This is a rough one; I can’t give an unbiased review of the Denver Zoo. While it would be dishonest to call it the best zoo in the country, it is without a doubt *my* best zoo in the country.
The long and short of it is that if you come to Denver, you should absolutely check out the zoo. Even better, hit me up and assuming I’m available, I’ll come by and show you around, share some stories, and take you to the best photo spots. The space limitations handed down by the City of Denver have not been used as an excuse by zoo management; instead they’ve creatively the space they have to create a density of habitats where there’s always an animal nearby, but it never feels too crowded. The food is the by far the best I’ve had in any zoo, whether you’re at the cafeteria style grill, the food truck with its rotating menu of specials (all of which are delicious), or the bbq shack with its properly smoked meat. And if you want to engage on zoo stuff, the volunteers and staff love nothing more than sharing that passion.
Are there some disappointing things? Yeah, absolutely. But I know that the staff and management are actively working on turning each of the current disappointing things into amazing things in the future. Rudy the Rhino is beautiful, but his yard is poorly utilized. Our new tiger habitat is incredibly designed to be great for tigers at all stages of their life, but being new, there just aren’t the tigers needed to really show it off.
But that’s the case at every zoo. It just happens that when you know every inch of a place, the sour parts stand out a little more. The bright side of that, though, is that the highlights become even more amazing as you build a personal connection with each of these amazing animals, as you collect stories about each of them.
So yeah, I love this zoo. You should come visit it.
The Zootographer 