List and Rank The North American Zoos You Have Visited!

I've only visited two in recent years but a few others in the past that I barely remeber so I won't include them.

1) Bronx Zoo
2) Smithsonian National Zoological Park

I may be going to the Cincinnati Zoo and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium sometime over the summer in 2013.
 
Zoos:
1. St. Louis Zoo (St. Louis, MO)
2. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo (Omaha, NE)
3. Sedgwick County Zoo (Wichita, KS)
4. Honolulu Zoo (Honolulu, HI)
5. Brookfield Zoo (Brookfield, IL)
6. Kansas City Zoo (Kansas City, MO)
7. Smithsonian National Zoo (Washington D.C.)
8. Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago, IL)
9. Topeka Zoo (Topeka, KS)
10. David Traylor Zoo (Emporia, KS)
11. Brit Spaugh Zoo (Great Bend, KS)
12. Savanahland Educational Park (Pleasant Hill, MO)

Aquariums:
1. John G. Shedd Aquarium (Chicago, IL)
2. Tennessee Aquarium (Chattanooga, TN)
3. National Aquarium in Baltimore (Baltimore MD)
4. Waikiki Aqaurium (Honolulu, HI)
 
ThylacineAlive said:
I've only visited two in recent years but a few others in the past that I barely remeber so I won't include them.

1) Bronx Zoo
2) Smithsonian National Zoological Park

I may be going to the Cincinnati Zoo and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium sometime over the summer in 2013.
Click to expand...

You also told me that you have visited Beardsley, ZooAmerica, and Central Park recently. What about those?
 
Zoos:
1. Bronx Zoo
2. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
3. Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo
4. Roger Williams Park Zoo
5. Naples Zoo
6. Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo
7. Central Park Zoo
8. Shell Factory and Nature Park
I can't remember much of Disney's Animal Kingdom or Southwick's Zoo, so they will not be included.
Aquariums:
1. Mystic Aquarium
2. Maritime Aquarium
3. Mote Aquarium
 
Theme Park Zoos/Aquariums:
1. Disney's Animal Kingdom
2. Busch Gardens Tampa
3. Sea World Orlando
4. African Lion Safari

Zoos:
1. Columbus Zoo
2. Toronto Zoo
3. Brookfield Zoo
4. Lincoln Park Zoo
5. Brevard Zoo
6. Naples Zoo
7. Central Florida Zoo
8. Cosley Zoo
9. Big Cat Rescue
10. Willowbrook Wildlife Center

Aquariums:
1. Shedd Aquarium
2. Mote Aquarium
3. North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island
 
BeardsleyZooFan said:
You also told me that you have visited Beardsley, ZooAmerica, and Central Park recently. What about those?
Click to expand...

Oh, I thought we were doing big time zoos only. In that case then, yes, I've visited Beardsley, ZooAmerica, and Central Park in the past year. I've also been to Roger Williams and Maritime Aquarium and Mystic Aquarium.
 
I'll take a quick stab at a very unofficial ranking...

1. San Diego Zoo
2. Columbus Zoo
3. The National Zoo
4. Cincinnati Zoo
5. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
6. Toledo Zoo
7. Detroit Zoo
8. Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo
9. Pittsburgh Zoo
10. Akron Zoo
11. Buffalo Zoo
12. Indianapolis Zoo
13. Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
14. Erie Zoo
15. Safari Niagara
16. ZooAmerica
666. Southern Nevada (Las Vegas) Zoo

Themed Parks or Specialized Collections
1. San Diego Wild Animal Park
2. Disney's Animal Kingdom
3. Sea World of San Diego
4. Sea World of Ohio (closed)
5. National Aviary
6. Marineland Canada
7. African Safari Wildlife Park (Port Clinton, OH)

Aquariums
1. National Aquarium
2. Newport Aquarium
3. PPG Aquarium (inside Pitt Zoo)
4. Cleveland Aquarium (closed)
5. Aquarium of Niagara
6. Greater Cleveland Aquarium

If I could include the Australian parks I've been to, I could also add/rank the Taronga Zoo, the Sydney Aquarium, Koala Park (West Pennant Hills/Sydney), both Koala Gardens and BirdWorld (Kuranda) and Marineland Melanesia (Cairns).

In reality, I'd love to pull individual exhibits out of the top 2/3 of this list to create an "Ultimate Zoo." The historian in me also loves certain exhibits like the former-Carnivora-House-now-food-court in Toledo, the Hagenbeck bear grottoes in Detroit, or the newer but iconic lion/tiger exhibit at the National Zoo.

Very tentative 2013 vacation plans call for a week in Chicago (hello, Shedd Aquarium, Lincoln Park & Brookfield Zoos) and an extended weekend to visit both The Wilds (Cumberland, OH) and Oglebay's Good Zoo, so I hope to add to my list...
 
1. Los Angeles Zoo (I'm a bit biased towards this one because it is my home zoo)
2. Brookfield Zoo
3. Fort Worth Zoo
4. Saint Augustine Alligator Farm
5. National Zoo

These next few are ones I haven't been to in a while but I will try to remember what my impressions were.

6. San Diego Zoo
7. Santa Barbara Zoo
8. Central Park Zoo
9. Lincoln Park Zoo
10. Charles Paddock Zoo
 
KCZooFan said:
I have two questions about your list @tschandler71.
1.Why is Bronx below Memphis? I've never been to either, but I'd always heard Bronx was around 2nd best in the U.S.
2.Why is Zoo Atlanta so low? I thought they were a pretty decent zoo.
Click to expand...

Mainly because when I went to the Bronx Zoo I was 12 don't remember a lot of details

Zoo Atlanta is way to small with all the money around Atlanta they should build around Dunwoody or south toward Newnam. Like Nashville.
 
UPDATED LIST:

1.) Columbus Zoo
2.) Smithsonian National Zoo
3.) Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo
4.) Brookfield Zoo
5.) Cleveland Zoo
6.) Philadelphia Zoo
7.) Toronto Zoo
8.) Virginia Zoo
9.) Buffalo Zoo
10.) Maryland Zoo
11.) Rosamond Gifford Zoo
12.) Lincoln Park Zoo
13.) Seneca Park Zoo
14.) Erie Zoo
15.) Pittsburgh Zoo
16.) Zoo America
17.) Catoctin Zoo
18.) Ross Park Zoo
 
Overall/Collection/Exhibit Quality

1/1/3). St. Louis-(August 2012)
2/5/1). Busch Gardens-(December 2009)
3/2/3). Cincinnati (10+ times every year)
3/4/2). Columbus-(June 2011)
4/6/3). Indianapolis-(August 2011)
5/3/5). Louisville-(September 2012)
 
1. Columbus
2. Living Desert
3. San Diego
4. Erie
5. Bronx
6. Detroit
7. Brookfield
8. National
9. Cincinnati
10. Clyde Peeling's Reptiland
11. Shedd Aquarium
12. Seaworld San Diego
13. Toledo
14. Cleveland
15. Lincoln Park
16. Akron
17. Pittsburgh
18. African Safari Wildlife Park (Port Clinton, Ohio)
19. Orange County Zoo
20. O. Orkin Insect Zoo (Washington, D.C.)
21. Santa Ana Zoo
22. Stearns Homestead (Parma, Ohio)
23. American International Rattlesnake Museum
24. Lake Farmpark
25. DC National Aquarium
26. Fountain Valley CA Reptile Zoo
27. Lagoon Deer Park (Sandusky, Ohio)
 
@CloudedLeopard - I am intrigued by your high placement of Erie Zoo. I mean even higher than Bronx? (Many would consider Bronx Zoo number one in the country).

To be honest, I have never even heard of Erie Zoo so I need to learn more about it. When I visit their website and click on the animal list, all of the animals they list are mammals except for black-footed penguins. Do they have other birds and reptiles that they simply do not list? Or is it a mammal specific zoo?

Here is their website: https://www.eriezoo.org/Default.aspx
 
My current Top 10:
1) Bronx Zoo
2) Philadelphia Zoo
3) Smithsonian National Zoological Park
4) Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo
5) St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park
6) Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
7) Roger Williams Park Zoo
8) Central Park Zoo
9) Prospect Park Zoo
10) Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo

Obviously I've still not been to many big-name zoos but have a fair variety I think. I tried to rank them based the presence of odd species and species interesting to me, as well as the overall quality of the exhibits and the atmosphere of the zoo.

~Thylo:cool:
 
Arizona Docent said:
@CloudedLeopard - I am intrigued by your high placement of Erie Zoo. I mean even higher than Bronx? (Many would consider Bronx Zoo number one in the country).

To be honest, I have never even heard of Erie Zoo so I need to learn more about it. When I visit their website and click on the animal list, all of the animals they list are mammals except for black-footed penguins. Do they have other birds and reptiles that they simply do not list? Or is it a mammal specific zoo?

Here is their website: https://www.eriezoo.org/Default.aspx
Click to expand...

They have a few reptiles and amphibians in the Children's section. I cannot remember most of them besides the American alligator. As for other birds, the only other one sticking out to me is black swan. I cannot speak for cloudedleopard, but they may like it due to being an intimate zoo or perhaps the particular animals that they have on exhibit. I have been there a few times and found it to be a charming, little zoo, but the more zoos I have visited, the lower it gets on my list.
 
There have been some changes since I posted my first list (post 10) a couple years ago. I have visited some new facilities and the former bottom facility on my list is thankfully now closed. I am also reversing my previous decision and am now including aquariums and specialized facilities, as long as they are open daily to the public. After my current ranking (which is not set in stone), I put in parenthesis their ranking on my previous list (or "new" if it was not on the previous list).

1 (same) Northwest Trek (2000?)
2 (same) San Diego Safari Park (2014)
3 (same) Memphis Zoo (2006?)
4 (was 27) Dallas Zoo (2013)
5 (was 16) The Living Desert (2014)
6 (was 4) Minnesota Zoo (1998?)
7 (was 5) San Diego Zoo (2014)
8 (was 6) Nashville Zoo (2012?)
9 (was 8) Bronx Zoo (2001)
10 (was 7) Arizona Sonora Desert Museum (2014)
11 (new) Zoo Miami (2014)
12 (new) Caldwell Zoo (2013)
13 (new) Cameron Park Zoo (2013)
14 (new) Project Survival's Cat Haven (2012)
15 (was 10) Cincinnati Zoo (2001)
16 (was 11) Sedgwick County Zoo (2001)
17 (was 12) Fort Worth Zoo (2013)
18 (was 13) Lowry Park Zoo (2003?)
19 (was 15) Saint Louis Zoo (1999)
20 (new) Florida Aquarium (1995?)
21 (was 17) Woodland Park Zoo (2000?)
22 (was 18) Houston Zoo (2013)
23 (was 14) Palm Beach Zoo (2005?)
24 (was 20) Philadelphia Zoo (2010)
25 (was 21) Phoenix Zoo (2013)
26 (was 35) San Antonio Zoo (2013)
27 (was 34) Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (2013)
28 (new) Aquarium Of The Pacific (2010?)
29 (was 22) Indianapolis Zoo (2001)
30 (was 9) Busch Gardens (2000?)
31 (was 23) Reid Park Zoo (2014)
32 (was 26) Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (2009)
33 (was 24) Maryland Zoo (2005)
34 (was 25) Wildlife World Zoo (2014)
35 (was 29) Columbus Zoo (2001)
36 (was 19) Los Angeles Zoo (2010)
37 (was 28) Denver Zoo (2009)
38 (new) Albuquerque Aquarium (2011?)
39 (was 30) Rio Grande Zoo (2013)
40 (was 31) Smithsonian National Zoo (2005)
41 (was 32) Wildlife West (2013)
42 (was 33) Disney Animal Kingdom (2001)
43 (was 37) Living Desert State Park (2013)
44 (was 38) Santa Barbara Zoo (2008?)
45 (was 39) Brevard Zoo (2001)
46 (new) Fresno Chaffee Zoo (2012)
47 (new) El Paso Zoo (2013)
48 (new) EFBC Feline Conservation Center (2010?)
49 (new) Flamingo Gardens (2014)
50 (was 36) Out Of Africa (2014)
51 (new) American International Rattlesnake Museum (2013)
52 (new) Texas Aquarium (2013)
53 (was 40) Central Florida Zoo (2005?)
54 (new) Gladys Porter Zoo (2013)
55 (new) Keepers Of The Wild (2012?)
56 (new) Stephen Birch Aquarium (1998?)
57 (new) Newport Aquarium (1999?)
58 (was 41) The Texas Zoo (1998?)
59 (was 42) Caribbean Gardens / Naples Zoo (2003?)
60 (was 43) Santa Ana Zoo (2000?)
61 (new) Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary (2009?)
62 (was 44) Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch (1998?)
63 (was 45) Spring River Park Zoo (2004?)
 
Erie Zoo is charming in my opinion- good train, great children's area, and a large collection of African and Asian animals, including wonderful tamarin/porcupine exhibits (but bad giraffes).
 
1) Bronx
2) Memphis
3) San Antonio
4) Fort Worth
5) National
6) Dallas
7) Nashville
8) Portland
9) Honolulu
10) Alaska
11) Oklahoma City
12) Stone
13) Beardsley
14) Omaha
15) Catskill Game Farm
16) Roger Williams (Providence)
17) Little Rock
18) Atlanta
19) Baton Rouge
20) Knoxville
21) Southwicks
22) Wildlife World Zoo
23) Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch
24) Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
25) Abilene
26) Central Park
27) Franklin Park
28) Forest Park
29) Benson's Wild Animal Park
30) Yorks Wild Kingdom
31) Paws n Claws
32) Bear Mountain
 
Top Ten American Zoos I have not visited:

1. San Diego
2. San Diego Wildlife Park
3. St Louis
4. Arizona-Sonora Desert Zoo
5. Miami
6. Columbus
7. Living Desert
8. Fossil Rim
9. Jacksonville
10. Cincinnati
 
I always enjoy doing an annual post on threads like this since my list always changes. Here is the current ranking:

1. Columbus Zoo
2. Brookfield Zoo
3. Lowry Park Zoo
4. Smithsonian National Zoo
5. Cincinnati Zoo
6. Cleveland Zoo
7. Toronto Zoo
8. Philadelphia Zoo
9. Louisville Zoo
10. Virginia Zoo
11. Maryland Zoo
12. Akron Zoo
13. Buffalo Zoo
14. Rosamond Gifford Zoo
15. Lincoln Park Zoo
16. Pittsburgh Zoo
17. Seneca Park Zoo
18. Erie Zoo
19. Salisbury Zoo
20. Metro Richmond Zoo
21. Zoo America
22. Catoctin Zoo
23. Ross Park Zoo
 
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