I have plans to visit Washington, D.C., around 3 years from now, and in all likelihood, I'll be going to the National Zoo. For those of you who have been there, what would be your tips and recommendations for visiting this zoo?
My main recommendation as someone who has not visited is to ask again in....oh....maybe another 2.5 years as any advice you are given now is apt to be outdated to a greater or lesser extent in 3 years!
Both of times I've been there we took the Metro and saved ourselves the stress of parking in what I've read is a very difficult parking environment. There is a nearby Metro station that is within a few blocks of the zoo. The zoo has free entry, but they charge for maps. You can save a few dollars if you print the map out yourself beforehand. The first time we went to the zoo we didn't realize that there was indoor viewing for the pandas and we did not see them, as they were not in their outdoor exhibits. There is indoor panda viewing if they aren't outside! If the panda has a baby the indoor exhibit may be closed. If you want to see the orangutans use the O-Line ask a docent when the orangs will be let outdoors to do that, if they aren't using it when you get there. It's a great thing to see. Think Tank is an interesting interactive exhibit area if you have any interest in animal cognition and social behavior; leave some time to look through it. Similarly their Amazon exhibit is very dense with most of it being a big open forest with multiple species in it. The zoo is not huge, but it takes a lot of walking through hilly terrain to see it so it would be best to plan for a whole day if you want to see the whole zoo.
The zoo will be quite different in 3 years, as the bird area will finally be open again. Of all the zoos I've been to, it is the hardest for me in terms of walk-ability. You have to do some back tracking and looping, as well.
Not sure that the zoo will be that different. The bird house is a remodel of the existing structure. Beyond that the zoo has announced no plans for the future, and under the current administration there probably will not be any.
I agree on taking the metro - the Woodley Park stop on the Red Line is literally called "Woodley Park-ZOO-Adams Morgan" or something like that because it's so close. Like, 1-2 minutes walk along the same road. Again, 3 years is a long time... but one thing I found in common between many visits from 2015 to 2018 is that the sloth bears are very difficult to see out and about except during their feeding time. Sometimes, they're out in the evening, but generally they're either inside or hidden behind foliage, so try to time your visit so that you can catch their feeding/enrichment hour (it's around 1:30pm). It is the same time as the orangutan enrichment session but I would recommend the sloth bears as the orangutans are visible at other times as well. @DavidBrown the new bird area will be quite different from the old, though, no? In terms of the species, etc.? That's what it seems like since they're doing the three migration aviaries. Although I did not manage to get to the old area much before it was closed, so I might be mis-remembering species. I'm not sure if Ambika the elephant will make it three years... but if she does, that's one very special individual to see, given her age and all the world history that she has been witness to as one of the first elephants to make the crossing from a life in the wilds of India to the US.
