October 17, 2022

DENVER ZOO

2300 Steele St, Denver, CO 80205

“Denver Zoo is an 80-acre zoological garden located in City Park of Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1896, it is owned by the City and County of Denver and funded in part by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. It is the most visited paid attraction in the Denver metropolitan area.” - Wikipedia

Let today’s experience serve as a lesson for me, when planning on going to a zoo check the local school calendar to see if school is in session or not.  Today the Denver schools were on Fall Break, therefore several families and school-age young people decided to visit the same day I did.  Fortunately, I went in the afternoon, and most of the families with young children were on their way out as I was coming in.

The Denver Zoo is a large zoo that is very well laid out in a large oval which made navigating the zoo very easy.  There was a large and diverse collection of animals from all over the world.  Having visited several zoos in the past year, it is getting harder to find animals that I haven’t seen at other zoos, but Denver introduced me to the Malayan Tapir and several reptiles and birds.  The animals seemed to be very active, probably because of the beautiful 60° temperatures, but also because I saw several right after feeding time.  My standouts at this zoo, besides the Tapir, were the Gorillas, the Komodo Dragon, the Przewalski’s Horses, and the Hooded Capuchin monkeys.  I saw three babies, an adorable Golden Lion Tamarin, a Southern Gerenuk, and a young East African Crowned Crane.

When I return to Denver, I will visit the zoo again.It appeared they are making some improvements, because I enjoyed the experience, despite the crowd due to school being on break.