffalo at Denver. Very, very few USA zoos have these powerful animals.
 
ANyhuis said:
Quite honestly, you'll need to spend (most of) "all day" to thoroughly see Brookfield, St. Louis, or Denver. They're all very big.

If seeing some key or rare (in zoos) animals is among your criteria, here are some to help you make your choice:

Brookfield: Wombats, aardvarks, okapis, Congo buffalo, dolphins, naked mole-rats, fishing cats, caracals.

St.Louis: Hippos (underwater viewing), bush dogs, Chinese giant salamanders, takins, okapis, Somali wild asses, warty pigs, gerenuks, sifakas, naked mole-rats.

Denver: Spotted hyenas, aye-ayes, Komodo dragons, quetzels, sea eagles, Dall sheep, gerenuks, Cape buffalo, takins.
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Bush dogs are a biggie. You hardly ever see them in the US. They also have hyenas at StLouis, or at least they did when I was there, and they aren't exactly prominent here either.

Congo Buffalo are pretty rare as well. Another thing I love about Brookfield is the mixed species exhibits in TW. I like seeing the pygmy hippos in with the primates.
 
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