Top Ten Zoos In the Southeast

It is my birthday today and one of my favorite things on this earth are countdowns and countdown shows. Because of that I decided that I would do a countdown of the top 10 zoos in the southeast. We live in Florida and I grew up in Virginia so the majority of the zoos I have been to are in the southeast. For purposes of this assignment we will call the southeast anything south of Baltimore on the east coast.

Add in Maryland and take out the non coastal states and then this map is where we are going off. MD, DC, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL. We will count theme parks and aquariums as part of this countdown. Unfortunately if we have not been to the zoo it can not be included on the countdown.

10) Florida Aquarium, Tampa, FL
Review to come soon. Visit in 2011.

9) National Aquarium, Baltimore, MD
Review here

Main Tank at the National Aquarium

8) National Zoo, Washington DC
Review Here

The biggest draw at the National Zoo, their Giant Panda Exhibit. Well other than the fact that it is free!

7) Sea World, Orlando, FL
Review coming soon. Trying to wait for a return visit to get an updated review before posting.

Shamu

6) Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa, FL
Review Here

Penguin Feeding at Lowry Park Zoo

5) Jacksonville Zoo, Jacksonville, FL
I've been to this zoo many times in the past, but Jenna and I just went together last week. Our review is coming very soon.

4) Maryland Zoo, Baltimore, MD
Review Here.

Arctic Fox @ Maryland Zoo

3) Busch Gardens, Tampa, FL
Review posted 3 days ago. Click on the FL tab for more on Busch Gardens Tampa.

This picture was not in the review. It is a Gorilla napping @ Busch Gardens Tampa.

2) Disney's Animal Kingdom, Kissimmee, FL
Review Here

Tree of Life @ Disney's Animal Kingdom

And the number one animal attraction in the southeast is.....
Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Full Review Here

They had close views of my favorite the Rhino!

They also had a baby komodo dragon feeding when we went.

Zoo Atlanta is very deserving of #1. It was so close between it and Animal Kingdom though.

However, if this was talking about each park and not just the animal portion, I would go with Busch Gardens Tampa. I suggest you check out all of these places if you can!

Let us know if you think we missed anything or if we need to check another zoo out. Also if you have different rankings please share.

-Noland

Zoo Atlanta

Zoo Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia

Date of Visit: July 2, 2011

Highlights: So first off, I LOVE this zoo. We got through it in half a day but you could definitely spend the whole day there! They have an amazing "African" area and "Asian" area! The animals are all awesome! There are some spots where you can't see certain animals, but there are so many viewing decks, you could probably move somewhere and get a view of them! We went to the Snake feeding.. its kind of a casual show where you go from cage to cage watching the crazy zoo keeper feed the snakes.. Um WOW.. This was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The snakes launch at the food and attack it like prey. Its crazy cool. If you go here, you have to check it out! We also got to see the feeding of the baby Komodo Dragon.. Very cool!

Pictures:

entrance

Elephant! 

Another Elephant!

warthog in the mud.. There were also baby warthogs but I didn't get a great picture.

This one just looked so chill.

rhino

here is a different shot of him

giraffe and ostrich

largest flightless bird

otters!

Red Panda - member of the Raccoon Family

Gorilla & baby

gorilla & baby

another gorilla

Momma & Baby Panda Bears

kangaroos! I've never seen them until these ones! so cute! 

This was the baby komodo dragon.. 

The picture is foggy but he was moving so fast!

And here we are! 

Disappointments: Honestly, the only one I can say is that the big Komodo Dragon was hiding! Komodo Dragons are our favorite.. but other than that, WE LOVED THIS ZOO! 

We gave it a 5 out of 5!

That's all for now! 

Leave a comment or your opinion if you have been to Atlanta Zoo!

♥ jen