tz
/ August 26, 2026
Henry Vilas Zoo sits on 28 acres in Madison, Wisconsin, part of a larger parkland tract that former U.S. Senator William Freeman Vilas and his wife Anna donated to the city in 1904. They named the park after their son Henry, who had died in
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tz
/ August 26, 2026
John Ball Zoo sits on 140 acres on the west side of Grand Rapids, Michigan, tracing its roots back to 1884 when pioneer and former mayor John Ball donated 40 acres of parkland to the city. Animals first appeared on the grounds in the early
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tz
/ August 25, 2026
The Akron Zoo, officially the Akron Zoological Park, sits just west of downtown Akron, Ohio, on 77 acres of land, with 35 acres developed into animal habitats and guest amenities. Its roots trace back to the early 1900s, when Perkins Woods Park was gifted to
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tz
/ August 25, 2026
Elmwood Park Zoo has been a fixture of Norristown, Pennsylvania since July 4, 1924, when a local farmer transferred 16 acres of land and a small menagerie of animals to the Borough of Norristown. What began as a modest community collection has grown into an
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tz
/ August 24, 2026
Zoo Knoxville sits just east of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, tracing its roots back to a small municipal zoo that opened in 1951 before being reorganized and expanded into the modern nonprofit zoo in 1971. Today the AZA-accredited facility covers 53 acres and is home to
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tz
/ August 24, 2026
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden opened on April 25, 1974, along the banks of the Saluda River in Columbia and West Columbia, South Carolina. What began as a state-supported project in the early 1960s took years to plan, partly because archaeologists had to survey four historic
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tz
/ August 24, 2026
Sedgwick County Zoo opened on August 25, 1971, in Wichita, Kansas, and has grown into one of the largest zoos in the country by both size and collection. Spread across 247 acres, with 115 acres currently developed for exhibits, the AZA-accredited zoo is regularly cited
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tz
/ August 23, 2026
The Toledo Zoo & Aquarium began in 1900 with a single donated woodchuck housed at Walbridge Park in Toledo, Ohio. From that modest start, it grew into one of the country’s most respected zoos, known for its Depression-era architecture and long history of animal care
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tz
/ August 22, 2026
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium sits inside Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Washington, where it has grown from a small city menagerie founded in 1905 into a full-scale AZA-accredited zoo and aquarium. Operated by Metro Parks Tacoma, it is recognized as the only combined zoo
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tz
/ August 6, 2026
The Calgary Zoo opened on January 9, 1929, and has grown into one of Canada’s premier wildlife attractions, spread across 125 acres on St. George’s Island in the Bow River in the Bridgeland neighborhood of Calgary, Alberta. Operated by the Wilder Institute, the zoo is
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tz
/ August 6, 2026
The Toronto Zoo opened on August 15, 1974, in Scarborough, Ontario, replacing the much smaller Riverdale Zoo that had served the city since the 1890s. Spread across roughly 710 acres (287 hectares) along the Rouge River valley, it is Canada’s largest zoo by area and
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tz
/ August 5, 2026
Taronga Zoo overlooks Sydney Harbour from the suburb of Mosman, offering one of the most scenic zoo settings in the world. Opened at its current harbourside site on October 7, 1916, after relocating from an earlier home at Moore Park, the zoo takes its name
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tz
/ August 5, 2026
Auckland Zoo has welcomed visitors to Western Springs since December 16, 1922, when it opened with animals purchased from a private collector’s shuttered menagerie. Run today by Auckland Council through Auckland Unlimited, the 16.35-hectare (40-acre) park has grown from a modest municipal collection into New
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tz
/ August 5, 2026
Melbourne Zoo opened on 6 October 1862 in Royal Park, Parkville, about 4 kilometers north of Melbourne’s city center, making it the oldest zoo in Australia. It was modeled after London Zoo and originally served as an acclimatisation station for domestic animals arriving from long
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tz
/ August 4, 2026
Beijing Zoo is the oldest zoological garden in China, tracing its roots to 1906 when it was established as a menagerie and botanical garden during the late Qing dynasty. It formally opened its gates to the public on June 16, 1908, for an admission price
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tz
/ August 3, 2026
Prague Zoo opened its gates on 28 September 1931 in the Troja district along the Vltava River, founded under director Jiří Janda. Nearly a century later, it has grown into one of the most respected zoos in the world, prized for its hilly, naturalistic terrain
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tz
/ August 3, 2026
Tiergarten Schönbrunn, known internationally as Vienna Zoo, opened on July 31, 1752, on the grounds of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Francis Stephen of Lorraine as an imperial menagerie for the Habsburg court, it holds the distinction of being the world’s oldest zoo
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tz
/ August 3, 2026
Berlin Zoo, formally the Zoologischer Garten Berlin, opened in 1844 in the city’s Tiergarten park, making it the oldest surviving zoo in Germany. Over nearly two centuries it grew into the most species-diverse zoo in the world, a record it has held for decades, while
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tz
/ August 2, 2026
Chester Zoo opened on June 10, 1931, when George Mottershead and his family established the site at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, on a philosophy of open, bar-free enclosures that was unusual for its time. Nearly a century later, it has grown into the most-visited zoo in the
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tz
/ August 2, 2026
Whipsnade Zoo opened on 23 May 1931 as a bold experiment by the Zoological Society of London: an open-air park where animals could roam expansive paddocks instead of cramped city enclosures. Set in the Chiltern Hills near Dunstable, Bedfordshire, it became the first zoo in
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