Free admission, I didn't see the National Zoo there already.Because of free admission or is it something else? It would still be in my first category just like the National Zoo is, its a traditional zoo
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List and Rank The North American Zoos You Have Visited!
- Thread starter geomorph
- Start date
I'm interested to hear why you decided to place Shell Factory above Brandywine? from what I've heard, Brandywine may be small, but has a generally high quality exhibitry, well Shell Factory on the other hand had some of the worst and most off-putting exhibits I've personally ever seen.Here is my current ranking of 122 American facilities I've been to. They all have at least a wild mammal, bird of prey and/or a good number of herps. Some other places I visited had collections that were too small to qualify. All were visited from from 2021 or more recent except three facilities, but even those were visited from 2017. There were a couple of places I visited when I was young that are excluded because I don't remember them well enough. List divided into four categories. This is not meant to be scientific and is subject to change, just my opinion at the current time based on enjoyment and feelings about quality, collection, size, value and other personal factors.
Important Note: A number of places in the lower rankings are not primarily "zoos", but different types of attractions like museums, botanical gardens, boat tours, historic sites etc. I'm judging them based on the the animal-related sections and not the main specialty of the establishment. Some of these are recommended to visit for the non-zoo attractions.
Category 1
Zoos, safari parks and smaller collections charging over $5 admission.
1. San Diego Zoo
2. Bronx Zoo
3. Zoo Miami
4. Smithsonian National Zoo
5. San Diego Zoo Safari Park
6. Jacksonville Zoo
7. Zoo Atlanta
8. Disney’s Animal Kingdom
9. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
10. Los Angeles Zoo
11. Phoenix Zoo (2020)
12. Brevard Zoo
13. Philadelphia Zoo
14. Out Of Africa Wildlife Park
15. Lion Country Safari
16. Audubon Zoo
17. Zoo Tampa
18. Virginia Zoo
19. Cape May County Zoo
20. Maryland Zoo
21. Palm Beach Zoo
22. Roger Williams Park Zoo
23. Turtle Back Zoo
24. Riverbanks Zoo
25. Franklin Park Zoo
26. Central Florida Zoo
27. Naples Zoo
28. Staten Island Zoo
29. Queens Zoo
30. Stone Zoo
31. Central Park Zoo
32. Beardsley Zoo
33. Prospect Park Zoo
34. Greenville Zoo
35. Elmwood Park Zoo
36. St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park
37. Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo
38. Flamingo Gardens
39. Lehigh Valley Zoo
40. Wild Florida Safari
41. Trevor Zoo
42. Cohanzick Zoo
43. Bergen County Zoo
44. Charles Towne Landing Historical Site
45. Reptile World Serpentarium
46. Shell Factory Nature Park
47. Everglades Alligator Farm
48. Audubon Center For Birds Of Prey
49. Stamford Museum & Nature Center
50. Butterfly World
51. Brandywine Zoo
52. Eudora Wildlife Safari Park
53. Pine Mountain Safari
54. Earthplace
55. Goldfield Mines Superstition Serpenterium
56. Liberty Science Center
57. Sawgrass Recreation Park
58. Calusa Nature Center
59. The Wonder Gardens
60. Bee City Zoo
61. Plumpton Park Zoo
Nothing else here
[/SPOILER]
Oh this is fun! I've never thought about ranking the facilities I've visited before (I'll include aquariums as well, aquatic zoos 
)
My top criteria is going to be the species collection (particularly if it's a species with which I'm familiar with the animals as individuals), habitat design and overall theming incl. signage, and of course the perceived conditions and welfare of the animals.
Honorable mentions (but still roughly ranked):
)My top criteria is going to be the species collection (particularly if it's a species with which I'm familiar with the animals as individuals), habitat design and overall theming incl. signage, and of course the perceived conditions and welfare of the animals.
- SeaWorld Orlando (my first experience venturing outside of the Carolinas, an absolutely gorgeous park with many species I was able to see for the first time)
- Georgia Aquarium (this goes without saying! I don't need to tell y'all about the incredible Ocean Voyager habitat or the amazing species selection. Beautiful facility that every US zoo enthusiast needs to visit at least once)
- North Carolina Zoo (another facility that I don't even need to say anything about -- we all know her, we all love her, one of the largest and most well designed parks in the United States!)
- North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores (STUNNING facility, incredibly designed, wonderfully immersive and educational, both in terms of the animal collection and general maritime history -- I genuinely struggled not to rank this facility above the Georgia Aquarium, but they unfortunately lack the same scale and species collection.)
- SEA LIFE Charlotte-Concord Aquarium (this little facility left a massive impression on me, if for no other reason than the design alone -- incredibly immersive, beautifully themed, if you have younger children I could not recommend this aquarium enough)
- North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island (the interactive STAR Center stood out the most to me at this facility -- the design, education, etc is intermediate between the Fort Fisher and Pine Knoll Shores aquariums)
- North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher (the smallest facility of the NC Aquarium system and seems to decline in quality with each visit... haven't been since the new exhibit additions however so I have that to look forward to!)
- Lazy 5 Ranch (has the foundation to be a great little private collection, but my visit included many incorrect and disrepaired signs, and the biggest downside to me, the small and poorly designed bird cages, one of which included a rooster in much too small a space)
- Aloha Safari Zoo (I wanted to rank this facility last, but I gave it a slight edge for its collection of mammal species. I visited in October and witnessed several cockatoos in heat distress in bare minimum empty cages; the conditions in the reptile and small mammal collections were horrendous; the visibility and design of the other habitats left much to be desired. Such strong potential with this facility but a very disappointing experience)
- Reptile Lagoon at South of the Border (absolutely incredible collection of species for the reptile enthusiast, which I would recommend it at least once on that basis alone, but poorly designed exhibits and I seem to remember many species being unsigned)
Honorable mentions (but still roughly ranked):
- Riverbanks Zoo (I visited at a pretty unfortunate time with personal constraints and a lot of construction and off-display key species, so I didn't get to have the greatest impression of the facility or take many photos to remember it by)
- Ringling Bro. and Barnum and Bailey Presents "Circus Xtreme" (not a zoo but an exhibitor nonetheless, so I'll add them here -- my first experience that I can recall seeing Asian elephants!)
- Ripley's Aquarium of Myrtle Beach (went as a child, no recollection whatsoever other than just a picture or two. I think a revisit is due!)
- Garden Bros. Circus (again including this as an exhibitor. The experience as a whole was lovely but I was not satisfied with the welfare of the elephants and I'm pleased to hear they no longer travel with an elephant act)
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SusScrofa
Well-Known Member
No problem. There were of course other aspects besides exhibit quality that I factored in, many are personal. Take a place like Butterfly World; if judging on just exhibit quality it would likely rank in my top 20 with their beautiful gardens. But the collection is almost entirely butterflies and other arthropods and that doesn’t really interest me. The bird collection is nice but very small and it also costs around $30 to enter. It would probably rank high judging it as a botanical garden or from the perspective of someone who is a lover of butterflies, but from a zoo perspective and as someone who isn’t into that group of animals it ends up faring much worse; and yes, some might not think its fair to rank it as a “zoo” either but this is my list and my rules
RE: Brandywine - I don't think Brandywine is a bad zoo per se and again if judging solely on exhibit quality it would fare a little better. But it is unobjectively tiny and I dunno… I found it really bland. Some small zoos like Queens or Prospect Park have a really loveable charm to them but I didn’t feel it here. Maybe I don’t get excited seeing Andean Condors or Red Pandas anymore? The condor and lemur exhibits were nice, but everything else is forgettable and the New World Monkey enclosures are especially mediocre factoring in AZA expectations. Also the reptile terrariums are poorly placed causing such extreme glare that I couldn’t even see inside. Maybe that sounds like nitpicking but keep in mind this is place with maybe 25 total species inside even far fewer exhibits so a few terrariums basically being unviewable will have a much bigger impact here compared to a larger zoo. There was also a situational negative of the zoo being insanely crowded when I went and for such a small place it made even walking on the pathways more difficult than it should have been.
RE: Shell Factory – I’m not going to lie, I found the collection interesting and I also enjoyed basically having the park to myself on my visit. No doubt there's sentimentality. From a more objective look, newer exhibits like the agouti/turaco enclosure, wallaby yard and the walkthough aviary were pretty nice and a step in the right direction. Shell is not remotely close to what I would consider a good zoo, its still subpar in the quality department and the exhibits for zebra, owl and smaller parrots were especially bad. I took that into consideration. But I also personally feel its the god-awful aesthetics that make a lot of their exhibits seem much much worse than they are. Too many are amateurly strung together with junkyard scraps and wrapped in prison-style chain links. But if you took away the ugly construction the exhibits while by no means great I feel would fare much better in terms of space, enrichment etc.
I was reminded of this thread as I was cataloging my most recent visits in Oregon and central California, and I figured it was time for an update now that I have tacked on quite a few new facilities! As an animal care professional, trying to rank all of these drastically different facilities is quite the difficult task. I tried my best to find a balance between personal enjoyment and objective quality of the facilities. Some of the lower ranking facilities (Reid Park, El Paso, Abilene, Dallas Children's Aquarium, etc.) are only ranked so low because of their size and not their quality, while some facilities are ranked low because of their quality. I found that many facilities that rank closely with each other could easily be swapped.
Traditional Zoos:
Safari Parks:
Aquariums:
X Ripley’s Aquarium at Myrtle Beach - Myrtle Beach, SC - September 2000 (Unranked)
Other (Specialist Collections, Amusement Parks, Nature Centers, etc.):
Traditional Zoos:
- San Diego Zoo - San Diego, CA - July 2023
- St. Louis Zoo - St. Louis, MO - March 2022
- The Living Desert - Palm Desert, CA - May 2021
- Columbus Zoo and Aquarium - Powell, OH - May 2022
- Sedgwick County Zoo - Wichita, KS - February 2023
- Kansas City Zoo - Kansas City, MO - March 2022
- Dallas Zoo - Dallas, TX - March 2023
- Houston Zoo - Houston, TX - March 2021
- Nashville Zoo at Grassmere - Nashville, TN - May 2022
- Fort Worth Zoo - Fort Worth, TX - January 2023
- Memphis Zoo - Memphis, TN - May 2022
- Oklahoma City Zoo - Oklahoma City, OK - September 2022
- Oregon Zoo - Portland, OR - August 2023
- Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden - Cincinnati, OH - May 2022
- Los Angeles Zoo - Los Angeles, CA - April 2023
- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - Cleveland, OH - May 2016
- Caldwell Zoo - Tyler, TX - March 2022
- Louisville Zoo - Louisville, KY - May 2022
- Cameron Park Zoo - Waco, TX - January 2023
- Tulsa Zoo - Tulsa, OK - July 2021
- San Antonio Zoo - San Antonio, TX - February 2023
- El Paso Zoo - El Paso, TX - March 2023
- Reid Park Zoo - Tucson, AZ - March 2023
- Audubon Zoo - New Orleans, LA - August 2021
- Gladys Porter Zoo - Brownsville, TX - January 2023
- Abilene Zoo - Abilene, TX - March 2023
- Topeka Zoo - Topeka, KS - May 2022
- Little Rock Zoo - Little Rock, AR - February 2023
- Baton Rouge Zoo - Baton Rouge, LA - July 2021
- Ellen Trout Zoo - Lufkin, TX - March 2022
- Hattiesburg Zoo - Hattiesburg, MS - January 2021
- Frank Buck Zoo - Gainesville, TX - March 2022
Safari Parks:
- San Diego Zoo Safari Park - Escondido, CA - August 2023
- The Wilds - Cumberland, OH - May 2016
- Fossil Rim - Glen Rose, TX - October 2022
- Wildlife Safari - Winston, OR - August 2023
- Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch - San Antonio, TX - December 2021
- Aggieland Safari - Bryan, TX - January 2023
Aquariums:
- Monterey Bay Aquarium - Monterey, CA - August 2023
- Birch Aquarium - La Jolla, CA - March 2023
- Newport Aquarium - Newport, KY - September 2018
- Audubon Aquarium of the Americas - New Orleans, LA - March 2021
- Children’s Aquarium Dallas at Fair Park - Dallas, TX - January 2023
- Mississippi Aquarium - Gulfport, MS - June 2021
X Ripley’s Aquarium at Myrtle Beach - Myrtle Beach, SC - September 2000 (Unranked)
Other (Specialist Collections, Amusement Parks, Nature Centers, etc.):
- Arizona Sonora Desert Museum - Tucson, AZ - March 2023
- Dallas World Aquarium - Dallas, TX -- February 2023
- Reptilandia Reptile Lagoon - Johnson City, TX - February 2023
- SeaWorld San Diego - San Diego, CA - April 2023
- Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium (Closed) - New Orleans, LA - July 2018
- Living Coast Discovery Center - Chula Vista, CA - April 2023
- Texas Discovery Gardens at Fair Park - Dallas, TX - February 2023
- Chiricahua Desert Museum - Rodeo, NM - March 2023
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King of Komodo Dragons
Well-Known Member
I've been to a few more zoos since my last ranking so I suppose it's time to post a revised list.
1. Fort Worth Zoo
2. Zoo Miami
3. Houston Zoo
4. Dallas Zoo
5. San Antonio Zoo
6. Dallas World Aquarium
7. Zoo Tampa
8. Tulsa Zoo
9. Oklahoma City Zoo
10. Cameron Park/Waco Zoo
11. Jacksonville Zoo
12. Brevard Zoo
13. SeaWorld Orlando
14. St. Augustine Alligator Farm:
15. Naples Zoo
16. Central Florida Zoo
17. Palm Beach Zoo
18. Gatorland
19. Santa Fe Teaching Zoo
20. SeaLife Orlando
21. Austin Aquarium.
If Tulsa Zoo and Oklahoma City Zoo weren't under construction at the time of my visit they might of been higgher on the list. With Palm Beach Zoo's future expansion in mind I can see them rising rank over Naples and Central Florida in the near future. I am hoping to add a few more zoos and aquariums to this list by the end of the year, but the main facilities I see affecting my rankings will be Zoo Atlanta and Georgia Aquarium which I can imagine will breach the top 5
1. Fort Worth Zoo
2. Zoo Miami
3. Houston Zoo
4. Dallas Zoo
5. San Antonio Zoo
6. Dallas World Aquarium
7. Zoo Tampa
8. Tulsa Zoo
9. Oklahoma City Zoo
10. Cameron Park/Waco Zoo
11. Jacksonville Zoo
12. Brevard Zoo
13. SeaWorld Orlando
14. St. Augustine Alligator Farm:
15. Naples Zoo
16. Central Florida Zoo
17. Palm Beach Zoo
18. Gatorland
19. Santa Fe Teaching Zoo
20. SeaLife Orlando
21. Austin Aquarium.
If Tulsa Zoo and Oklahoma City Zoo weren't under construction at the time of my visit they might of been higgher on the list. With Palm Beach Zoo's future expansion in mind I can see them rising rank over Naples and Central Florida in the near future. I am hoping to add a few more zoos and aquariums to this list by the end of the year, but the main facilities I see affecting my rankings will be Zoo Atlanta and Georgia Aquarium which I can imagine will breach the top 5
What made you prefer Oregon to Cincinnati?
The overall exhibit quality at Oregon is higher, which, in my opinion, makes up for Oregon's reduced collection size compared to Cincinnati. The Amur tiger exhibit at Oregon is really the only exhibit I found to be really subpar (not to say that the penguin area and some of the African area couldn't use updating), which most certainly cannot be said for Cincinnati. Like I said in my introduction, though, a lot of the closely ranked facilities could easily be swapped, although I feel pretty confident and comfortable in that placement.
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Jacob F
Well-Known Member
What are your thoughts on the Los Angeles Zoo?
I have just returned from my Virginia Beach trip (the primary reason being attending the NAS Oceana Air Show with my family) and have also added all 3 of Virginia's AZA-accredited facilities to my list. Along with Riverbanks Zoo, Sylvan Heights, and Howell Woods, I have visited 6 new facilities this year, bringing my total zoological facility count to 34 (I also added Long Island Game Farm to my unranked/visited-only-as-kid list as I omitted it earlier). I have also visited 4 facilities this year that I have visited previously.
Review and Species lists coming soon.
Key
Review and Species lists coming soon.
Key
- New Facility for 2023
- Revisit (Facilities I have already visited previously, and then visited again this year)
- 1). Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (Omaha, NE)
- 2). Tennessee Aquarium (Chattanooga, TN)
- 3). Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens (Jacksonville, FL)
- 4). Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta, GA)
- 5). Zoo Atlanta (Atlanta, GA
- 6). North Carolina Zoo (Asheboro, NC)
- 7). Greensboro Science Center (Greensboro, NC)
- 8). Florida Aquarium (Tampa, FL)
- 9). Disney's Animal Kingdom (Bay Lake, FL)
- 10). SeaWorld Orlando (Orlando, FL)
- 11). Sylvan Heights Bird Park (Scotland Neck, NC)
- Excellent bird collection, multiple walkthrough aviaries, and overall good exhibitry (with a few sore spots).
- 12). Virginia Living Museum (Newport News, VA)
- Definitely the strongest overall facility in VA, and a very solid and enjoyable museum/nature center. The exhibits and collection are very good, but suffers from not-so-insignificant signage issues.
- 13). North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Raleigh, NC)
- 14). Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center (West Yellowstone, WY)
- 15). ZooTampa at Lowry Park (Tampa, FL)
- 16). Riverbanks Zoo and Garden (Columbia, SC)
- 17). Virginia Zoo (Norfolk, VA)
- Boasts a solid reptile collection (although lacking in turtles), but the collection is otherwise unremarkable. Exhibit quality and presentation vary wildy, and the reptile house suffers from feeling blatantly unfinished despite being open for years.
- 18). Ripley's Aquarium at Myrtle Beach (Myrtle Beach, SC)
- 19). SeaLife Charlotte-Concord (Concord, NC)
- 20). Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center (Virginia Beach, VA)
- I will explain why this is ranked so low later. It does have a very good collection and exhibitry, but I have some complaints
- 21). Howell Woods Environmental Center (Four Oaks, NC)
- Really more of a nature park than a zoo, but their visitor center has 22 species of native reptiles and birds-of-prey on display. Displays are alright, but the park is very nice.
- 22). SeaLife Orlando (Orlando, FL)
- 22). Greenville Zoo (Greenville, SC)
- 23). Museum of Life and Sciences (Durham, NC)
- 24). Gatorland USA (Orlando, FL)
- 25). Lazy 5 Ranch (Mooresville, NC)
- 26). Bronx Zoo (New York, NY)
- 27). National Aquarium in Baltimore (Baltimore, MY)
- 28). Aquarium of the Americas (New Orleans, LA)
- 29). New York Aquarium (Brooklyn, NY)
- 30). Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center (Riverhead, NY)
- 31). Long Island Game Farm (Manorville, NY)
- 32). Triangle Metro Zoo (Closed) (Wake Forest, NC)
- 33). Long Island Reptile Museum (Closed) (Hicksville, NY)
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#1. Saint Louis Zoo, MO
#2. Denver Zoo, CO
#3. Shedd Aquarium, IL
#4. Smithsonian National Zoo, DC (needs a revisit asap)
#5. Lincoln Park Zoo, IL
#6. Milwaukee County Zoo, WI
#7. Brookfield Zoo, IL
#8. Henson Robinson Zoo, IL
I love them all so far. Still hoping to add multiple new small facilities before the end of this year.
#2. Denver Zoo, CO
#3. Shedd Aquarium, IL
#4. Smithsonian National Zoo, DC (needs a revisit asap)
#5. Lincoln Park Zoo, IL
#6. Milwaukee County Zoo, WI
#7. Brookfield Zoo, IL
#8. Henson Robinson Zoo, IL
I love them all so far. Still hoping to add multiple new small facilities before the end of this year.
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
Updating this a bit over a year after my initial post. Year of most recent visit in parenthesis, new or updated entries in bold.
AZA Zoos
AZA Zoos
- Brookfield Zoo (2022)
- Jacksonville Zoo (2023)
- Denver Zoo (2019)
- Lincoln Park Zoo (2022)
- Brevard Zoo (2023)
- Zoo Atlanta (2022)
- Virginia Zoo (2018)
- Western North Carolina Nature Center (2021)
- Chattanooga Zoo (2020)
- Zoo Tampa (2023)
- Riverbanks Zoo (2023)
- Lowcountry Zoo (2023)
- Greenville Zoo (2023)
- Brights Zoo (2023)
- Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary (2022)
- Carson Springs Wildlife Conservation Foundation (2023)
- Magnolia Plantation & Gardens Zoo (2023)
- The Animal Forest at Charles Towne Landing (2023)
- ~ the gulch of deplorability ~
- Hollywild Animal Park (2010?)
- Waccatee Zoo (2012?)
- Georgia Aquarium (2022)
- Shedd Aquarium (2001)
- Tennessee Aquarium (2020)
- Ripley's Aquarium of Myrtle Beach (2003?)
- South Carolina Aquarium (2022)
- The Seas at Epcot (2022)
- Disney's Animal Kingdom Park (2023)
- Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (2023)
- SeaWorld Orlando (2005)
- Montgomery Zoo (mid-late 90s)
- ZooWorld (mid-late 90s)
- Alligator Adventure (mid-late 90s)
- Santa's Land (early 2000s)
Would love to hear more about your perspective on Brookfield!
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
Everything about it felt impressive, immaculate. It felt worlds apart from any other zoo I’ve visited. I’ve never been to another zoo that had that quantity of species, let alone rare ones, in what felt like such a comprehensive and tightly wrapped package. The sheer notion of something like an Australia House, or a building devoted to swamps of all biomes, or something at the scale of Tropic World (regardless of its reputation), or in fact the sheer verticality of so many exhibits in general were all things that would’ve felt like things from a fantasy zoo before seeing them with my own eyes. Sure, I always knew that there were higher quality zoos out there than what I have easy access to in my corner of the south, but actually visiting Brookfield was incredibly eye opening.
And granted, I still haven’t been to any of the real biggest name zoos in the country, but Brookfield is without a doubt going to be the gold standard that they all wind up being compared to. Its sheer scale indirectly inspired me to finally start keeping a life list, as well as made me realize that a compelling enough zoo should be a destination all on its own and not necessarily just a side activity for an already-planned vacation. I’ve always been an animal fanatic, but have only really had the means to travel very much or very far in recent years as I’ve entered into my 30s. Visiting Brookfield lit a fire in me that has had me working out plans for several years down the road to see as many zoos as possible.
I gush, but that zoo clearly left quite the impact on me.
It truly means a lot to think of my family's home zoo as able to inspire someone on this level! I try to be critical of it but it really, really warms my heart whenever other zoochatters have nice things to say about it.
1. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium
2. OKC Zoo (Excited for Expedition Africa!)
3. Columbus Zoo & Aquarium
4. Zoo Miami
5. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
6. ZooTampa at Lowry Park
7. Jacksonville Zoo (Before Land of the Tiger was built)
8. Palm Beach Zoo
Hope to go visit more zoos in the future!
(Going to Fort Worth Zoo soon!)
2. OKC Zoo (Excited for Expedition Africa!)
3. Columbus Zoo & Aquarium
4. Zoo Miami
5. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
6. ZooTampa at Lowry Park
7. Jacksonville Zoo (Before Land of the Tiger was built)
8. Palm Beach Zoo
Hope to go visit more zoos in the future!
(Going to Fort Worth Zoo soon!)
I visited some really impressive zoos this weekend, so figured I'd update this list! A few other zoos I changed my opinion of their ranking slightly.
35. Animal Adventures Family Zoo
34. Aquarium of Niagara
33. The Wild Animal Park
32. Boston Museum of Science (ranking dropped due to closure of New England Climate Stories exhibit before most recent visit)
31. Hawk Creek Wildlife Center
30. Bergen County Zoo
29. Queens Zoo
28. The Seas Pavilion at Epcot
27. Capron Park Zoo
26. Southwick's Zoo
25. Elmwood Park Zoo
24. Prospect Park Zoo
23. Utica Zoo
22. Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
21. Philadelphia Zoo
20. Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
19. Staten Island Zoo
18. Stone Zoo
17. Bird Kingdom
16. New England Aquarium
15. Buttonwood Park Zoo
14. Buffalo Zoo
13. Central Park Zoo
12. Mystic Aquarium
11. Franklin Park Zoo
10. Rosamond Gifford Zoo
9. Turtle Back Zoo
8. Disney's Animal Kingdom
7. Roger Williams Park Zoo
6. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
5. New York Aquarium
4. Toronto Zoo
3. Toledo Zoo
2. Detroit Zoo
1. Bronx Zoo
A very interesting list. I'm curious to hear why you ranked Roger Williams ahead of Animal Kingdom, and why you ranked Mystic behind Franklin Park.
I've talked about DAK before in this thread, and some of the major flaws I view it having (lack of viewing on savanna, overly commercial feel with limited educational material, and the high crowds making traversing the park difficult), and Roger Williams is a zoo I think punches well above its weight in terms of exhibit quality and the collection's overall diversity. The zoo has also had some key acquisitions in recent years that have added a lot of value in my opinion (Kirk's dik-dik, bat-eared fox, giant wood rail, blue-throated piping guan).
As for Mystic, for starters the Arctic Coast and pinniped complexes are simply phenomenal. However, other than that the facility has been showing its age. I haven't been since 2020, so I don't know if my opinion would be different going today, but the penguin exhibit is dated, and so were some of the indoor exhibits. Franklin Park, on the other hand, is a zoo that I really enjoy, as they have a very impressive bird collection (including a number of rare species), and potto are also great to see. The gorilla complex is also very impressive, and while some of the areas are more functional than naturalistic (Serengeti, lions and then-tigers), but these exhibits are all at least adequate and the only big issue with the zoo is they have a lot of wasted space, which I'd rather see over inadequate or outdated habitats (note: I am not saying Mystic has anything inadequate, but some are certainly dated and in need of a revamp).
Spike
Well-Known Member
- Georgia Aquarium
- San Diego Zoo Safari Park
- Bronx Zoo
- San Diego Zoo
- Smithsonian’s National Zoo
- Columbus Zoo
- Zoo Atlanta
- Shedd Aquarium
- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
- St. Louis Zoo
- Memphis Zoo
- Cincinnati Zoo
- Woodland Park Zoo
- Indianapolis Zoo
- Clearwater Aquarium
- Nashville Zoo
- Franklin Park Zoo
- New England Aquarium
- Seattle Aquarium
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Utah’s Hogle Zoo
- Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo
- Lincoln Park Zoo
- Newport Aquarium
- Ripely Believe It or Not Aquarium Gatlinburg
- Mesker Park Zoo
- Exotic Feline Rescue Zoo