Just curious, what does everyone presume to be the best zoo in Florida? I have been to all 5 and am extremely familiar with all of them. I have seen Jacksonville and DAK in the past 2 months so those are the most fresh in my mind. I have a difficult time ordering them because all of them feature some great exhibits. My personal favorite though is DAK. The attention to detail in their exhibits is awesome, and the gorilla exhibit there is fantastic and only bested by Congo Gorilla Forest in NYC. Kilamanjaro Safari is among one of the best exhibits in the nation. The walking trails are beautiful and I have captured some great shots on my camera where one thinks they are in the wild. The rides are a major plus for me personally even though I try to keep them out of my rating from a zoological standpoint. Jacksonville is nice, but its simply too small to be the best in the state. The jaguar exhibit is really nice, but slightly overrated. Overall, I went to this zoo with high expectations and I was slightly disappointed. Miami is a huge, spacious facility that has above average exhibits for almost all of its inhabitants. The only problem here is there are no wow exhibits besides Wings of Asia, and also all the exhibits look the same which can be annoying at times. Busch Gardens' Edge of Africa is one of my all-time favorite exhibits, and I love their underwater hippo and lion exhibits. Jungala is slightly overrated, while the Asian elephant exhibit is slightly above average. The new cheetah ride has really made the place feel very commercialized, although the cheetah exhibit is very nice. Overall, I really love Busch Gardens, but DAK is still much better. Lowry Park is probably my least favorite of the Florida zoos. All typical exhibits although the facility does have a charm. The Safari Africa area has above average exhibits for its inhabitants. No one has to agree with my view on these zoos, but Id love to hear all of your opinions.
Best Zoo in Florida (Out of the 5 major ones)
- Thread starter BlackRhino
- Start date
@BlackRhino: I have only visited Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida. I completely agree with your assessment that their African savanna exhibit may be the best zoo exhibit in the country, if not the world (although I do agree with folks that it would be very nice if there were some way to watch the elephants and big cats for an extended period of time without having to pay extra $$$). The gorilla exhibit is spectacular.
How would you rank the giraffe, elephant, and rhino exhibits among the non-Disney zoos that you visited? How do they compare to the "gold standard" of DAK? Can you describe Busch Gardens Africa complex? All I know about it is that they have some kind of ride through the rhino exhibit.
My favorite part of Florida was visiting the wildlife. The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge that surrounds the Kennedy Space Center has a great place to watch wild manatees and also has the endangered Florida scrub jay. It was weird trekking to Florida to see an endangered bird whose closest relative, the Western scrub jay, is a common backyard bird in California. The bird life in Florida was spectacular (wood stork, tricolored heron, roeseate spoonbill, scarlet ibis, etc.). I would highly recommend the boat ride along the St. John's River and Blue Springs State Park to anyone interested in Florida wildlife. This park is about an hour from Orlando. Of course the coolest part of wild Florida was seeing wild alligators all over the place.
How would you rank the giraffe, elephant, and rhino exhibits among the non-Disney zoos that you visited? How do they compare to the "gold standard" of DAK? Can you describe Busch Gardens Africa complex? All I know about it is that they have some kind of ride through the rhino exhibit.
My favorite part of Florida was visiting the wildlife. The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge that surrounds the Kennedy Space Center has a great place to watch wild manatees and also has the endangered Florida scrub jay. It was weird trekking to Florida to see an endangered bird whose closest relative, the Western scrub jay, is a common backyard bird in California. The bird life in Florida was spectacular (wood stork, tricolored heron, roeseate spoonbill, scarlet ibis, etc.). I would highly recommend the boat ride along the St. John's River and Blue Springs State Park to anyone interested in Florida wildlife. This park is about an hour from Orlando. Of course the coolest part of wild Florida was seeing wild alligators all over the place.
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team tapir
Well-Known Member
Out of the major zoos mentioned here we've been to Miami BG and Tampa.Out of those its easily BG.We have told this story before but its worthwhile so we'll mention it again.During our visit we were hit by a torrential rainstorm while we toured Myombe Reserve this really gave the feel of being in a Central African Rainforest.Lowry Park is decent and we agree with Black Rhinos accessment on alot of Miami looking the same but we would still say its a good zoo.
Team Tapir
Team Tapir
ericnielsenpdx
Well-Known Member
Best Major Zoos in Florida
In Florida I have visited the zoos in Jacksonville, Brevard, Tampa, Central Florida (Sanford), Lowry Park, Busch Gardens, Miami and Naples. I didn't have any one favorite overall zoo - the collection at Lowry was impressive, but I found some of the enclosures rather lacking, particularly in size. I've always loved Busch Gardens with it's Edge of Africa, Serengeti Plain and Bird Gardens, but I never liked the Rhino Rally animal displays.
I think ZooMiami is an outstanding facility , particularly for hoofed stock and birds. The Amazon and Beyond exhibit was brand new when I last visited and looked to be a great addition as far as exhibits and diversity of species. ZooMiami will only improve with it's planned Florida exhibit.
I don't know how we classify Major , but I was very impressed with both Naples and Brevard. I had no expectations of either, so I was pleasantly surprised to find the grounds and exhbits to mostly be newer and more natural. I particularly liked the Safari Canyon show in Naples with some really interesting exotic animals, and I see they've added several rarities in the last year or two including ratels and striped hyenas.
In Florida I have visited the zoos in Jacksonville, Brevard, Tampa, Central Florida (Sanford), Lowry Park, Busch Gardens, Miami and Naples. I didn't have any one favorite overall zoo - the collection at Lowry was impressive, but I found some of the enclosures rather lacking, particularly in size. I've always loved Busch Gardens with it's Edge of Africa, Serengeti Plain and Bird Gardens, but I never liked the Rhino Rally animal displays.
I think ZooMiami is an outstanding facility , particularly for hoofed stock and birds. The Amazon and Beyond exhibit was brand new when I last visited and looked to be a great addition as far as exhibits and diversity of species. ZooMiami will only improve with it's planned Florida exhibit.
I don't know how we classify Major , but I was very impressed with both Naples and Brevard. I had no expectations of either, so I was pleasantly surprised to find the grounds and exhbits to mostly be newer and more natural. I particularly liked the Safari Canyon show in Naples with some really interesting exotic animals, and I see they've added several rarities in the last year or two including ratels and striped hyenas.