Exploring St. Louis: America’s #1 Free Zoo

Alex Tycksen and Ethan Prior
April 24, 2023

Welcome back to Exploring St. Louis with Alex and Ethan! Today well be taking a trip to the St. Louis Zoo where visitors are greeted by this bronze statue of an elephant located just inside the entrance.
Playing with a ball, a tiger roams around one of the enclosures in Big Cat Country. The St. Louis Zoo boasts a variety of animals from around the world, spanning from Africa, to Asia to the Americas.
Besides tigers, visitors can view five other types of big cats at the zoo including lions. An African Lion’s roar can be heard up to three miles away. “It’s so cool to see animals that you wouldn’t see anywhere else. Where else in the U.S. are you going to see a lion?” sophomore Nathan Schnettler said.
In the Historic Hill Zone, visitors can view all sorts of animals like this White-faced Saki from South America. The zoo is divided into six main sections, but the Historic hill zone contains the oldest structures including the 1904 World’s Fair Flight Cage and the the Bird House from the 1920s.
Enjoying a meal, a Spectacled Owl eats a rodent while visitors watch. Free experiences like the Birdhouse, Reptile House, and Insectarium bring the experience of the zoo together. Hours generally span from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the weekends in the Summer.
Even smaller creatures like this shrimp can be found at the zoo. Paid experiences for the zoo include seasonal experiences like the Stingrays and Sea Lion Show, as well as year-round fun with the carousel and 4D theater.
In the Red Rock area of the zoo, visitors will find animals from India and Africa including this Somali Wild Ass which is in endangered. Somali Wild Asses can run up to 30 miles per hour.
At Penguin & Puffin Coast, Humboldt Penguins enjoy the cold weather and water. “[The zoo] protects a lot of endangered species… it’s great for biodiversity,” sophomore Sam Lipsutz said. Humboldt Penguins are vulnerable to extinction due to the everchanging climate.