Home Animals Zoos Search Zoo Mall Contents Feedback
Welcome to The Good Zoo Guide Online (goodzoos.com), the essential guide to the best zoos, wildlife parks and animal collections on the planet
Now more than 200 Pages of Zoo Reviews and discussion - and growing with the help of Internet Zoo Critics from all around the world
And while you're here - check out our world famous 'Zoo Noticeboard'  Can you help zoos and animal lovers from around the world with their zoo enquiries?

wpe73.gif (2084 bytes)

goodzoos logo.gif (3461 bytes)

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanic Garden

Address 3400 Vine Street Cincinnati
Telephone
How to Find it: From I-74 Go East to I-75 North Take I-75 North to Mitchell Avenue exit #6 Turn right onto Mitchell Avenue Turn right onto Vine Street Turn left onto Forest Avenue Turn right onto Dury Avenue The Auto Entrance is on the right From I-75 Northbound (From Kentucky, Downtown Cincinnati, etc) Take Mitchell Avenue exit #6 Turn right onto Mitchell Avenue Turn right onto Vine Street Turn left onto Forest Avenue Turn right onto Dury Avenue The Auto Entrance is on the right From I-75 Southbound (From Dayton, Fairfield, Norwood, etc) Take Mitchell Avenue exit#6 Turn left onto Mitchell Avenue Turn right onto Vine Street Turn left onto Forest Avenue Turn right onto Dury Avenue The Auto Entrance is on the right From I-71 Northbound (From Kentucky, Downtown Cincinnati, etc) Take the Dana Avenue exit At exit ramp light, turn left onto Duck Creek At 2nd light, turn left onto Dana Avenue Turn left onto Victory Parkway At 2nd street on right, turn right onto Rockdale Avenue Follow Rockdale as it changes names to Forest Avenue Turn left onto Dury Avenue The Auto Entrance is on the right From I-71 Southbound (From Columbus, Mason, etc) Take the Dana Avenue exit Turn right onto Dana Avenue Turn left onto Victory Parkway At 2nd street on right, turn right onto Rockdale Avenue Follow Rockdale as it changes names to Forest Avenue Turn left onto Dury Avenue The Auto Entrance is on right
Open: Winter 9-4, Summer 9-5
Prices:
Area: 70 Acres
No of Species No of Animals Star Rating
Mammals Conservation
Birds Enclosures
Reptiles Education
Amphibians Recreation
Fish Research
Total 0 0
Click here for a Link to the Zoo’s own Web Pages
Write a review of this zoo
This critique last updated:  Feb 2008


Visitor Reviews

No reviews submitted – be the first

GoodZoos.com Reviews

Cincinnati Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in the USA. It opened its gates to the public in 1875 and predates all but the Philadelphia Zoo which opened a year before. It holds the unhappy record of having been home to the last ever Passenger Pigeon and the last ever Carolina Parakeet, and for this reason alone a visit to Cincinnati Zoo should be an essential pilgrimage for any conservationist. Martha, the last know Passenger Pigeon, died here in 1914. Her final home has become a memorial. It is a quiet museum in among the bustling pathways of the zoo. A reflective place, marking man's ability to destroy the most abundant bird species on earth in the space of two generations. It should be compulsory for all politicians to visit.

But of course today's zoo is a far cry from the zoo of 1914. Today Cincinnati has a zoo that it can be justly proud of – a vibrant, busy, bright noisy zoo, famed now as much for its conservation work and research as for its entertainment value. Peacocks strut and call among the lush pathways. School parties swarm enthusiastically among the undergrowth. This is not a huge zoo, and does not demand a great deal of walking, yet there is a great deal to see. And the best parts, by far, are the newest. The award winning jungle trails, on the site of the old car parks, are quite simply superb, featuring jungle trails in among rain forest plants and trees where you'll encounter bonobos, orang utans, and lemurs. The indoor exhibits (Wings of the World, Manatee Springs, Insect World, and the Nocturnal House) are as good as you will find in any zoo anywhere – hat's off to the designers who have turned them into centres of exploration and adventure. Oh to be a child again and explore these places. And every time you emerge there is more to see – red pandas, gorillas, rhinos, white lions, gibbons, and a monkey island, and more.

But if you really know and love wildlife there is reason above all other why you will want to visit this zoo. Two names: Emi and Andalas. Who are they? They are two Sumatran (woolly) rhinoceroses – mother and child. Andalas was born at the zoo in September 2002 and her birth was a landmark achievement not only for veterinarian Dr Terry Roth and her team at Cincinnati, but for zoos worldwide and for this unique species in particular. This was an achievement that overshadows the birth of a giant panda, and it took over a century to achieve. You might travel the world and see many sights, many places, many creatures. But only in Cincinnati or in the impenetrable forests of South Asia will you see the unique and endearing sight of a mother Sumatran rhino and her calf.  Catch it while you can. And keep your photographs. You may show them to your grandchildren and boast that you saw Andalas, the first woolly rhino born in captivity, the beacon of hope for a hugely endangered species.

Like any zoo, there are parts of Cincinnati Zoo that disappoint. The bears should have more space, or should go. Some cat enclosures look too small and cats are showing stereotypic behaviour. So too is the polar bear. But this looks like a zoo with a clear handle on the future. A fantastic educational resource, and a strong force for conservation, and I'd bet that more changes are in the wings. I'd love Cincinnati to 'do a San Diego' and buy a thousand hectares out of town to develop a WiIldlife Park with loads more space. We travelled half way around the world to see Cincinnati Zoo just to see Emi and Andalas. It was worth it. We'd go again.

Review by Robert Schmidt August 2005

I have been a docent at Cincinnati Zoo for 27 years and I would like to correct your write up on Cincinnati Zoo. Emi is a Sumatran Rhino (or Hairy Rhino) NOT a Wooly Rhino which became extinct after the pleistocene. Emi had a MALE not female calf in September 2001 not 2002. Now she has a female calf named Suci who was born July 30, 2004.

 

[Find and Read a Review of the zoo you want to visit ] [Buy Books on Zoos and Wildlife[Zoo Animals] Home ] Up ]
[ About Zoos ]  [ News ]  [Conservation in Zoos ]   [Zoos and Education ]  [Zoos and Recreation ] [Zoos and Research ] [Are Zoos Cruel?]  [Sign our Visitor's Book]

Become an Internet Zoo Critic and contribute to a worldwide databank of knowledge on mammal and bird conservation. Click Here.

Editor: Jon Clarke    Research: John and Sue Ironmonger, Ray Heaton, and the readers of goodzoos.com   Illustrations by G.L.Grandy. Thanks to John Ironmonger for the original idea of GoodZoos.com.

Send mail to [email protected] with questions or comments about this web site.
Site monitored by Website Monitor
Last modified: