Michigan Zoos

snowleopard

snowleopard

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Premium Member
I've compiled a list of zoos and aquariums in the state of Michigan and I was curious to find out if I'm missing any establishments. Is the list below completely accurate?

21 Michigan Zoos:

Belle Isle Aquarium (Detroit)
Belle Isle Nature Zoo (Detroit)
Binder Park Zoo (Battle Creek)
Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park (Alto)
Butterfly House & Insect World (Mackinac Island)
Children’s Zoo at Celebration Square (Saginaw)
Cindy’s Lou’s Zoo (Roscommon)
Creature Conservancy Wildlife Park (Ann Arbor)
Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary (Athens)
Deer Forest Exotic Animal Sanctuary (Coloma)
Detroit Zoo (Royal Oak)
DeYoung Family Zoo (Wallace)
GarLyn Zoo (Naubinway)
Great Lakes Zoological Society (Ann Arbor)
Howell Conference & Nature Center: Wild Wonders Wildlife Park (Howell)
John Ball Zoo (Grand Rapids)
Meijer Gardens Butterfly House (Grand Rapids)
Oswald’s Bear Ranch (Newberry)
Potter Park Zoo (Lansing)
Sea Life Michigan (Auburn Hills)
Wilderness Trails Zoo (Birch Run)

Incidentally, I've visited 5 of the zoos on this list: Detroit, Binder Park, John Ball, Potter Park and DeYoung Family Zoo.
 
Thanks for the list. A couple more to consider:

GT Butterfly House and Bug Zoo (Williamsburg)
Indian Creek Zoo (Lambertville)

Out of interest, why are two entries emboldened?
 
Giant Panda said:
Thanks for the list. A couple more to consider:

GT Butterfly House and Bug Zoo (Williamsburg)
Indian Creek Zoo (Lambertville)

Out of interest, why are two entries emboldened?
Click to expand...

Thanks for finding a couple more rather obscure little zoos...and the Butterfly House facility only just opened a little over two years ago.

The two that are in bold are the pair of aquariums in Michigan. On my master list of American zoos (now sitting at a grand total of 712) I've put all of the 135 aquariums in bold and so whenever I copy and paste onto ZooChat the bold transfers over.
 
The Great Lakes Zoological Society shut down.

You are also missing:
Scidmore Park Zoo (Three Rivers)
Blandford Nature Center (Grand Rapids)
Braveheart Raptor Rehabilitation Center (Twin Lake)
Sunrise Side Animal Educational Park and Nature Trail (Tawas City)
Organization for Bat Conservation (Bloomfield Hills)
Whispering Pines Mobile Zoo (Reed City)
The Deer Ranch (St Ignace)
Indian Creek Zoo (Lambertville)
Deer Tracks Junction (Cedar Springs)
 
Thanks for all of the suggestions and I visited every single zoo's website in order to have an in-depth analysis of each facility. The bat establishment looks to be a very cool mini-zoo that is probably not very well known outside of its geographical area but I would certainly visit if I made an extensive road trip through Michigan.

Here are 3 suggestions that I decided not to include on my personal list and it is always a challenge debating whether a place is in fact a "zoo" or not. Even the deer parks that I did end up including aren't really "zoos" other than a few paddocks of deer. I still counted them but I don't feel 100% behind those choices...it was a difficult decision.

Scidmore Park Petting Zoo - a single alpaca, a couple of emus, a couple of tortoises and not much else other than barnyard animals. I have a difficult time counting this as a "zoo".

Braveheart Raptor Rehabilitation Center - I only count establishments that are open to the public and this facility is only open for 3 hours at a time...20 days a year. That means it is closed to the public 345 days and then has special limited hours for 20 days and I just couldn't include it on my list as declaring the center "open to the public" would be a tenuous statement at best.

Whispering Pines Mobile Zoo - a traveling menagerie that can be booked for special occasions and not a place that anyone can walk up to or book a tour with at any given time.

However, here is an updated list of 27 Michigan zoos:

Belle Isle Aquarium (Detroit)
Belle Isle Nature Zoo (Detroit)
Binder Park Zoo (Battle Creek)
Blandford Nature Center (Grand Rapids)
Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park (Alto)
Butterfly House & Insect World (Mackinac Island)
Children’s Zoo at Celebration Square (Saginaw)
Creature Conservancy Wildlife Park (Ann Arbor)
Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary (Athens)
Deer Forest Exotic Animal Sanctuary (Coloma)
Deer Tracks Junction (Cedar Springs)
Detroit Zoo (Royal Oak)
DeYoung Family Zoo (Wallace)
GarLyn Zoo (Naubinway)
G.T. Butterfly House & Bug Zoo (Williamsburg)
Howell Conference & Nature Center: Wild Wonders Wildlife Park (Howell)
Indian Creek Zoo (Lambertville)
John Ball Zoo (Grand Rapids)
Meijer Gardens Butterfly House (Grand Rapids)
Organization for Bat Conservation (Bloomfield Hills)
Oswald’s Bear Ranch (Newberry)
Potter Park Zoo (Lansing)
Roscommon Zoo (Roscommon)
Sea Life Michigan (Auburn Hills)
Sunrise Side Exotics & Nature Trail (Tawas City)
The Deer Ranch (St. Ignace)
Wilderness Trails Zoo (Birch Run)

* Roscommon Zoo is a new name as the facility used to be known as Cindy Lou's Petting Zoo
 
Last edited:
Time for an updated list as this summer I have my latest 'Snowleopard Road Trip' coming up in July and by the time it is over I hope to have visited 22 of the 24 zoos in the state of Michigan in my lifetime. I will not be getting to the Butterfly House on Mackinac Island (you need to take a ferry) or Deer Tracks Junction.

Is this privately-run zoo still open to the public? Sunrise Side Exotics & Nature Trail (Tawas City)

Here are 24 Michigan establishments that I would personally count as proper zoos or aquariums:

Belle Isle Aquarium (Detroit)
Belle Isle Nature Center (Detroit)
**Binder Park Zoo (Battle Creek)++
Blandford Nature Center (Grand Rapids)
Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park (Alto)
Butterfly House & Insect World (Mackinac Island)
Children’s Zoo at Celebration Square (Saginaw)++
Creature Conservancy Wildlife Park (Ann Arbor)
Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary (Athens)
Deer Tracks Junction (Cedar Springs)
**Detroit Zoo (Royal Oak)++
**DeYoung Family Zoo (Wallace)
GarLyn Zoo (Naubinway)
G.T. Butterfly House & Bug Zoo (Williamsburg)
Howell Conference & Nature Center: Wild Wonders Wildlife Park (Howell)
Indian Creek Zoo (Lambertville)
**John Ball Zoo (Grand Rapids)++
Meijer Gardens Butterfly House (Grand Rapids)
Oswald’s Bear Ranch (Newberry)
**Potter Park Zoo (Lansing)++
Roscommon Zoo (Roscommon)
Sea Life Michigan (Auburn Hills)
The Deer Ranch (St. Ignace)
Wilderness Trails Zoo (Birch Run)

** I've visited these 5 facilities already (but hope to definitely revisit Detroit Zoo in July)

++ AZA accredited

Aquariums are in bold
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top