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 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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/ 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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/ 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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/ 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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/ 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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/ 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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/ August 29, 2026
Pairi Daiza isn’t just one of Europe’s most acclaimed zoos — it’s also one of the biggest. Built on the grounds of a former 12th-century Cistercian abbey in Brugelette, Belgium, the park has grown steadily since it opened as a small bird garden in 1994…
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/ August 29, 2026
Bioparc Valencia opened in 2008 as a new-generation zoo built around a concept called “Zooimersion,” where visitors step into recreated African ecosystems rather than viewing animals from behind bars or fences. Owned by the City Council of Valencia and designed and managed by the Spanish…
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/ August 29, 2026
Loro Parque opened on December 17, 1972, in Puerto de la Cruz on the Spanish island of Tenerife, starting as a modest home for 150 parrots on just over an acre of land. More than five decades later it has grown into one of the…
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/ August 28, 2026
Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo, formally known as Natura Artis Magistra, is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands and one of the oldest zoos in the world still in operation. Founded in 1838 by three zoology enthusiasts nicknamed ‘the three Ws’ — Gerard Westerman, J.W.H. Werlemann…
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/ August 28, 2026
Knowsley Safari Park opened in July 1971 on the historic grounds of Knowsley Hall in Prescot, Merseyside, launched by Edward Stanley, 18th Earl of Derby, alongside circus impresario Jimmy Chipperfield. It became one of Britain’s pioneering drive-through wildlife reserves, letting visitors experience free-roaming animals from…
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/ August 28, 2026
Longleat Safari Park sits on the grounds of Longleat House in Wiltshire, England, and holds a unique place in wildlife tourism history: when it opened on April 5, 1966, it became the world’s first drive-through safari park outside Africa. The park was the brainchild of…
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/ August 27, 2026
Granby Zoo traces its roots back to 1944, when Pierre-Horace Boivin, the longtime mayor of Granby, Quebec, began assembling a small personal menagerie. That collection grew into an official zoo in 1953 after the local Notre Dame parish donated a 60-acre parcel of land to…
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/ August 27, 2026
Assiniboine Park Zoo has welcomed visitors to Winnipeg, Manitoba since 1904, growing from a small municipal menagerie into one of Canada’s most respected zoological facilities. Spread across roughly 80 acres in the western section of Assiniboine Park, the zoo is home to more than 160…
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/ 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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/ August 26, 2026
Como Park Zoo has been a fixture of Saint Paul, Minnesota since 1897, when it began with a gift of three deer to the city. What started as a small municipal animal collection inside Como Park has grown into one of the last free zoos…
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/ 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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/ 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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/ 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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/ August 25, 2026
Turtle Back Zoo sits on 20 acres inside South Mountain Reservation in West Orange, New Jersey, part of the Essex County Park System, the oldest county park system in the United States. What began in 1963 as a modest storybook-themed animal park with just 140…
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