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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/ August 16, 2026
Chimelong Spaceship is the current holder of the Guinness World Record for the largest aquarium on Earth. Opened to the public in September 2023 on Hengqin Island in Zhuhai, China, the spaceship-shaped megastructure holds a certified 75,350,969 litres of water — nearly twice the volume…
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/ August 16, 2026
Wrocław Zoo is the oldest zoo in Poland — and, by number of animals and species, also its largest. It first opened on July 10, 1865, as the Breslau Zoological Garden, when the city was part of Prussia, with a grand ceremony complete with fireworks…
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/ August 16, 2026
Hanover Zoo — officially the Erlebnis-Zoo Hannover, or ‘Adventure Zoo’ — was established on May 4, 1865, making it the fifth-oldest zoo in Germany and one of the oldest zoos in the world still operating. After one of the rockiest histories of any major zoo…
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tz
/ August 16, 2026
The Moscow Zoo opened on January 31, 1864, which makes it the oldest zoo in Russia and one of the oldest zoos in the world still operating. From a modest menagerie founded by university professors, it has grown into one of the largest zoos in…
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tz
/ August 16, 2026
Dresden Zoo (Zoo Dresden) opened its gates on May 9, 1861, on the southern edge of the Großer Garten, the vast park at the heart of the Saxon capital. That makes it the fourth-oldest zoo in Germany and one of the oldest zoos in the…
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tz
/ August 16, 2026
Cologne Zoo (Kölner Zoo) has been part of life on the Rhine since 1860, making it the third-oldest zoo in Germany and one of the oldest zoos in the world still operating. Today the zoo, with its attached aquarium and invertebrate exhibit, keeps more than…
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tz
/ August 16, 2026
Thiruvananthapuram Zoo (also known as Trivandrum Zoo) in the capital of Kerala is one of the oldest zoos in India — and one of the oldest anywhere in Asia. A zoo and public park were opened here in 1859 to draw more visitors to the…
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/ August 16, 2026
Antwerp Zoo (ZOO Antwerpen) was established on 21 July 1843, making it the oldest animal park in Belgium and one of the oldest zoos anywhere. Its location could hardly be more dramatic: the ornate entrance sits directly beside Antwerpen-Centraal, the cathedral-like railway station in the…
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/ August 16, 2026
Copenhagen Zoo was founded in 1859 by the ornithologist Niels Kjærbølling, who was granted a princess’s former summer garden on Frederiksberg hill to house his collection. More than 165 years later it is the most visited zoo in Denmark and one of the country’s most…
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/ August 16, 2026
Frankfurt Zoological Garden opened in 1858, making it the second-oldest zoo in Germany after Berlin. It sits in the Ostend district close to the city centre, packing more than 4,500 animals of over 510 species into about 11 hectares. Its age alone earns it a…
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/ August 16, 2026
Diergaarde Blijdorp — Rotterdam Zoo — was founded on 18 May 1857 as the Rotterdamsche Diergaarde, a Victorian-era garden in the middle of the city. Yet the zoo you visit today is also a 20th-century landmark: in 1940 it moved to the Blijdorp district and…
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/ August 16, 2026
Dublin Zoo opened its gates in Phoenix Park on 1 September 1831, a year after the Royal Zoological Society of Dublin was founded at a meeting in the Rotunda Hospital in May 1830. The grounds were laid out by Decimus Burton, the celebrated architect who…
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/ August 16, 2026
The Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes opened on 11 December 1794 inside Paris’s famous botanical garden, making it the second-oldest zoological garden in the world — only Vienna’s Tiergarten Schönbrunn is older. It was created in the turmoil of the French Revolution, largely stocked with…
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tz
/ August 16, 2026
This list ranks the 25 largest aquariums in the world by total water volume — the standard measure for comparing them — covering facilities open to the public as of August 2026, with every figure checked against current sources. Where totals effectively tie, the aquarium…
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/ August 16, 2026
The Oregon Coast Aquarium sits along Yaquina Bay in Newport, Oregon, where it has introduced visitors to the marine life of the Pacific Northwest since opening on May 23, 1992. Spread across 23 acres, the AZA-accredited facility blends indoor galleries with outdoor habitats that mirror…
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/ August 16, 2026
Lahore Zoo, on Mall Road in Lahore, Punjab, was established in 1872 and is one of the largest zoos in Pakistan — and by founding date one of the oldest zoos anywhere in the world. It began as a small aviary donated by Lala Mela…
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tz
/ August 16, 2026
The Mulhouse Zoological & Botanical Park (Parc Zoologique et Botanique de Mulhouse) was created in 1868 by a group of philanthropist industrialists led by Charles Thierry-Mieg, on the wooded Rebberg heights at the edge of the Tannenwald forest in Alsace, France. More than 150 years…
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tz
/ August 16, 2026
Shark Reef Aquarium sits inside Mandalay Bay resort on the Las Vegas Strip, giving visitors a walk-through look at one of the largest collections of sharks in the United States. Opened on June 20, 2000, after a $40 million construction investment, the 105,000-square-foot facility was…
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/ August 16, 2026
The Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden (Fővárosi Állat- és Növénykert) opened on 9 August 1866, making it the oldest zoo in Hungary and one of the oldest in the world. Uniquely for a major zoo, it sits inside the City Park in the very center…
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tz
/ August 16, 2026
Karlsruhe Zoo — formally the Zoologischer Stadtgarten Karlsruhe — opened in 1865, making it one of the oldest zoos in Germany. It is an unusual hybrid: a zoo and a landscaped city garden fused into one enclosed park in the heart of Karlsruhe, stretching between…
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