Discover the best zoos and aquariums across the country. ThrillZing covers admission, must-see exhibits, animal encounters, and reciprocal membership tips for every major zoo and aquarium — plus the latest news from the world of wildlife attractions.
tz
/ July 22, 2026
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium traces its roots to 1894, when it opened as the small Riverview Park Zoo. It was renamed in 1963 after a major gift from businessman Henry Doorly, and has since grown into one of the most acclaimed zoological parks
Read more
tz
/ July 22, 2026
The Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium sits on 202 acres inside Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri, and has welcomed visitors since it first opened on December 13, 1909. What began as a single building housing the zoo’s entire animal collection for $32,000 has grown
Read more
tz
/ July 22, 2026
The Detroit Zoo opened in its current form on August 1, 1928, spanning the border of Royal Oak and Huntington Woods, Michigan, just north of the city of Detroit. It made history as one of the first zoos in the United States to move away
Read more
tz
/ July 21, 2026
The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium has anchored Pittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood since 1898, growing from a small municipal menagerie into a 77-acre zoo and aquarium complex with more than 8,000 animals. Whether you’re mapping out a family day trip or just want the straight facts
Read more
tz
/ July 21, 2026
The Buffalo Zoo has been a fixture of Buffalo, New York since 1875, making it the third oldest zoo in the United States according to the zoo’s own history. Tucked into the historic grounds of Delaware Park, the zoo has grown from its 19th-century roots
Read more
tz
/ July 21, 2026
Prospect Park Zoo is a compact, family-oriented zoo tucked into the eastern side of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York. Operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the same nonprofit behind the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, and Central Park Zoo, it traces its roots
Read more
tz
/ July 20, 2026
Central Park Zoo sits on the southeast corner of Central Park at East 64th Street and Fifth Avenue, a compact 6.5-acre wildlife park run by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Its roots trace back to an informal 1864 menagerie, making it one of the oldest
Read more
tz
/ July 20, 2026
San Francisco Zoo & Gardens sits in the city’s southwestern corner, tucked between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway. Founded by philanthropist Herbert Fleishhacker in 1929 and built out through the 1930s as a Works Progress Administration project, the zoo was
Read more
tz
/ July 20, 2026
Fresno Chaffee Zoo sits inside historic Roeding Park in Fresno, California, tracing its roots back to a small 1908 menagerie of two bears and about fifty birds. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums recognizes 1929 as the park’s official opening, and the zoo grew steadily
Read more
tz
/ July 19, 2026
Oakland Zoo has welcomed visitors to the hills above Knowland Park since June 6, 1922, when naturalist Henry A. Snow established the collection. Today the nonprofit Conservation Society of California operates the zoo, which is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and draws
Read more
tz
/ July 19, 2026
The Sacramento Zoo opened on June 2, 1927, inside William Land Park in Sacramento, California, making it one of the older zoological institutions on the West Coast. What began as a small municipal animal collection has grown into an AZA-accredited zoo known for its compact,
Read more
tz
/ July 19, 2026
The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens opened on November 28, 1966, in Griffith Park, replacing the smaller Griffith Park Zoo that had operated on a nearby site since 1912. Owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles, the 133-acre facility sits near the
Read more
tz
/ July 18, 2026
The Phoenix Zoo opened on November 21, 1962, in Papago Park after Robert Maytag of the Maytag family founded the Arizona Zoological Society and led the drive to build it, with the City of Phoenix leasing the Society the former state fish-hatchery grounds that became
Read more
tz
/ July 18, 2026
San Antonio Zoo has occupied a corner of Brackenridge Park since 1914, growing from an early collection of a few hundred specimens into one of the more species-dense zoos in the country. Built partly into a former limestone quarry, the zoo used the site’s natural
Read more
tz
/ July 18, 2026
The Minnesota Zoo opened on May 22, 1978, in Apple Valley, as one of only two state-supported zoos in the country (the other is the North Carolina Zoo). Spread across 485 acres, it was among the first American zoos to organize exhibits by habitat rather
Read more
tz
/ July 17, 2026
The Milwaukee County Zoo is a 190-acre zoological park located at 10001 W. Bluemound Road in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its roots trace back to 1892, when a small menagerie opened in the city’s Washington Park, but the zoo moved to its current, much larger site in
Read more
tz
/ July 17, 2026
The Indianapolis Zoo sits in White River State Park about a mile from downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Opened at its current riverside location on June 11, 1988, the zoo traces its roots back to an original site at Washington Park that first opened on April 18,
Read more
tz
/ July 17, 2026
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden opened to the public in 1875, making it the second-oldest zoo in the United States behind only the Philadelphia Zoo. Located at 3400 Vine Street in the Avondale neighborhood, the zoo has grown from its 19th-century roots into one
Read more
tz
/ July 16, 2026
Planning a trip to the Memphis Zoo? Here’s the full picture: current hours, ticket prices, parking, the must-see exhibits like Zambezi River Hippo Camp and Teton Trek, and the complete story behind the zoo’s famous former panda exhibit. Tucked inside Overton Park in Midtown Memphis,
Read more
tz
/ July 16, 2026
Zoo Atlanta traces its roots to 1889, when local businessman George V. Gress purchased the animals from a bankrupt traveling circus and donated them to the city of Atlanta, laying the foundation for what would become one of the Southeast’s premier animal parks. Set within
Read more