Birmingham Zoo Review

The Birmingham Zoo isn’t very large, but it’s very polished. It was extremely clean, and there was good signage/decor on display throughout the zoo. The zoo is a good attraction for kids. The size is big enough to spend a good part of the morning, but not overly large. We spent about 1.5 hours at the zoo, although we were eager to get on the road. If the splash pad had been operating that day, our visit might have doubled. Overall the zoo could use a little bit of updating, as several exhibits seemed outdated. They appear to be constructing a new Asia section (near Africa), so we’d love to see what that looks like to see a glimpse of perhaps adapting newer, more animal friendly exhibits.

Highlights:

Bird exhibits – Upon entry into the Birmingham zoo, if you head left, they have a pretty extensive bird section. We enjoyed it very much – capped off with the flamingos.
Elephants – The zoo has a very large section for their elephants. There were multiple areas for them to pick up browse, step in a pond, rub against a tree, or just graze around. The AZA is really starting to crack down on zoos without ample space for elephants, and it’s nice to see such a large exhibit for them here.
Alabama Wilds – We love it when zoos carve out a section for animals native to their area. The Alabama Wilds section includes otters, black bears, and other native species.

Lows:

Africa – After passing the elephants, there is an outdoor loop for giraffes and zebras. Continuing on, then you pass through an indoor area for bongos and lions. We found this section very outdated. We’d love for them to create an African savanna to give better space for the animals and more visibility for visitors.
Southern Bayou – We were pretty excited to visit a zoo in the Southern part of the country and see their bayou exhibit. Although it met the billing with a boardwalk, we were disappointed that the space was small, and there was only one alligator on exhibit. We were expecting something similar to the swamp at the Chehaw Park Zoo in Albany, Georgia.
Primates/South America – Similar to Africa, there is an indoor/outdoor approach to this section. I understand the reasoning here – the climate in Alabama isn’t always enjoyable to walk around in, so this regulates that a bit. But again this part just seemed outdated, and I wish some of the animals had more space here.

Thanks for reading our Birmingham Zoo review. Want to see how it compares to the other AZA zoo in Alabama? Check out our comparison here.