Zoo vs Zoo: Missouri Zoo Comparison

This Missouri zoo comparison looks at two zoos about four hours apart in the state of Missouri: the Kansas City Zoo and the Saint Louis Zoo. We have both of these zoos in the top 4 in our zoo rankings, so this is a heavyweight matchup between very good zoos. A lot of ranking zoos is subjective, so it’s very reasonable for others to have these zoos higher or lower than we do. We also haven’t visited Saint Louis since 2019 (3 total visits), while we visited Kansas City in 2022. So perhaps there will be a bit of recency bias for us in our rankings. However they are both larger zoos that will keep you busy for nearly an entire day. They also both have ways to engage adults and children, and have made some recent improvements. So dive in to this Missouri Zoo Comparison, and let us know if you’d score this one a bit differently than we do!

Size:

Both of these zoos are large, and will take you around six hours if you want to see everything. The Kansas City Zoo feels like two zoos in one. The Africa section is basically a zoo in itself. It even has a West Africa section that you can veer off to over a bridge. After completing Africa, you walk past the elephant exhibit on your way back to the main part of the zoo. If you don’t want to make the walk, they have a tram available for you. The Saint Louis Zoo is more of a circle, but it also quite large. There are six sections to the zoo. It’s pretty easy to navigate between them. However, it also makes it easy to skip some of the older portions of the zoo. Because of this, I’m going to give the nod to the Kansas City Zoo. Their 2023 addition of an aquarium would tip the scales even further in their favor. Advantage: Kansas City Zoo

Indoor Exhibits:

The Saint Louis Zoo has an indoor penguin building, a bird building, an insectarium, a herpetarium, and a primate house. This gives them a pretty good advantage. The Kansas City Zoo has a small discovery building, meant mainly for kids. Their 2023 addition of an aquarium will make this a closer race, but for now Kansas City feels more like an outdoor zoo, while Saint Louis has several solid indoor exhibits. Advantage: Saint Louis Zoo

Animal Interactions:

At the Kansas City Zoo, you can feed lorikeets, and (seasonally) giraffes. They also have a sea lion show, a petting zoo, and an outback exhibit where you can walk through the kangaroos. Perhaps the aquarium will feature some interactive opportunities as well. The Saint Louis Zoo allows you to feed stingrays, and also has a sea lion show. Because some of the exhibits at this zoo are a bit older, there are not very many other opportunities to interact with the animals. Advantage: Kansas City Zoo

Habitats:

The Saint Louis Zoo has a few stunning habitats that have been nominated for “best exhibit” awards by the USA Today. These include their sea lion exhibit, polar bear exhibit, and their hippo exhibit. However, several portions of the zoo (including the primate area and the big cats/hoofstock area) are extremely outdated. The big cats are difficult to see, and the hoofstock (giraffes/zebras) do not provide much grassy areas for them. Kansas City has also been redoing several of their exhibits. The elephant encolusre was finished in 2020, and the alligator enclosure in 2022. The African savanna shines in comparison to their counterparts in Saint Louis, and their Australian Outback allows visitors to walk in with the animals (Saint Louis doesn’t have Australian animals). So despite some really nice habitats for Saint Louis, Kansas City takes this one. Advantage: Kansas City Zoo

Wow Factor:

Wow factor to us is mainly when you enter the zoo. Neither one of these zoos really blows you away with their entrance. For Saint Louis, you have a large open area that kind of serves as a communications hub. The zoo splits off into six sections, so this is the common ground between them all. For Kansas City, the sea lions were the first thing we heard upon entrance. It’s a short walk over to their exhibit, but that was an exciting way to start our day. There are some other small exhibits nearby, as well as the polar bear exhibit if you take an immediate left turn. I think what will really spin this in Kansas City’s favor is the addition of their aquarium. Although not near the front of the zoo, this is another exhibit that the Saint Louis Zoo does not have. Advantage: Kansas City Zoo

Kids Play Area:

The Saint Louis Zoo has made some changes to its play areas due to COVID, and I’m not certain how many of them still remain from our visit in 2019. However, in 2019 we spent a long time in their children’s area. Our kids played in a small splash pad, climbed on some hippo statues, and slid down a slide that was surrounded by an otter tank. At Kansas City, their Discovery Barn had some interactive things for the kids to play on, both indoors and outdoors, but there really wasn’t much outside of that. Advantage: Saint Louis Zoo

Price:

A Missouri zoo comparison wouldn’t be complete without looking at price. The Kansas City Zoo is $18 for adults and $17 for kids. Parking is free. The Saint Louis Zoo is free to all, but costs $15 to park. Advantage: Saint Louis Zoo

Overall:

This is a close matchup, and the numbers give Kansas City a 4-3 victory. Kansas City comes in at 3rd on our rankings, with the Saint Louis Zoo right behind them in 4th. Either way, you can’t make a bad choice when choosing one of these zoos for a visit.

Thank you for reading our Missouri zoo comparison. Want to see what others have to say about them? Check out this feature by the USA Today, listing them both as top zoos in Missouri.

© 2022, Zoo With Us. All rights reserved.