San Antonio Zoo

Not a bad place at all kids enjoy it. Nice way to enjoy a day out not expensive. Just taking your time. Plan for weather gets hot.

Been 9 years since my last visit and it’s huge, clean and well laid out. Rhinos, giraffes, elephants were beautiful and healthy looking. Tons of photo ops. Nearby park was well manicured and the train ride is a must.

We enjoyed it very much! My three year old daughter loved it. Very clean, just alot of the vending spots were closed, need more open at least for drinks. Will come back soon.

We have been to the zoo twice. One was during a normal day, huge selection of animals and a lot of activities. Plenty of hands on activities for the kids. A wading area which was pretty neat. The carousel is gorgeous and the variety of animals to ride on is amazing.
Next we went to the zoo for their Christmas at the zoo function. They give you the impression that there are all these kid functions inside the zoo that come included in your ticket. Only to find out Every activity costs money, on top of what you pay for the ticket. We purchased the combination ticket it included a train ride, entrance into the zoo and a carousel ride. Despite the huge crowd of people everything seemed to go fast. Do not expect to see many animals out since the Christmas function takes place in the evening. The lights and decorations were beautiful, they even had fake snow!

This is a beautiful zoo! It’s been around for a while so some of the exhibits are more old-​school than others, but it’s been fun to see the evolution over time. The new African area with crocodiles and hippos is especially cool.
SA Zoo is open on year-​round, so it’s a great place to go on holidays when nothing else is open.

The SA Zoo is seriously one of the best I’ve seen in the world! I’ve been going since I was a kid, and I went for Zoo Lights last night… I hadn’t been in a long while and wow have they made a lot of upgrades and changes!
First of all, like them on Facebook… they are great about posting fun and interesting things. My fav is seeing the lion family being so dang cute… those 3 cubs are adorbs!
The Zoo is NOT supported by the city. It’s non-​profit and relies solely on donations and events. Look for plaques at each enclosure telling you what kind, generous individual/​company is supporting it. Tony Parker is a biiig donator/​lover of the zoo.
Zoo Lights is cool, I recommend checking it out for the festive lights, music, and it’s just different being in the zoo at night. Don’t expect to see many animals, though! Most are in bed or it’s too dark to see them in their enclosures. But, the zoo leaves their enclosures open in case they decide to come out. Zoo Lights is very kid friendly with different game booths and the carousel is lit up and running (additional charges). For the most part, all attendees were nice and considerate too… except this one dumb kid who was banging his hardest on the caracal’s glass… future serial killer, much?
The new giraffe enclosure is supposed to be amazing and interactive — you can feed the giraffes, BUT they’re still working with the giraffes to get them comfortable/​used to coming up to people. You can try at this point, but there are no guarantees.
Lucky, the lone elephant, has made national headlines for being alone at the SA Zoo when elephants are generally sociable animals. She’s old (been there over 50 years!) and doesn’t have the typical elephant temperament. She never ate onions until another elephant liked them, then she’d eat them all so he couldn’t have any! She has 4 caretakers to herself and they’ll put on a show to check her nails, ears, etc. She loves all the attention! Don’t pity her… she’s old and seems to want to die alone, spoiled and happy.
Get yourself to the zoo!

I went to the Inaugural Zoo Lights presentation. It was 100% disappointing and not worth any of the $ 49 admission price I paid for our family of four. The areas where they had lights were very limited. They should have had more areas open such as reptile house, etc. they needed many more lights and more well lit pathways, etc. very disappointing! Save both your time and money.

Zoo Lights was a hit! Long line to get in, 30 min wait, but worth it. Parking lot is dark, take a flashlight for safety.
Christmas light displays were absolutely beautiful! Snow feature is nice, Christmas music & s’mores were a hit, highly recommend!

Great grounds; however, the animals seems unhappy and poorly taken care of. I wouldn’t stay it is extremely dirty, but it isn’t the cleanest either.
The staff is nice and the walk around was great, but I felt bad for the animals.

I have to preface this by saying that I have literally traveled all over the world and visited zoos in several countries, and I actually really enjoy this one! It isn’t as world class as the San Diego Zoo, but it is much better than what many states have even in their most major cities.
I worked at this zoo a few years ago teaching summer camp, and I always used to hear complaints about how dry it looked and how the animals seemed like they didn’t have any water, grass, or shade; I sort of agreed. However, at the time of this visit, the zoo looked very lush and green, with plenty of water in the exhibits and some new, nice, cool areas for the animals to relax.
The old, lone lion female has been replaced with a beautiful family of 5, the tiger pair was stalking their enclosure, and the new giraffe feeding exhibit has opened up as with a family of 3 related giraffes. Interesting fact: the giraffes are all male, two half-​brothers and their father live together in the enclosure. The taller of the half-​brothers is only 6 months older than his brother, but he is much thinner, taller, and creamier since he is actually half Reticulated and half Rothschild’s, while the father and other brother are both full Reticulated Giraffes. I knew something was up with their very slight differences, but the employee looked surprised by my odd question about why!
The new Beastro and Merry-​go-​round area is beautiful, though it brought no new animal exhibit and could use the addition of a few nearby it. It also appears a lot of exhibits are being redone and animals have been moved around in the last few years. Viewing areas for the rhino and zebras are more convenient, but a few empty exhibits will hopefully be filled up. I didn’t see the hyenas or porcupines, but I didn’t make it all the way up the African hill past the giraffes because my toddler was cranky. Don’t forget about the aquarium (We did!) or the reptile house. The zoo seems small but there is actually quite a bit to see.
Speaking of toddlers, the kids area of the Zoo is just awesome. Lots of exhibits with low viewing areas for little ones and nice pathways for strollers. The creek for water play is deep for your smaller ones, so I wouldn’t recommend kiddos 2 and under be playing there without very close supervision, but there are lots of other great play opportunities around the Nature Spot. The zoo also seems pretty stroller friendly, albeit with some steep hills in the Africa area.
We didn’t eat at the zoo today, but next time we go I will update with a Beastro review! Prices have gone up with all the new additions. It is now $ 14 for adults and I believe $ 11 for seniors. We didn’t have to pay for the toddler so I didn’t notice the child prices. Definitely still worth the low entrance fee, and parking is free with a few other things nearby to check out too, so you can plan on spending the whole day out with your family!
My Unilocal rating system:
5 stars= Driving across town just for this!
4 stars= I would recommend visiting.
3 stars= Average, acceptable, positive.
2 stars= You might be able to drag me in.
1 star= I will definitely not be returning.

Lions and tigers and bears oh my! Haha!
We always have fun here. Plan your trip to the zoo in spring because the 100 degree weather in summer will ruin ur experience. Ride the train and take a picnic to the park.

After reading the reviews, I wasn’t interested in going because there were a lot of disappointed customers. My family and I still decided to go and there is a half off EARLY BIRD special for the months of July and August (go to zoo website), so we decided to give it a try. The zoo was fairly easy to navigate and there was a ton to do. I only expected to stay for a couple of hours but wound up staying there for 5 hours and we still didn’t see everything or ride the train! There are children’s areas that are inside and outside which were a blast for our two toddlers. There is a water area where they can get wet, but I didn’t think it looked sanitary so we didn’t let them play in the water. The animals seemed generally okay but its what to expect from going to a zoo and it was extremely hot. However, there are plenty of inside exhibits and shaded areas to cool off though.
There was some construction going on for a future giraffe feeding area and exhibit and what I found funny was that there were signs that described the different types of trucks and equipment used for building the exhibits. I’ve never seen that before and thought that added something different.
The negatives were the prices for food (4 bucks for a small bag of popcorn), and the charges for the carousel ($ 2.50 per ticket) and a separate charge for the butterfly garden ($ 1.50 per ticket). Overall we had a great time and will probably be back later in the year though, when it’s not as hot.

Took two little girls to the zoo yesterday and we had the most amazing day! First of all, we had printed coupons and arrived between 9−10AM, which got us a 50% off discount. The zoo was the most immaculate I’ve ever been to. It felt more like a tropical paradise, lots of shade, palm trees, flowers, beautiful bridges, plenty of water and the landscaping was absolutely breathtaking! I’ve been to two of the top rated zoos in the country and didn’t know what to expect coming here, I was so surprised! The new «Beastro» restaurant was large, spotless and had an amazing array of food choices. Whenever we passed by an employee, they were friendly and asked us if we needed any help. Customer service ranks high in my book.
As far as the animals are concerned: obviously, I do not love the fact that animals are kept in cages, tanks, gates, etc. With that said… We spent a full four hours at the zoo and from what I saw, every single animal had: plenty of shade, plenty of water, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and they were all being well taken care of by zoo employees. It is what it is I guess… If people have a huge problems with zoos in general, they probably shouldn’t go. We loved our day! :)

My husband and I took our 2 year old daughter to the zoo here in San Antonio. The man at the entry was very nice and helpful and very entertaining specially in this heat. Parking was far away from the entrance. It was very helpful for children under three to be free. I did see however that one of the baby bears, was panting in the sun with it’s tongue out he had no water and it was 104 degrees, you go next door and the adult bears had a lake. I took my daughter on the carousel, and it was very fun. Just don’t drink the water from the fountain, I filled my water bottle up and the water was white and smelled like bleach. Kudos for the military discounts.

This is a great zoo to visit if you live in the area or if you live in Austin where there isn’t a decent zoo. It’s definitely worth the drive from Austin to check it out. I didn’t do much research before visiting so I was pleasantly surprised by the size and number of exhibits available. You can definitely spend at least a couple of hours here without running out of things to do and see.

Went to see the hippos most of all since we’re from Houston. The zoo is nice some animals weren’t too active which I understand, it was like 100 degrees out. My only disappointment was not being able to see the giraffes, heard they’re enclosure is not going to be done till November. Ridiculous prices on all the drinks inside the zoo which was expected. Over all decent trip… The carousel by the way was excellent the ride could of been longer but mehh. It is what it is…

Made the drive from Austin to San Antonio to see the zoo. I liked the app and that we could pay for our tickets and fun passes ahead of time. The reptile exhibit was one of the best we had seen. We also enjoyed the butterfly enclosure. It was very nice and well maintained.
Many of the enclosures are small and I was kind of sad for the animals. The elephant enclosure was really small. She was alone. We enjoyed the carousel a lot. My daughter ride it multiple times.
The train ride was also fun but the conductor was trying to be funny and he missed a huge opportunity to talk about the history of San Antonio and the zoo. I would have liked my daughter to learn more about that than cracking jokes about dinosaurs and the surrounding construction.

With young kiddos in tow, my family has this «thing» where we HAVE to try new zoos whenever we are traveling to new cities. San Antonio was no different. We came into town over Spring Break, with the intentions of heading to Sea World. We absolutely did that, however, this is the review for the Zoo.
We arrived at the zoo about an hour after it opening on a Wednesday morning. The lines were not bad at all, although their were quite a good amount of people there (especially for a weekday morning. must have been because of spring break.) The prices were not too bad. I would recommend though, if you are a San Antonio resident or a regular at this particular zoo, go ahead and purchase the annual membership. You will save money after just a handful of visits.
Once inside the front gate, we were a little confused on where to start. They have an employee posted up with a message board listing all of the shows and events going on at the Zoo for that day. He also has zoo maps to give out, and willingly answers any questions you may have. After speaking with him for a moment, we gathered our bearings, and got on our way.
The animal exhibits were really nice. San Antonio Zoo is one that I have heard bad things about in the past, however, I received a good impression. The exhibit sizes seemed quite large compared to other zoos we have visited, and of course the customer experience was on point. One thing that I really liked was that this zoo made the most of their available space. Many zoos I have visited has a lot of dead space, meaning nothing to look at in between the spaced out exhibits. The San Antonio Zoo was not so. They have done a great job organizing the enclosures so that not only do you always have animals within sight, but they have also grouped the enclosures so that the Bears are with the Bears, Reptiles with Reptiles, etc… The also have broken things down even further as to group animals by the Region they are from. It was very well done. One thing that did bother me, however, is that they have several exhibits that prohibit strollers. That kind of threw me a little, especially since the majority of their patrons have strollers in tow. Anyway…
We enjoyed lunch at the Restaurant there within the zoo. Although their are many different snack vendors (selling the typical popcorn, funnel cakes, and stuff like that), there was only the one restaurant. This caused for a major backup within that restaurant for about the two hours before and after noon. The food was not bad at all, however, not quite worth the hour and some change wait we endured to order and receive it. One or two more restaurants within the zoo would definitely make the day run smoother, and would be a win-​win for everyone.
The restrooms within the zoo were very clean. My wife (the ULTIMATE restroom critic) did not come out throwing a fit, so the ladies room must be on point as well. Props to the zoo for maintaining that cleanliness. The only thing is that they should maybe add one or two more children friendly restrooms, with changing tables and those smaller stalls. After all, the majority of the zoo visitors are children.
The two things that we are really going to remember are the «Feed the Lory» exhibit, and the massive Carousel.
The «Feed the Lory» exhibit was really cool. They have a table set up, and for $ 0.50 you can purchase a small container of (whichever they were feeding the Lory’s at that time). After getting your bird snacks, you enter the enclosure. The Lory’s swarm to you, landing on your arms, shoulders, and head. They don’t hurt when they land on you, and they only want you to feed them. My 3 year old son finally got the courage to feed them himself, and he had a blast!
The Carousel is really neat! It was MASSIVE! The tickets were really cheap, so I bought a handful. Enough for both boys and my wife to enjoy several rides.
The merchandise at the zoo was fairly expensive, however that was not a surprise. Just make sure that you confirm the sales (if any). Several of the shops within the zoo had different types of sales going on, on a variety of different items.
We will definitely check out this Zoo again next time we are in the area. We had a blast, and it makes for a nice day with the family!

3.5 star.
Came here with my friend, her husband and their 2 yr old son on thanksgiving day. I was very surprised that the zoo was actually open and there were quite a number of people here.
The zoo isn’t too big so it didn’t take us very long to visit each section to see all the animals. My highlight of the trip was probably watching the hippos being fed. That was deff very entertaining. Other than that, I wasn’t too impressed as I’ve been to some of the best zoos including the San Diego zoo so…
The zoo also has a restaurant. We had a small lunch there which was ok. I still think the admission is a bit high for a low key zoo like this. But kudos to them for opening all year round. Yes, you heard it right they open 365 days a year!!! Therefore a 3.5 star!

Spouse and I counted up and between us we have been to well over 25 zoos in three countries and close to a dozen states. .. and based on our past experience, we are delighted to give this zoo four stars. We spent four hours there this past Thursday, having a relaxing and relatively uncrowded visit.
The animals seem to be well cared for and comfortable, though I’d have been happier if some of the cages/​enclosures had been bigger. What particular caught our attention — indeed we stayed at the exhibit for 20+ minutes — was the scarlet ibis who were building their nests, mating and generally doing spring bird things. There were several dozen of these bright orange birds, clearly having formed a community and totally oblivious to two humans watching their intimate lives.
Overall, although we are not particularly «bird people,» we found ourselves enjoying the birds as much or more than the other exhibits. .. but then trying to see cats at 2 pm on a 90 degree day is guaranteed to give you an ongoing view of naps.
One of the four stars comes to the zoo for having electric scooters for rent, which made my lengthy visit possible. (Though at $ 25 + tax on top of the admission, it was a pretty steep, but necessary, «perk.)
What we missed was more information on the exhibit signs — not just what we were seeing and where they came from, but what about THIS particular creature. How long has it been with the zoo? Where did it come from? Where is its species in terms of safety or extinction? Providing this kind of educational information is, IMHO, part of the role of the zoo in the modern world. I would also have appreciated seeing some information about how the SAT zoo is participating (or is not) in the world wide zoo-​based efforts to combat species’ extinction.
Before I sign off, though, a shout out for Bernice (not correct spelling), the 22′ (or was it 28′) anaconda, who was obviously sleeping off her lunch. See photo which regrettably is misidentified — forgive me, Bernice!
PS The next time we go, I’m going to screw up my courage and ride on the carousel — the only challenge (besides trying to hoist myself onto a creature) will be deciding which animal I’ll mount. Right now I’m contemplating the Panda.