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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/ September 4, 2026
The Maui Ocean Center opened on March 13, 1998, in Maalaea Harbor on Maui’s south shore, quickly establishing itself as one of Hawaii’s premier marine attractions. Operated by Coral World International, the facility set itself apart from typical aquariums with a singular focus: every creature…
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tz
/ September 4, 2026
The Waikīkī Aquarium sits on a slice of shoreline in Honolulu’s Kapiʻolani Park, where it has introduced visitors to the marine life of Hawaii and the tropical Pacific since March 19, 1904. Originally built by the Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company to draw riders…
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tz
/ September 3, 2026
The largest zoo in the world isn’t in Africa or California — it’s in Cumberland, Ohio. The Wilds covers 9,154 acres of reclaimed strip-mine land turned rolling savanna, where rhinos, giraffes, wild horses, and dozens of other species roam pastures measured in square miles. Operated…
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tz
/ September 3, 2026
Beneath Brighton’s seafront sits the oldest operating aquarium in the world. Opened in 1872, the Brighton Aquarium was a Victorian sensation — and a century and a half later it’s still showing fish on the very same spot, now under the SEA LIFE banner. The…
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tz
/ September 3, 2026
The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco rises straight out of a Mediterranean cliff face, a baroque stone palace inaugurated in 1910 by Prince Albert I — the ‘Navigator Prince’ who filled it with the finds of his pioneering research voyages. Its basement aquarium is one of…
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tz
/ September 3, 2026
Monarto Safari Park is Australia’s largest zoo — 3,700 acres of open-range country near Murray Bridge, South Australia, where lions, giraffes, rhinos, and cheetahs live in landscapes big enough to disappear into. Opened to the public in 1993 and run by the non-profit Zoos South…
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tz
/ September 3, 2026
The public aquarium is a Victorian invention that never went out of style. This list ranks the 20 oldest aquariums in the world that are still open to visitors in 2026, by the year they first admitted the public — each one verified as operating…
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tz
/ September 3, 2026
How big can a zoo get? Big enough that you tour it by safari truck and can’t see the far fence. This list ranks the 25 largest zoos and safari parks in the world by total land area in acres, using figures verified against each…
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/ September 3, 2026
Steinhart Aquarium opened its doors in Golden Gate Park on September 29, 1923, drawing more than 5,000 visitors on its very first day. Named for benefactor Ignatz Steinhart, it quickly became one of the country’s premier aquariums, earning early distinctions as the first public aquarium…
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tz
/ September 3, 2026
Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium sits next to the Bass Pro Shops flagship store in Springfield, Missouri, pairing a sprawling wildlife museum with a massive aquarium under one roof. Founded by Bass Pro Shops’ Johnny Morris and opened on September 22, 2017, the…
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tz
/ September 3, 2026
Australia Zoo sits in Beerwah, Queensland, on the Sunshine Coast, roughly an hour’s drive north of Brisbane. What began in 1970 as a small reptile park run by Bob and Lyn Irwin grew into one of the country’s best-known wildlife attractions after their son, Steve…
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tz
/ September 2, 2026
Werribee Open Range Zoo sits about 32 kilometers southwest of Melbourne in Werribee, Victoria, and gives visitors a rare chance to experience an African-style safari without leaving Australia. Operated by Zoos Victoria, the same organization behind Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary, the park opened in…
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tz
/ September 2, 2026
Night Safari is a 35-hectare (86-acre) wildlife park set within Singapore’s Mandai Wildlife Reserve, billed as the world’s first zoo dedicated entirely to nocturnal animals. It opened on 26 May 1994 and operates only after dark, welcoming guests daily from 6pm to midnight (last entry…
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tz
/ September 2, 2026
Taipei Zoo is Taiwan’s largest zoological park, spread across 165 hectares in the hills of Wenshan District at the southern edge of the capital. Originally founded in 1914 as Maruyama Zoo during the Japanese colonial era, the zoo relocated to its current Muzha site in…
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tz
/ September 2, 2026
Zoo Basel, affectionately nicknamed “Zolli” by locals, opened on July 3, 1874, making it the oldest zoo in Switzerland. Tucked into about 11 hectares in the heart of Basel, it has grown into the country’s largest zoo by animal population, drawing more than a million…
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tz
/ September 1, 2026
Kolmården Wildlife Park, known in Swedish as Kolmårdens Djurpark, opened on May 27, 1965, on a dramatic stretch of coastline overlooking Bråviken bay near Norrköping, Sweden. Conceived in 1962 as a project to help revive the local Kolmården Municipality, the park began with 210 animals…
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tz
/ September 1, 2026
Leipzig Zoo opened on June 9, 1878, in the German city of Leipzig and has grown into one of Europe’s most acclaimed zoological gardens. Spread across roughly 27 hectares (67 acres), it is consistently ranked as Germany’s top-rated zoo and often cited as Europe’s second-best…
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tz
/ August 31, 2026
ZooParc de Beauval is a sprawling zoological park in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, in France’s Centre-Val de Loire region, founded in 1980 by Françoise Delord and now run by her son Rodolphe Delord. Over four decades it has grown from a small bird park into one of the…
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tz
/ August 31, 2026
Hellabrunn Zoo sits on the banks of the Isar River in Munich, Germany, and first opened to the public on August 1, 1911. Financial troubles tied to the aftermath of World War I forced it to close in 1922, but it reopened on May 23…
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tz
/ August 31, 2026
Tierpark Berlin opened in 1955 in the Friedrichsfelde district of East Berlin, created as the divided city’s eastern counterpart to the Berlin Zoological Garden in the west. Built around the grounds of the 17th-century Friedrichsfelde Palace, the park was laid out using landscaping traditions dating…
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