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 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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/ 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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/ 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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/ 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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/ 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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/ 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
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/ 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
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/ 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,
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/ 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
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/ 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,
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/ 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
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/ July 16, 2026
The Philadelphia Zoo holds the distinction of being America’s first zoo, chartered by the Zoological Society of Philadelphia in 1859 and finally opening its gates on July 1, 1874, after the Civil War delayed construction. More than 3,000 visitors turned out on opening day to
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/ July 16, 2026
Woodland Park Zoo sits in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood, occupying 92 acres that once formed part of a private estate belonging to lumber mill owner Guy C. Phinney. After Phinney’s death, his widow sold the 188-acre Woodland Park to the City of Seattle in 1899,
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/ July 15, 2026
The Oregon Zoo sits in Portland’s Washington Park, just two miles southwest of downtown, and holds the distinction of being the oldest zoo west of the Mississippi River, tracing its roots back to 1888. Owned and operated by the regional government Metro since 1976, the
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/ July 15, 2026
Denver Zoo has been a City Park fixture since a single donated black bear cub arrived in 1896 — and in 2026 the zoo is marking its 130th anniversary. Today it’s an 80-acre campus, home to more than 2,500 animals across roughly 450 species, and
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