This Ohio zoo comparison looks at two heavyweight zoos in the state of Ohio: The Cincinnati Zoo and the Columbus Zoo. Both of these zoos are considered among the best in the country, annually appearing in the nomination list for USA Today’s Readers’ Choice awards for Best Zoo. We’ve been to both zoos multiple times, as recent as July 2023. Take a look at how we think these two stack up against each other!
Size: Both of these zoos are large, and to see all of each zoo should probably take at least 5-6 hours. The Cincinnati Zoo is set up in a circular format, where you can stay on a path and work your way through the whole zoo. The Columbus Zoo is a bit bigger with habitats being a bit bigger as well, and is set up in different regions – the format is more like several wings than it is circular. Advantage: Columbus Zoo
Shows: Both zoos offer a show to showcase the speed of their resident cheetahs. The Columbus Zoo is a 10 minute demonstration, while the Cincinnati Zoo turns theirs into a 30 minute show, with other animals such as a warthog and serval. The Cincinnati Zoo also offers a bird show that showcases many birds, includes several macaws. Advantage: Cincinnati Zoo
Indoor Exhibits: The Cincinnati Zoo has a reptile building, a nocturnal building, a bird building that includes penguins, and a manatee building. The Columbus Zoo has a manatee building, a small aquarium, an Asian animal building, and indoor viewings at many of their exhibits, including elephants, bears, gorillas, and tigers. On a rainy day, the Cincinnati Zoo would be the better place to be. Advantage: Cincinnati Zoo
Animal Interactions: The Cincinnati Zoo offers a giraffe feeding where you can feed them from a raised feeding deck. They also recently added a walk-thru kangaroo exhibit. Outside of that the animal engagements are private, more expensive, and need to be scheduled ahead of time. The Columbus zoo also offers a giraffe feeding, as well as lorikeet feeding, sting ray feedings, goat petting area, and has a walk-thru kangaroo exhibit. Advantage: Columbus Zoo
Habitats: The Cincinnati Zoo does a good job of making viewing available at all of their exhibits. The elephant exhibit, for example, is set up nicely with viewing on multiple sides. As a result the habitats aren’t quite as large as maybe they should be. Their African savanna is nice, but only includes a few animals (not including giraffes). The Columbus Zoo habitats are much larger. They also fit the theme very nicely to blend in to each as a natural habitat. The North American exhibits are in the process of receiving a facelift, which will benefit both the animals and the viewers. The African savanna continues to wow and impress us with each visit! Advantage: Columbus Zoo
Wow Factor: Neither zoo has an immediate attraction upon entrance. In Cincinnati, long lines may restrain some “I’m at the zoo” excitement. As mentioned above, Cincinnati sets up many of its exhibits to give the viewer a good view. The tiger exhibit, for example, has a large window where one can view the tigers up close very frequently. Other exhibits, however, like the hippo exhibit are underwhelming despite being immensely popular. Columbus Zoo has a fountain upon entrance. The recent addition of Adventure Cove with sea lions is near the entrance, and gives the zoo a bit more wow factor than it previously had. The remaining wow factor is more about its size. The African savanna provides some wow factor due to scale perhaps than necessarily the animals themselves. The polar bear exhibit and possibly the Australian walkabout provide some wow factor for this zoo. Advantage: Columbus Zoo
Kids Play area: Neither zoo has much by way of a kids area, as the animals are the true stars here. But the Columbus zoo does have a rather large splash pad near the manatee building, as well as playground near the Australia exhibit. Advantage: Columbus Zoo
Price: As of April 2023, the Cincinnati Zoo is $24 for adults and $18 for kids. Columbus Zoo is $30 for adults and $26 for kids (General Admission rates outside of Franklin County). Advantage: Cincinnati Zoo
Overall: This matchup features some of the best zoos we’ve seen, and shows Columbus as a 5-3 winner in our Ohio zoo comparison. Columbus Zoo comes in at 2nd on our rankings, with the Cincinnati Zoo not far behind at 5th. They’re both worthy of planning a trip to Ohio to meet some of their animals and see their amazing scenery.
Want another blogger’s opinion? Check out this blog to get their thoughts!
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