Lions and Tigers in Major American Zoos

snowleopard

snowleopard

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Premium Member
The book that I cowrote, titled America’s Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums, contains reviews and photos of 80 zoos and 20 aquariums. There are 69 out of the 80 zoos that display lions and also 69 out of the 80 zoos that have tigers. It’s a tie! I included any future new exhibits, as long as they are planned to open in the next two and a half years.

The 13 animal lists that I've completed this year:

71 out of the 80 zoos have giraffes
69 out of the 80 zoos have lions
69 out of the 80 zoos have tigers
68 out of the 80 zoos have otters (plus 15 out of 20 aquariums)
66 out of the 80 zoos have zebras
61 out of the 80 zoos have rhinos
54 out of the 80 zoos have elephants
48 out of the 80 zoos have penguins (plus 16 out of 20 aquariums)
47 out of the 80 zoos have orangutans
45 out of the 80 zoos have gorillas
35 out of the 80 zoos have pinnipeds (plus 12 out of 20 aquariums)
25 out of the 80 zoos have chimpanzees (plus 7 zoos have bonobos)
22 out of the 80 zoos have common hippos (plus 12 have pygmy hippos)

Clearly, the vast majority of major American zoos have giraffes, lions, tigers, otters and zebras, but after that there are likely very few zoos that have all of these types of animals in their collection. Even America's two best zoos (arguably) don't have all the species, as San Diego (pinnipeds are notable for their absence), and Omaha (no chimpanzees or common hippos) are close but not "complete". It's interesting that Saint Louis Zoo has a full collection. :)

The breakdown of the 80 zoos:

ABQ BioPark – lions & tigers
Akron – lions & tigers
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum – NEITHER
Atlanta – lions & tigers
Audubon – lions & tigers
Binder Park – lions
Birmingham – lions
Bronx – lions & tigers
Brookfield – lions & tigers
Buffalo – lions
Busch Gardens – lions & tigers
Caldwell – lions & tigers
Cameron Park – lions & tigers
Central Park – NEITHER
Cheyenne Mountain – lions & tigers
Cincinnati – lions & tigers
Cleveland – lions & tigers
Columbus – lions & tigers
Como Park – lions & tigers
Dallas – lions & tigers
Denver – lions & tigers
Detroit – lions & tigers
Disney’s Animal Kingdom – lions & tigers
El Paso – lions & tigers
Fort Wayne – lions & tigers
Fort Worth – lions (2023) & tigers (2023)
Fresno Chaffee – lions & tigers (2022)
Gladys Porter – lions & tigers
Great Plains – lions (2023) & tigers
Henry Vilas – lions & tigers
Honolulu – lions & tigers
Houston – lions & tigers
Indianapolis – lions & tigers
Jacksonville – lions & tigers
John Ball – lions & tigers
Kansas City – lions & tigers
Knoxville – lions & tigers
Lincoln Park – lions
Little Rock – lions & tigers
Living Desert – lions (2024)
Los Angeles – tigers
Louisville – lions & tigers
Maryland – lions
Memphis – lions & tigers
Miami – lions & tigers
Milwaukee – lions & tigers
Minnesota – tigers
Montgomery – lions & tigers
Nashville – tigers
North Carolina – lions & tigers (2023)
Oakland – lions & tigers
Oklahoma City – lions & tigers
Omaha – lions & tigers
Oregon – lions & tigers
Philadelphia – lions & tigers
Phoenix – lions & tigers
Pittsburgh – lions & tigers
Point Defiance – tigers
Reid Park – lions & tigers (2023)
Riverbanks – lions & tigers
Roger Williams Park – NEITHER
Rosamond Gifford – tigers
Sacramento – lions
Saint Louis – lions & tigers
San Antonio – lions & tigers
San Diego – lions & tigers
San Diego Zoo Safari Park – lions & tigers
San Francisco – lions & tigers
Santa Barbara – lions
Sedgwick County – lions & tigers
Smithsonian’s National Zoo – lions & tigers
Tampa – tigers
Tanganyika Wildlife Park – tigers
Toledo – tigers
Topeka – lions & tigers
Tulsa – lions & tigers
Utah’s Hogle – lions & tigers
Virginia – lions & tigers
Wildlife World – lions & tigers
Woodland Park – lions & tigers

There are 11 zoos without lions:

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Central Park
Los Angeles
Minnesota
Nashville
Point Defiance
Roger Williams Park
Rosamond Gifford
Tampa
Tanganyika Wildlife Park
Toledo

There are 11 zoos without tigers:

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Binder Park
Birmingham
Buffalo
Central Park
Lincoln Park
Living Desert
Maryland
Roger Williams Park
Sacramento
Santa Barbara

There are 3 zoos with NEITHER lions or tigers:

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum – will never get lions or tigers
Central Park – will probably never get lions or tigers
Roger Williams Park (announced in 2015 that tigers are part of a 20-year Master Plan)

My 10 favourite lion exhibits in American zoos (alphabetical ranking):

Bronx
Busch Gardens
Columbus
Denver
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Fresno Chaffee
Omaha - my #1 choice
Oregon
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Sedgwick County
Virginia
Woodland Park

My 10 favourite tiger exhibits in American zoos (alphabetical ranking):

Bronx
Cheyenne Mountain
Columbus
Dallas
Minnesota - my #1 choice
Nashville
Omaha
Point Defiance
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Sedgwick County
Utah’s Hogle
 
I just noticed something from your picks of top exhibits for each specie, there are 5 places that have what you consider your favorites that have one for each specie:

Bronx
Columbus
Omaha
San Diego Safari Park
Sedgwick County

In your opinion, which of these zoos overall the “best of both worlds” exhibits for these two feline species? :) Meaning if you had to tell a cat lover only one of these zoos that have both lions and tigers would be a worthy visit for their liking.
 
I am surprised that Lincoln park zoo is not mentioned is it because you have not seen the exhibit
 
Julio C Castro said:
I just noticed something from your picks of top exhibits for each specie, there are 5 places that have what you consider your favorites that have one for each specie:

Bronx
Columbus
Omaha
San Diego Safari Park
Sedgwick County

In your opinion, which of these zoos overall the “best of both worlds” exhibits for these two feline species? :) Meaning if you had to tell a cat lover only one of these zoos that have both lions and tigers would be a worthy visit for their liking.
Click to expand...

Ranking exhibits is just for a bit of fun and even though I've visited 520 different zoos and aquariums, including the vast majority of all the major zoos in America, there are new enclosures being built continuously and therefore some of my "ten favourite exhibits" are ones I've only seen via photos and videos. Such is the pace of modern zoos that if one were to visit 100 great zoos in 2022, then there would be an urge to go back again 10 or 20 years down the road and tour them all again just to see what has changed! :)

You pose an interesting question and my answer would be the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The lion exhibit there is fantastic and it was perhaps my favourite lion exhibit at any American zoo before Omaha built their lion complex in African Grasslands. San Diego Zoo Safari Park has a trio of world-class tiger exhibits, complete with a themed area that is fantastic. The lion/tiger combo at that facility would be #1 for me.
 
I feel like we are going to see an exponential increase in new habitats for the ABC(and non-ABC) animals come out after recovering from the pandemic, that’s something that makes me hopeful for the future of zoos and their importance in the modern world :)

Oh wow, it’s almost like you read my mind as to what are my current favorites due to being stuck in Southern California :p Lion Camp is such an iconic habitat for lions and it never fails to impress me each visit, not feeling outdated at all at least in my opinion. And as for Tiger Trail, one my favorite spots to photograph their Sumatran Tigers and tied with Lion Camp as my favorite habitats at the SDZSP.

I was thinking you may have ended up choosing the Bronx or Columbus since both have amazing homes for their felines at least from the photos I’ve seen on here and through their respective documentary style reality shows :D they look stellar to say the least!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top