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.
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/ July 24, 2026
Birmingham Zoo has welcomed visitors to Lane Park in Birmingham, Alabama since it opened on April 2, 1955. What began as a modest municipal menagerie known as the Jimmy Morgan Zoo has grown into the state’s premier zoological institution, now spread across 122 acres of
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tz
/ July 24, 2026
The Louisville Zoo opened on May 1, 1969, and has grown into Kentucky’s official state zoo, spread across 134 acres in the Poplar Level neighborhood of Louisville. Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the zoo is home to more than 1,100 animals, ranging
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/ July 24, 2026
Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens opened on May 12, 1914, growing from a single deer in a Springfield park pen into one of Northeast Florida’s premier family attractions. Sitting along the banks of the Trout River near its confluence with the St. Johns River, the AZA-accredited
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/ July 23, 2026
Nashville Zoo at Grassmere is Middle Tennessee’s most-visited wildlife attraction, drawing over a million guests a year to a 188-acre property where modern animal habitats sit alongside a preserved 1810 farmhouse. Before you go, the questions that matter most are practical: what does it cost,
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/ July 23, 2026
The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden traces its roots back to 1902, when a donated white-tailed deer at Wheeler Park sparked what became the first zoo in the American Southwest. After a devastating 1923 flood destroyed much of the original Wheeler Park collection, the
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/ July 23, 2026
The Tulsa Zoo sits on 124 acres inside Mohawk Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has been introducing visitors to wildlife from around the world since it opened in 1927. Owned by the City of Tulsa and privately managed by the nonprofit Tulsa Zoo Management, Inc.
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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
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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
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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
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/ 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
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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
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/ 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
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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
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/ 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
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/ 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
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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
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/ 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,
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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
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/ 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
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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
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