Best zoo?

[alison]

The photo of your husband and kids is great! When did the girls get so big?!?
I'm glad you had a good time in Boston. Come to Chicago anytime and I can remind you of what it is like to sit in traffic and get nowhere.

Sorry to hijack.

[SuzySunshine]

Re: Best zoo?

The only zoo I really remember is the Topeka, KS zoo which I remember as being very nice but I was a kid. We never made it to the SF zoo when we lived out there. I look forward to going to more as Adele gets older.

Re: Best zoo?

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is actually really wonderful. I didn't know what a gem I had until we left. The KC zoo stinks, the St. Louis Zoo is also quite nice.

[peggyfromwastate]

Re: Best zoo?

Of course San Diego Zoo is awesome. A bit too big, though. I like the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, but actually my favorite so far is the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium near Tacoma, Washington. It is totally overlooked, but it is so much fun. Whenever we've been there, there has been lots of "educating" going on-- like crocodiles out there on the lawn with their handlers, and you can touch the crocs! And the walrus demonstration is Sea World quality. They have a wonderful princess-storybook themed seahorse display in the aquarium, too. And the setting is gorgeous- views of Puget Sound. It's my fav of all time.

I don't care much for the National Zoo, but we go there often, because we are "zoo" people.

[Deebs]

Re: Best zoo?

We are "zoo people" also. Being from Chicago, I have to put a plug in for the Brookfield Zoo. The Gorilla habitat is a must-see and pretty unique (it's the one that a boy climbed/fell into years ago and the mama gorilla protected him). Although very different, I also love the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is still free.

The Minnesota Zoo is great - only 20 years old and you can tell. It has all been really well planned out, the tram takes you past each animal, in the winter, you can literally spend 1/2 a day at the indoor exhibits, which are adjacent to the parking lot, and the bird show and dolphin show are awesome. There are also some really unique animals there and they have species whose native habitats are similar to MN.

I don't think the Como Zoo in MN is all that great (sorry to any MN natives - I know people are really attached to that zoo). It is nice for little ones, as it's super small, but I felt sorry for the animals - their habitats are small.

The Columbus Zoo is nice. It's very spread out, and while we've been there several times (we're members and live literally 4 miles from the zoo), I still don't think we've seen all the exhibits. There are manatees, koala bears, and kangaroos that you can get really close to. There is also a really cool nocturnal exhibit. There is an attached water park (separate fee to get in) that literally just re-opened after being bought by the zoo from Six Flags. We were at an opening event there this week, and it was really nice. Our kids are a bit too young for it, but I could see tweens loving it.

As a passer-through, I think the St. Louis, San Diego, and Milwaukee Zoos are all really nice. There are camel rides at the Milwaukee zoo (I haven't been to another zoo that has that).

Anyway, in case you can't tell, I love the zoo! Where else is open everyday throughout the year?

[planet]

Re: Best zoo?

I haven't been to a ton of zoos, but the San Diego and St. Louis zoos top my list too. Zoos make me sad.

[Flynn]

Re: Best zoo?

Of course San Diego Zoo is awesome. A bit too big, though. I like the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, but actually my favorite so far is the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium near Tacoma, Washington. It is totally overlooked, but it is so much fun. Whenever we've been there, there has been lots of "educating" going on-- like crocodiles out there on the lawn with their handlers, and you can touch the crocs! And the walrus demonstration is Sea World quality. They have a wonderful princess-storybook themed seahorse display in the aquarium, too. And the setting is gorgeous- views of Puget Sound. It's my fav of all time.

I also think the Minnesota zoo is very well done.

[DCJenn]

Re: Best zoo?

I like the National Zoo but the San Antonio Zoo just did some upgrades to some of the exhibit that I'm looking forward to checking out.

(and it galls me to have to pay admission fees after growing up with the zoo being free)

Jenn

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Best zoo?

I haven't been to a ton of zoos, but the San Diego and St. Louis zoos top my list too. . . .

I also vouch for the St. Louis Zoo. It is really nice and FREE!! DH, my FIL and DS went just yesterday.

Re: Best zoo?

I haven't been to a ton of zoos, but the San Diego and St. Louis zoos top my list too. . . .

I also vouch for the St. Louis Zoo. It is really nice and FREE!! DH, my FIL and DS went just yesterday.

Ditto: They are always updating and adding new exhibits to the zoo too, which makes it really nice IMO. San Antonio's zoo is nice but tiny compared to St. Louis, and tad older looking IMO. They had a lot of birds there, from what I remember.

[DCJenn]

Re: Best zoo?

They still have a ton of birds. They just upgraded the "Africa" exhibit.

Jenn

[spotty_dog]

Re: Best zoo?

Like Janet, most zoos kinda make me sad. I remember the icky feeling in the pit of my stomach after visiting the Portland Zoo years ago. The Phoenix Zoo was OK as I remember it. Most of the National Zoo exhibits were decent when we were there last month, and you can't beat the price! I think my focus is shifting to Eddy's enjoyment now, so the fact that he enjoyed the National Zoo so much is what colored my experience of it.

[alison]

Re: Best zoo?

The zoo in Berlin is pretty nice, if you like zoos. I went last summer to get my obligatory photo of Knut, the Polar Bear baby. Zoos make me sad, like Janet and Alison have said.

[Flynn]

Re: Best zoo?

Zoos make me sad, like Janet and Alison have said.

I don't know what the percentage is nation wide but lots of zoos have animals that have been rescued and the choice was to place them in a zoo or terminate them because they could never survive in the wild.

The Raptors at the Woodland Zoo in Seattle are almost all rescue animals. (I'll try and find the statistic.) Their wings, beaks, or eyes are compromised so hunting would be impossible.

I'm not saying they have the best life they were intended to live but they are treated well and are alive.

I wonder if I could find out the statistic per zoo pertaining to how many animals were "rescued" verses just placed in a zoo.

[SuzySunshine]

Re: Best zoo?

And some animals were bred and raised in captivity, if released they would die or be killed b/c they don't know how to take care of themselves. There are also animals that would be extinct if not for zoos. All in all I think zoos (good zoos) are a great way for kids to see animals they would never see otherwise.