Gladys Porter Zoo

Having recently been at the San Diego zoo, I was prepared to be less than impressed with our sweet south Texas offering. And you know what? I was totally surprised and not at all underwhelmed. (We took my almost-​2 year old niece so that might have been part of it the fun — seeing it through a kids eyes.)
SD Zoo is about $ 50 per person. GP Zoo is $ 10. San Diego has trams and double deckers and super fancy signage. GP has none of that but you have a closer experience with the animals. San Diego checks your bag for extraneous drinks and food and then charges out the wazzoooo for their own. GP doesn’t, has extremely reasonable food prices and even has a piz-​zoo-​ria with beer.
We saw lions, tigers, bears (oh my), giraffes, a million monkeys, kangaroos, parrots, serval cats, a komodo dragon, tons of snakes, crocs, alligators, deer, oryx, zebra, antelopes, turtles, sea lions, flamingos, hippos, gorillas, porcupines, goats, horses, etc. They also have an aquarium with giant fish and a stingray «petting» pool. There’s a butterfly garden and a play area with boat and a water feature
It was a really fun day and the animals seem happy and healthy. A good deal for a day full of fun. I’d definitely recommend coming here — no matter what age you are. For anyone who has trouble walking, there are rentable wheelchairs and strollers for young ones. And there’s an app. Of course.

Nice small zoo worth the visit, I grew up with this zoo came back 35 years later still love it eat before you come.

This is was amazing today. We arrived at 11am and stayed till 3:40. To me, these are peak hot hours in south Texas and yet it was nice and cool all day. The San Antonio zoo can’t really compare to this one. The SA zoo has patches of shade here and there, you’ll pay $ 25 for yourself and your 6 yr old. Here, there were patches of sunlight, there was an abundance of shade and co sessions. I paid $ 10 for myself and my 6 yr old after finding an online coupon. Everything was great about this zoo.
***u gotta see the butterflies:)

LOVE this zoo!
I’ll admit that I’ve been spoiled by cosmopolitan living my whole life. I’ve been to great big city museums, aquariums, and zoo’s, but I have to give Gladys Porter some MAJOR props.
I’ve been to the Miami Metro zoo multiple times. It’s bigger than Gladys Porter, but that doesn’t mean it’s better.
Gladys Porter really does take the cake. It’s small, but very very well done. I was not just pleasantly surprised, but I was shocked at how great this zoo is. The jewel of the zoo is definitely the primate exhibit. I’ve never been able to interact with them like I did when I was there. The primates come right up to the window. They want to check you out as much as you want to check them out. There are many proud primate mommas who love to show off their babies to the crowd. I was just in awe at the interaction and closeness I got to have with them.
There are so many things to look at. Lions, reptiles, adorable little mammals, bats, fish, etc… You can even pet sting rays and feed giraffes! I would proudly take any big city friend to Gladys Porter Zoo. Can’t wait to go back for another visit.

I would not drive for this zoo. I would visit it if I was in the area. Its nice that you can get fairly up close and they have some rare animals. However, there are much better zoo’s out there.

I went to the Gladys Porter Zoo about a week ago (early January). On the way there, it was raining so I wasn’t sure if we would have a good time since most of the zoo is open and we might be caught in the rain. By the time we got there, the rain had stopped and the zoo was beautiful! Everything looked lush and green and even the animals seemed happier after the rain. The chimpanzees actually came over when they saw us and kind of sat by the window. There was a mother chimp with her baby and I guess she saw us watching, so she came over with her baby and sat by the glass. Another one had a plastic bottle with water in it which he used to blow bubbles in, every time a group of people walked by, he would go to where they were and show of his bubble blowing skills! The birds kept calling out when we went into the aviary and they were so colorful! It was interesting to see the Galapagos tortoises mating (I’ve never seen a tortoise mating before. definitely haven’t HEARD them before)! Overall it was a great experience. We spend about four hours there and didn’t even realize how fast the time went by! I think I had a better time because the weather was so nice (we usually go in the summer and it’s not so great to walk around in the heat). Definitely go here during the cooler seasons!
P. S. You get to touch the sting rays if you go to the aquarium!

We hadn’t been here in several years but really enjoyed how good this zoo is looking. There were so many animals out. Many areas look refreshed or new to me. It should be called the monkey zoo, so many different types here, all very entertaining. The aquarium area was my boys’ favorite, they loved being able to touch the stingrays. The gorillas were very interesting to watch, wish their area was larger and cleaner, though. There were so many tigers, and they happened to be awake, don’t think I have ever seen that many tigers in my life, even white tigers! Go in the winter or spring before it gets too hot. You can get your hand stamped and head out for lunch and go back in afterwards with ease.

While it’s not the biggest zoo, it was the best zoo I have ever been to. We went on a misty day and were the first to arrive. It was almost as if the animals were giving us VIP service. EVERY animal came running to the glass and put on a show for us.
Our faves: the White Tigers, The Orangutan and her baby that she brought out and right up to the window for us to see and the Gorilla.
I honestly wanted to go back the very next day!

This is one of those, unfortunately, old school zoos. Exotic animals with tiny enclosures pacing back and forth. Obviously miserable. I suppose that is what is inherently wrong with them in the first place but at least there have been a lot of improvements throughout the years to most zoos in the states. You certainly get closer to most of the animals than you would at the more humane locations. In fact, I easily could have stepped between the tiny fence surrounding the Galapagos tortoises and walked over to touch a living treasure. During our three hour visit we saw hardly any zoo employees that weren’t foolin’ with their cell phones or taking orders for hotdogs. Pretty dismal but only $ 10.00! Check this place out before someone gets their face eaten by a loose chimp or falls into the crocodile enclosure. Or it just gets shut down for giving you and the animals a bad case of the sads.

I absolutely love this zoo! If you have kids, it is worth buying the family membership card for the year. This gets you into this zoo and over 200 others free or at a discount around the US and there is a military discount. The best time to go, especially during the summer, is right when they open at 9am and during the week to beat the crowds. There is a weekly event for adults and children alike with all proceeds usually going towards the animals. For example, you can find a list of donation items on the website that you can bring on a certain weekday for Animal Enrichment Day, then stick around to see the animals enjoy your item that you gave them. So much fun and a great way to feel like a special part of your local zoo.

This zoo is a gem. It’s 10 bucks to get in. Supposedly there are discounted tickets at the farmers market across the street on Saturdays but we couldn’t find them. Anyway, it’s worth every bit of the $ 10. I have a world famous zoo in Saint Louis where I live and this one is just as good. Sure, their space is limited so they don’t have a wide selection of some of the biggest animals, but they make up for it in their setup. You can get really close to the animals here. We were inches away from orangatangs, peacocks were at our feet, and the enclosed herpatarium and Aussie exhibits were really cool. Plus, what zoo has a place where you can buy beer? This one.
We spent a few hours here on a day where going to the beach was out of the question. I’m so glad we came, and I plan to revisit next time I’m in the area.

This is a great zoo! I’m so happy it’s not too far from where I’m living now, otherwise I probably would not have heard of it. I’ll have to agree with the other people that commented: great gorilla exhibit! I’d say my all-​time favorite. If I shall return, I’ll probably spend hours just hanging out and watching the gorillas!
Visiting in the beginning of February after some rain on a cloudy day, the animals were more active and «happy» than I have ever witnessed zoo animals. This makes me very pleased. They had more than 2 orangutans now on an island (did they read the feedback on here and do something?).
If you ever get the chance to come down to the Brownsville area, do not pass up the opportunity to check out this zoo!

I’ve been wanting to visit the zoo the last few times we were in Brownsville and finally this last trip we did. And we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day. Warm, but not hot… good turnout, but not slammed.
I was pretty impressed with the amount of animals and how well kept the entire zoo was. There were also several new exhibits that will be open by summer, meaning I’ll have to go back next time I’m in town. :)
Overall…this place has monkeys! Need I say more?

Great zoo! We had a blast!

My kid love zoos so I have been to a lot of them and this is one of the best. It’s about 30 acers and has over 400 species of animals.
The admission fees are inexpensive and the annual membership is worth the low cost if you are going to the zoo multiple times in a year or visit other participating zoos for free admission or discounts.
The zoo train is popular and about $ 2/​rider and one of the newer attractions to the zoo is a park with some water play areas are really nice to cool off on a hot day in Brownsville.
This is a great family spot in Brownsville and since I buy an annual membership my cost per trip is close enough to free that we can go often and enjoy preferred parking.

Great zoo! If you’ve not been recently, be sure to take the «train» for a good overview of the zoo for $ 2/​person. New exhibits coming soon!