Big Cat Zoos in The America
One of the key draws to nearby wildlife parks is the presence of big cats in collections and cat zoo exhibits. Contrary to popular belief, the millions of visitors that zoos receive each year are not comprised of tourists from outside the area. In reality, tourists make up less than 10% of the patrons of American zoos! I must point out that Walt Disney World Resort and similar parks are an exception because they are popular tourist destinations. Disney also runs Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which is the biggest animal tourism attraction in the world.
For many of us, the primary motivation for driving to our local zoo is an enticing curiosity about larger, more powerful, and better-hunting species than ourselves. The enormous teeth and claws that big cats and feline shows give pierce deeply into us, awakening a nearly primordial part of ourselves. This article aims to assist big cat and feline fans in realizing their ambition of seeing the top ten exotic cat shows in the United States.
Details on each of the top 10 big cat zoos in the US can be found below. For each of them, I’ve included information about their exotic cat exhibits, phone numbers, and websites.
Top 10 Big Cat Zoos in the USA
- Cincinnati Zoo: The Greatest Big Cat Collection and Show in America!
- Memphis Zoo
- Bronx Zoo
- Utah’s Hogle Zoo
- San Diego Zoo
- Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo
- Philadelphia Zoo
- Rio Grande Zoo
- Oklahoma City Zoo
- Denver Zoos
Cincinnati Cat Zoo:
The second-oldest zoo in the country, the Cincinnati Zoo opened its doors in 1875 and is regularly rated as one of the best in the country. It’s so good that three of its buildings have been named National Historic Landmarks, which means you can take some of the best architectural and cat photos.
Additionally, the zoo has long been a pioneer in the field of breeding threatened species. Right within the zoo grounds, the Center for reproductive of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) conducts research and uses cutting-edge reproductive techniques. It is definitely worth going!
Cincinnati’s Feline Collection:
Numerous tiny cats that are critically endangered worldwide call this Cat Zoo home. The facility is surrounded by mesh-covered outside enclosures, and each indoor habitat has magnificent mural backdrops that depict the cats’ native places along with realistic rock work. It’s home to Pumas, Pallas’ cats, clouded leopards, and Siberian lynx. The Cat House at this cat zoo offers visitors a glimpse of the incredibly prosperous spotted ocelot and gorgeous cat breeding program.
Tiger Canyon features white Bengal tigers and Malaysian tigers spread throughout a network of grassy slopes. A lengthy, elevated platform winds its way through Siegfried & Roy’s White Lions of Timbavati. These lions are noticeably lighter in color than they actually are. Cincinnati’s lions are owned by Vegas performers Siegfried and Roy, while a colony of white tigers has recently been found in South Africa. There’s plenty of space for the lions in this large exhibit, but they usually rest on a series of tier-like wooden platforms.
Memphis cat Zoo:
With its exquisite Egyptian-style entry complex, Memphis’ Zoo honors its name, which is derived from an ancient Egyptian city. However, this park offers much than just Egypt. The tributes to Indonesia, China, and the Pacific Northwest of America are full of stunning locations. It might even be worthwhile to take some striking pictures of the enormous pandas, Ya Ya and Le Le, en route to Cat Country!
Memphis’s Feline Collection:
Cat Country features ten distinct cats from three continents, typically positioned in opposition to their typical prey. Spotted and clouded leopards can be seen through thin, high-tension wire in the Asian region. A pair of Bengal tigers, including the endangered white tiger, are cruising the ancient city ruins and a cascading waterfall across a water moat. There are pumas, Latin American jaguars, and leopards further down the trail. Caracal lynx, fennec fox, and smaller ocelots reside in the vicinity. Wide-open savannas used by lions and cheetahs follow these habitats. Klipspringer antelope and meerkats, their natural prey, live in adjacent (but distinct) rock outcroppings called kopjes.
Bronx Cat Zoo:
Given that New York City is by far the largest city in the United States, it is not surprising that the Bronx Zoo is the largest metropolitan zoo in the country. Situated in the northernmost borough of the city, the Bronx, it spans 264 acres. It may be challenging for tourists to see the vast facility in a single day, even while this provides the zoo’s animal occupants acres of space to wander and enjoy. How could a photographer ever decide where to start shooting when there are over 500 different species on exhibit?
The Bronx’s Feline Collection:
Visitors can reach the Russian Far East, home of the largest cats in the world, the Siberian (also known as Amur) tigers, by using a woodland route at Tiger Mountain’s entrance. A half-dozen breathtaking tigers roam their three-acre green forest, and guests can observe them from the comfort of two glass-walled pavilions. They may also dip into their very own Tiger Swimming Hole. Visitors are educated about everything tiger, including the need to prevent tiger extinction, by graphics and cultural items located throughout the meandering walk leading to and from the pavilions.
Utah’s Hogle Cat Zoo:
A photographer’s paradise is Hogle Zoo. Photographs taken in the zoo, which is situated in the stunning Emigration Canyon on Salt Lake City’s east side, are very excellent and have a natural feel because the canyon and gorgeous mountains in the distance.
Hogle’s Feline Collection:
Hemisphere-dwelling cats such as Amur tigers, snow leopards, Amur leopards, Pallas’ cats, and Siberian lynxes are on display year-round in Salt Lake City because of the city’s similar seasonal environment to their home. Large, open ecosystems with rocky hillsides, sparse evergreen trees, waterfalls, and realistic log dens are home to the big cats (lions and leopards).
San Diego Cat Zoo:
With its fascinating wildlife, botanical gardens, and Big Cat Overlook, the Kilimanjaro Safari Walk offers the best picture chances here for the photographer who isn’t scared of a little exertion.
San Diego’s Feline Collection:
Big Cat Overlook is one of two overlooks onto a large valley that is home to one white Bengal tiger and two Sumatran tigers. Next to the African flamingos is the cheetah exhibit, which you won’t want to miss. Not a sight that everyone gets to witness in person, the cheetah exhibit is large enough for the sleek cats to display their amazing speed!
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo:
A collection of exhibits created by the Henry Doorly Zoo is always the biggest and best of its kind. A concerted attempt is made to minimize the amount of space that separates the animals from the spectators in the most recent exhibits. Because of its meticulous attention to aesthetics, the zoo was featured in the widely read book 1,000 Places to See in the United States and Canada Before You Die. It makes sense that the Henry Doorly Zoo receives more visitors than any other tourist destination between Chicago and Denver!
Doorly’s Feline Collection:
The Cat Complex, with its 37,000 square feet of indoor space, is the biggest feline enclosure in North America. Although the building is getting older, its collection is still rather remarkable. Within the zoo industry, Omaha is well-known for having a sizable tiger collection. This indoor/outdoor exhibit features Amur, Malaysian, and orange and white Bengal tigers.
Philadelphia Cat Zoo:
Big Cat Falls, the 2007 winner of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Exhibit of the Year award, is a well-known exhibit that is well worth viewing. The massive cat display is divided into five yards, each with native vegetation from a separate cat’s home nation, as opposed to spanning enormous moats. Floor to ceiling glass windows line the show.
Philly’s Feline Collection:
A prominent exhibit worth seeing is Big Cat Falls, which won the 2007 Exhibit of the Year award from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Rather of spanning vast moats, the large cat display consists of five yards, each featuring natural plants from the home country of a different cat. The exhibit is lined with floor to ceiling glass windows.
There are Amur and snow leopards at the zoo, along with lions, tigers, pumas, and a stunning black jaguar. The jaguar and tiger yards feature heated pools that make it easy for these water-loving big animals to cool down all year long. Often spotted relaxing close to a line of termite mounds, the white lions are a huge attraction for tourists.
Rio Grande Cat Zoo:
Situated within the Albuquerque Biological Park, the Rio Grande Zoo boasts stunning rock formations, eye-catching waterfalls, pueblo-style structures, and animal sculptures encircled by visually appealing displays. Named after the river that flows through the center of New Mexico is the zoo.
Rio Grande’s Feline Collection:
A varied collection of large and small cats can be seen up close by visitors on the covered Cat Walk. After coming across African lions, you will also come across servals, bobcats, snow leopards, ocelots, jaguars, and mountain lions, in addition to other wildlife.
Oklahoma Cat zoo:
This zoo updated its small and antiquated collection by remodeling it in 2007. The Oklahoma Zoo expanded its animal collections and added naturalistic settings to its exhibits over the course of seventeen years, made possible by the approval of an eighth-of-a-cent sales tax in 1990. The more than a century-old Oklahoma City Zoo is now the most popular tourist destination in the state thanks to its updated architecture and commitment to the “ABCs of the animal kingdom”—apes, bears, and cats.
Oklahoma’s Feline Collection:
Nine different feline species are on exhibit in four acres of roomy, realistic settings at Cat Forest. Outside the Small Cat building, servals, ocelots, and jaguars have individual tiers of habitat protected in nets. Black-footed cats and caracal lynx, which live in the desert, are on display in glass-fronted homes inside. Viewed from two sides through dense forests is the outdoor enclosure housing the elusive snow leopards that borders Zoo Lake.
Additional displays feature Sumatran tigers, Fishing Cats, tigers, and the remarkable big cat contribution, Lion Overlook. Almost certainly, you will spot a magnificent lion sleeping atop a high rocky crag. enormous, covered windows allow visitors to see these enormous cats.
Denver Cat Zoo:
Western United States’ second-oldest zoo is the Denver Zoo. The country’s oldest realistic, bar-free exhibit has been Bear Mountain at the zoo since it opened in 1896. The zoo is lots of lovely, open grounds, just like its home state. Attracting over 1.7 million visitors annually, this zoo is the most well-known among those between California and Chicago.
Denver’s Feline Collection:
One of the best lion exhibitions anywhere may be found at Predator Ridge, which is located right inside the zoo entrance. This is a recreation of a section of Kenya’s Samburu National Park, expertly designed to resemble a kopje. Wild dogs, two prides of lions, and spotted hyenas trade places in their respective habitats.
These sophisticated carnivores receive a great deal of cerebral stimulation from the variety of surroundings and scents of the other occupants who have passed through. Visitors may readily observe the mothers and young lion pups in a different habitat.
FAQS
Why do cats get the zoo?
When you go home late, after a poop, when something exciting happens, or when you return, dogs could get the zoomies. Similar causes can cause cats to acquire zoomies; play or pent-up energy are the most prevalent times for cats to suffer FRAP. Once they’ve used the litter pan, some cats might walk around the home.
How many cats are in zoos?
At least 7,500 big cats are kept in zoos that are accredited, which makes up 15% of all zoos worldwide. Between 5,000 and 10,000 tigers may be found in roadside zoos and private collections in the United States alone.
What is special about cats?
The number of neurons in the cerebral cortex of cats is almost double that of dogs. Of all mammals, cats have the largest eyes in relation to the size of their heads. When they move about, cats don’t create a lot of noise. They may ambush you or their victim with stealth thanks to the plush, thick pads on their paws!
What is the purpose of wild cats?
Being carnivores, wildcats hunt rabbits and other small mammals, which makes them vital to the environment. This plays a significant ecological role in regulating the quantity of small and medium-sized prey items.
Conclusion
An enclosure housing captive animal that are on public exhibit is called a zoo. The term “zoological park” is shortened to “zoo.” Numerous native species of animals from all over the world can be found in zoos.
Here is a list of the top ten cat zoos in the US. My aim is to provide you with as much support as I can. Please contact us using the information on this website if you have any questions. Greetings,