Alaska Zoo, Alaska, United States

4Amanda Joy 5:00 PM May 30, 2021

A Nice Local Zoo
The Alaska Zoo is super cute. Please note, it is NOT like something you'd find in the lower 48. Don't judge it like it is. I'm visiting from Fort Worth and found it quaint and a nice way to spend time outdoors. It focuses more on local birds and animals. We paid at entrance, since I'm visiting family they charged me a bit more than they charged the resident Alaskans, which was fair. Walking in you can go immediately to the polar bear exhibit on the right or the seals, sealions and others on the right. Unfortunately, the polar bear wasn't available for viewing on the day I was there. It seems like they let Cranberry (the polar bear) wander rather than keep him within viewing distance. So don't go if you're looking for a guaranteed polar bear experience. I was skeptical of my family trying to convince me visiting a zoo in 52 degree weather would be fun, but it was. It wasn't very busy and we had plenty of space on the paths to ourselves. We spent a lot of time watching the brown bears mosy around. As well as watching the snow leopards and tigers. I'm a huge big cat fan. Its a good way to get outside and see something for little kids, but I do want to emphasize it's a local zoo, not a big tourist grab. If you go know that you're supporting that initiative more and i think you'll have a fine time.

4srobby 5:00 PM Jul 20, 2021

Great Habitat for Animals Not so much for viewing
We had the afternoon tour of the zoo which ended up being my wife and I and two guides. Since we got to the zoo early before our scheduled tour, we walked all around viewing the exhibits. We found that many of the exhibits did not have viewable animals since a lot of ground cover was left in the habitats to imitate their natural surroundings and this ground cover gave the animals plenty of room to hide. Once our tour started we began to see more animals since it was close to their feeding times. We were able to watch our guide feed several animals and were able to go backstage into the places that staff prepared food for the animals. Both our guides were friendly and well informed. While still not a lot of animals, the Alaska Zoo does a great job of providing roomy habitats for their animals if not great viewing for the human guests.