Beautiful Zoos ~ BEAUTIFUL!

Santa Barbara Zoo
The Santa Barbara Zoo is the best medium size zoo in Southern California. With 30 acres and over 500 animals plus it's scenic location the zoo is a wonderful place to spend the day. The Zoo is the perfect size for kids, plenty of room to run around but not so big that they will get bored with all the walking. There are some really excellent displays thanks to the generous donations by the membership of the zoo.. Known as one of the world's most beautiful zoos, the Santa Barbara Zoo is located in a lush botanic garden overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Andre Clark Bird Refuge and Santa Ynez Mountains. The Zoo offers birthday party packages for children aged 2-12, weddings, dinner parties and company picnics. Take a drive to Santa Barbara and enjoy a day with friends and family at one of Southern California's best animal attraction.

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium - Powell, Ohio
The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium – Powell, Ohio. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Powell, Ohio is a world famous zoo, with a world famous curator, Jack Hanna, located along the O’Shaughnessy Reservoir on the Scioto River just a few minutes north of Columbus, Ohio. The zoo owns 580 acres of land in all, which includes the Safari Golf Course, Zoombezi Bay Water Park, and Jungle Jack’s Landing.

The Columbus Zoo has over 6,000 animals of over 700 species that are separated into the different regions of the zoo representing the parts of the world that they come from. Some of the more famous animals that you will be able to visit at the zoo are Colo, the world’s first gorilla born in captivity, and eight of her descendants. There are 16 gorillas in all at the Columbus Zoo and 30 Gorillas have been born there since 1956.
You will also be able to see visiting animals from around the world at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Powell, Ohio. Past visitors have been Ying and Yang, two pandas from China, and Fluffy, the world’s largest python in captivity. The zoo is world renowned, as is Jack Hanna, and often take visiting animals from other zoos. You never know who will be visiting when you go to the Columbus Zoo.
Jack Hanna took over as the director of the Columbus Zoo back in 1978 and retired in 1993, but still may be found at the zoo when you visit. You can see Jack on many television news shows and late night talk shows showing off the animals from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio. Jack Hanna is most often seen on the Jay Leno show, and is also seen on the Today Show, Late Night with David Letterman, and many others. It was under Jack Hanna’s direction that the Columbus Zoo went from a zoo badly in need of some loving care with animals living in small areas and cages to one of the most beautiful zoos in the world where the animals live in habitats as close to their natural habitats as possible.
The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Powell, Ohio has more than 1.5 million visitors each year. People come from around the country and from around the world to see the wonders of the Columbus Zoo. They come to see how one zoo in a place like Ohio can get the reputation of the world’s greatest zoo. They you leave fully understanding why.

Singapore Zoo

Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) is the parent company of the award-winning attractions – Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park. WRS strives to be a world class leisure attraction, providing excellent exhibits of animals (and birds) presented in their natural environment, for the purpose of conservation, education and recreation. Last year (2005), Singapore Zoo served more than 1.3 million visitors, the Jurong Bird Park, 830,000 visitors and the Night Safari, more than 1 million visitors. WRS parks have been conferred the Best Leisure Attraction Experience Award at the Singapore Tourism Awards for 16 times. The record achievement affirms WRS parks’ status as Singapore’s premier leisure venues.

Beauval Zoo
Zooparc de Beauval (or Beauval Zoo to you and me) is just outside the village of St. Aignan, France. The zoo has been voted one of the fifteen most beautiful zoos in the world and a walk around it will leave you in little doubt as to why. The biggest attractions that Beauval currently has are the baby white tigers and the baby gorilla, with both attractions bringing a rather odd feeling of excitement as you see them fumbling about their enclosures.
The zoo has a fine array of animals with rhinos, elephants and alligators all proving to be great encounters. Running several times a day, the bird and sea-lion show is an entertaining show that gives a great spectacle of these animals although, depending on your political stance, will either leave you impressed or angry. There are plenty of restaurants on offer, but the Loire valley that the zoo is located in provides a great source for wine and cheese lovers to get their fix after the zoo.