So me, my brother, my grandfather, and some of my friends are all going to D.C. next month, and we are planning to go to the national zoo. I've only been once in the early 2010's, back when I was really young, and we only went through half of the zoo. Is there anything I should know before going? Like interesting species or walking routes? Thank you for taking the time to read this! -ZPA
Walking routes are a little off right now, but I’d recommend starting at the top of the zoo at the Connecticut avenue entrance. Start by going through Asian Trail. If you don’t you’ll have to back track due to Asia trail only being accessible from the entrance with the one way paths an such. This will also offer you best chance at seeing the pandas due to the panda house and path being closed to the public making them only viewable from the overhead path. After that I’d definitely hit you the elephant house on your way down the hill. After that you’re easiest path in my opinion would be to go down towards the elephant outpost then to the American trail. If you follow the trail all the way down to the Andean bears you’ll be able to stop and rest up the hill at each of the main exhibits along the way(big cats, think tank, ape house). I don’t know which houses are open besides the ape house so your route may change a little. Hope this helps!
Make sure you get there early if you can! The zoo often gets pretty busy by the early afternoon. If you arrive near opening, you could be pretty much finishing up by the time the crowds get there. For interesting species, there are quite a lot, so I would really suggest going through the whole zoo. The trail with the cheetahs has dama gazelle, sitatunga, scimitar-horned oryx, and maned wolf. The Asia Trail has clouded leopards, and of course giant pandas. The small mammal house has northern Luzon giant cloud rat, black howler monkey, sand cat, black-footed ferret, and damaraland Mole rats. The Reptile House has both cuban and Philippine crocodiles, as well as spider tortoises. There are also of course just about all your classic ABC animals- two tiger subspecies, african lion, asian elephant, gorillas, both types of orangutans, california sea lions, zebras, and more! The website has a really accurate animal list if you are wondering everything you could see. On my visit last year, I saw just about everything except the Kids Farm, and was very impressed by the zoo. Hope this helps and enjoy the zoo!
If they are still requiring reservations you should be fine no matter the time. Especially considering people will be returning to work and schools will be open.
That's true. If they are doing reservations, go whenever you want. Although you might still want morning to avoid the worst of the heat.
Most of those currently aren't viewable The sitatunga (male) are rarely out where you can see them, as well. And for brevity's sake, there's only one zebra It doesn't get along with others so lives alone. @ZPA I hope you have a nice time, anyway! The maned wolves are often viewable, at least.
Most of the crocodilians have outdoor access, so I'd assume they probably are visible? Not sure though. Same thing with the Howler monkeys. I had no luck seeing the maned wolves on my visit- only saw an ear. I did see the dama gazelle, scimitar-horned oryx, and sitatunga though.
The outdoor crocodiles are different from the indoor ones; the Philippine and Cubans are indoors. I've seen the maned wolves on each of my last ~10 visits, but I always check there at least twice; if you start from that parking lot and see them early, they're usually running around. I've only seen the sitatunga twice, and they were hard to see. The gazelles are always visible. The oryx I'd say is 50/50.
The zoos American alligator lives in the exhibit next to the entrance, and Chinese alligators, a crocodile monitor, and a komodo dragon can be found behind the building. The black howlers, white-nosed coatis and bennett's wallabies can be found behind the Small Mammal House. There's also two other cages that the zoo sometimes put some monkeys into, but they were empty when I last went.
Completely forgot about the tomistoma. Its been a while since I've gone down there, so I might be forgetting the number of exhibits, but if the tomistoma is still there then the crocodile monitor would be exhibited inside the building. I was under the impression that the monitor was exhibited where the tomistoma is, and I have no idea why.
No, the monitor, komodo, and tomistoma form a U shape. Then the Chinese alligators are off to the side/closer to the main path.
So I'm going this Saturday and I learned Asia Trail is closed. That's a shame. I will still follow what you all said to get the most out of my trip. Thank you all!
Can you get any pictures of the landscaping around the Cheetah Conservation Center? Like the paths and such around the cheetah, oryx, sitatunga/RRH, maned wolf and zebra habitats, maybe a pic of Olmstead Walk as well.
Hi all. I am going to the zoo for the first time in late June on a Friday. Aiming to arrive early in the morning. Any tips on what to see first, how to avoid crowds, what is currently closed? Thanks in advance.
