Must See American Zoos
- Thread starter Cat-Man
- Start date
For a start go and buy the brilliant book "America's Best Zoos", or read my thread "Snowleopard's Top 12 Zoos in North America":
http://www.zoochat.com/22/snowleopards-top-12-zoos-north-america-57773/
I'd love to see the St. Louis Zoo, Sedgwick County Zoo and especially the North Carolina Zoo, which I think would have the greatest opportunity of placing quite high on my list. I'm missing out on that trio of zoos, as I feel that I've seen most of the other top notch zoos in North America.
http://www.zoochat.com/22/snowleopards-top-12-zoos-north-america-57773/
I'd love to see the St. Louis Zoo, Sedgwick County Zoo and especially the North Carolina Zoo, which I think would have the greatest opportunity of placing quite high on my list. I'm missing out on that trio of zoos, as I feel that I've seen most of the other top notch zoos in North America.
tigertiger
Well-Known Member
It honestly depends what you are interested in.
Great zoos? San Diego & Bronx.
Rhinos or rare animals? Cincinnati
Jungles? Henry O Doohly
Penguins? Woodland
It all matters on what you want
Great zoos? San Diego & Bronx.
Rhinos or rare animals? Cincinnati
Jungles? Henry O Doohly
Penguins? Woodland
It all matters on what you want
The United States is a huge country, so I imagine you will have to pick one section (unless you have many months and an unlimited income). I personally like the large, open wildlife parks. In that category, my favorites are:
Northwest Trek (Washington)
San Diego Wild Animal Park (California)
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (Texas)
The Wilds (Ohio - haven't been there, but looks great)
If you can travel this Fall, perhaps you could join us for the 2009 American Zoochat Roundup? Looks like Ohio may be the winner.
For traditional zoos, I like:
Lowry Park Zoo (Florida)
San Diego Zoo (California)
Fort Worth Zoo (Texas)
Minnesota Zoo (Minnesota)
Cincinnati Zoo (Ohio)
The Living Desert (California)
Oklahoma City Zoo (Oklahoma - haven't been there, but looks fantastic)
Memphis Zoo (Tennessee)
For unique, hard-to-define zoological parks:
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Arizona)
Busch Gardens (Florida)
Northwest Trek (Washington)
San Diego Wild Animal Park (California)
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (Texas)
The Wilds (Ohio - haven't been there, but looks great)
If you can travel this Fall, perhaps you could join us for the 2009 American Zoochat Roundup? Looks like Ohio may be the winner.
For traditional zoos, I like:
Lowry Park Zoo (Florida)
San Diego Zoo (California)
Fort Worth Zoo (Texas)
Minnesota Zoo (Minnesota)
Cincinnati Zoo (Ohio)
The Living Desert (California)
Oklahoma City Zoo (Oklahoma - haven't been there, but looks fantastic)
Memphis Zoo (Tennessee)
For unique, hard-to-define zoological parks:
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Arizona)
Busch Gardens (Florida)
Meaghan Edwards
Well-Known Member
North Carolina Zoo is probably my favorite American zoo that I've been to, though I've also enjoyed Lowry Park and Busch Gardens (Tampa) when my family used to go on vacation in Florida. South Carolina Aquarium is also excellent, and although I've never been, the one in Georgia and Monteray Bay Aquarium are also supposed to be impressive.
ANyhuis
Well-Known Member
The Wilds is interesting, but very, very, VERY limited in what they offer. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it -- and they are WAY out of the way.
For me, the USA's Top 5 are:
San Diego, Omaha, Bronx, Columbus, & Disney's Animal Kingdom
(not necessarily in that order)
Others in contention for filling out the Top 10 list would be:
National, North Carolina, Miami, Audubon, Cincinnati, Brookfield, Minnesota, St. Louis, Sedgwick County, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Fort Worth, Denver, San Diego WAP, Oregon, and maybe ASDM
(not sure which 5 of the above I'd choose)
Wilds is way out out the way and expensive as well but has beautiful landscapes and a great collection (if you see the animals).
elephant400
Well-Known Member
If your looking for tapirs there's a really nice tapir exhibit for tapirs at Franklin Park Zoo, Boston. Not a big zoo, but well worth it if your a Tapir Lover, bairds tapir. Pygmy Hippos have a really good exhibit too.
@ANyhuis: your list of 21 zoos is impressive, and I've visited 17 of them. Is there any way that you could come up with a definitive top 10 (in order) that represents your personal best of the best? I see that you omitted Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle from your list, and is that an oversight or a justifiable omission? I can name a good number of reliable ZooChatters on this website that would place Woodland Park in their top 5 zoos in all of North America, let alone top 21.
In terms of exhibit quality it is probably one of the 3 best zoos on the continent, but it does lack the size and variety of species that many individuals look for in a zoo's collection.
In terms of exhibit quality it is probably one of the 3 best zoos on the continent, but it does lack the size and variety of species that many individuals look for in a zoo's collection.I would definitely choose Dallas over Fort Worth. Nothing at Fort Worth really stands out to me as I am not a reptile fan. At Dallas they have the Wilds of Africa as well as a fabulous tiger habitat. Next spring they are opening Giants of the Savanna which seems like it will be a spectacular new exhibit, and maybe a contender for a top 25 exhibit list.
Here is a list of zoos I would recommend:
San Diego Zoo & Park
Bronx
Woodland Park (Seattle)
St. Louis
Oklahoma City
Columbus
Miami
North Carolina
Kansas City
Minnesota
Denver
Dallas
Sedgwick County
Here is a list of zoos I would recommend:
San Diego Zoo & Park
Bronx
Woodland Park (Seattle)
St. Louis
Oklahoma City
Columbus
Miami
North Carolina
Kansas City
Minnesota
Denver
Dallas
Sedgwick County
If you want to see tapir/pygmy hippo don't got to Franklin Park zoo. I grew up at this zoo and the Tropical Forest building (where both the hippo and tapir are located) is average to below average. Miami zoo is probably one of the better places to see bairds and malayan tapir and pygmy hippo. Lowry park also has better pygmy hippo and tapir exhibits.
ANyhuis
Well-Known Member
Do they have pygmy hippos again? I was there in July, 2007 and their only hippo had just died.
Yes. They received a female from the Toronto zoo not long after the other one passed.
ANyhuis
Well-Known Member
Again, BRhino, you're rating based on a non-visit. Check out what this family thinks:
52 Zoos in 52 Weeks - Home
"Fort Worth wins the title of Our Favorite Zoo in Texas. Easily in the top three or four zoos we've been to so far."
Dallas' Wilds of Africa is indeed great (I rated it very high), but Fort Worth's Texas Wild! exhibit is very comparable in its excellence. And beyond these 2 great exhibit areas, Fort Worth has far more other stuff. But this is NO slam on Dallas -- I really like it!
San Diego is by far the best place to see pygmy hippos and tapirs. They have the best pygmy hippo exhibit as well as a brand new mixed species exhibit with Bairds Tapirs in EO. The Malayan Tapirs live in the excellent Tiger River Trails section.
I have been following that family's trip. They have children and obviously look for different things in a zoo. They loved the Lowry Park Zoo, which is one my least favorite zoos I have been to. I have heard that Texas Wild is great for visitors while the animal habitats are below par. That to me is not a great exhibit. All the exhibits in Wilds of Africa are some of the best and with the new Giants of the Savanna opening this Spring the Dallas Zoo will definitely be a must-see for me.
I have seen pictures of SD pygmy hippo exhibit and even though it is nice, Louisville has a better exhibit, in my opinion (When I was there last the hippos and a few gorillas were interacting through the glass window that separates them). The bairds tapir exhibit in OD is nice to but there are a few zoos that have similar exhibits. I have not seen the malayan tapir exhibit so I can not comment.
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ANyhuis
Well-Known Member
Yes, that's an opinion of some (not me). But Texas Wild! is one of those zoo exhibits that has that "pull tourists off the highway" appeal, which is what I'm after -- anything that makes zoos more of a tourist attraction. Actually Dallas' Wilds of Africa has the same appeal. (People in that metro area are SO fortunate!) But my point is that, even if you disregard Texas Wild!, Fort Worth has so many other great exhibits. It's one of the nation's more complete zoos. World of Primates is a terrific indoor rain forest, with the nation's only exhibit of all 4 types of greater apes. Their Asian Falls, African Savannah, and new herpetarium (MOLA) are all beautiful. And even if you don't like a few of the habitats in Texas Wild!, it is indisputably a great children's area (as testified by the "52 Weeks" family). Dallas is wonderful, but beyond Wilds of Africa, it has nothing to compare with the above list from Fort Worth.
World of Primates is almost entirely constructed of concrete, and very poorly at that. To call it an "indoor rain forest" is a real stretch. And the outdoor exhibits are small patches of grass with dead trees and more bad fake rock--nothing special at all.
MOLA has potential, but since it is months away from completion I'm not sure how you can so confidently declare it to be "beautiful." But then clearly you are a "glass half-full" kind of guy!
And Texas Wild is over-the-top theme park with average to below-average animal habitats.
I much prefer Dallas