.webp)
Myron and Jackie Blank Discovery Center
Take a journey from the highest mountains to the vast oceans as you discover how water connects plants and animals across all habitats.
The fully enclosed, temperature-controlled space takes visitors through multiple environments including alpine mountains, caves, jungles, rivers, and oceans, while meeting various animals along the way including Red Panda, amphibians, reptiles, fish, cotton-top tamarins, and flamingos.
David Kruidenier Australia Adventure
Travel to the Australian Outback in this walkthrough exhibit, but be on the lookout for wallabies crossing the path! Listen for kookaburra calls and maybe feed a budgie (parakeet). Be sure to say hi to our two double-wattled cassowaries on your way out!
Kids Kingdom
Get up close and personal with Nigerian dwarf goats, llama, koi fish, and Papa the donkey in our contact area where you have the chance to feed them all. It truly is a Kid’s Kingdom with children playing on the castle playground, a maze of paths and tunnels, slides, monkey bars, sand pits, and fossil digs.
Hub Harbor Pinniped Pavilion
Get eye level with Pacific harbor seals and California sea lions at the edge of the 150,000-gallon pool. A high-rise platform will give you a bird’s eye view of the whole exhibit when the pinnipeds are sunning themselves on the island’s sculpted rocks or deck. Or, go underneath the water in the underwater viewing room and watch up close as they swim past.
GoGo Plaza
The center of the Zoo is home to some of the oldest living residents, the Aladabra tortoises, including Barnaby who has called Blank Park Zoo home since the Zoo opened in 1966. Magellanic Penguins share a building with the Tortoises, but are often outside swimming in their pool and quick walk will take you to the black-and-white ruffed lemurs.
If you need to take a quick break, stop by GoGo Plaza for a snack, restrooms, or just a place to cool off during the hot summer months.
Bald Eagle Aviary
Blank Park Zoo manages care for two non-releasable bald eagles named Spirit and Freedom. The Bald Eagle Aviary gives you an opportunity to experience the majesty of these animals up close and see why they are a national symbol.
Coming in 2026, the bald eagles will move to a brand new habitat in the Ruan Foundation Wild Iowa.
Japanese Macaque Habitat
The Japanese Macaque Habitat has numerous features that and enrichment that help stimulate natural behaviors of the Japanese macaque troop. These intelligent animals are some of the most active animals at Blank Park Zoo. The log at the top of the hill features two way mirrors to allow viewers to watch the macaques up close while the macaques watch themselves.
Tom & Jo Ghrist Big Cat Complex
The Tom & Jo Ghrist Big Cat Complex provides holding and habitats for Amur tigers, a snow leopard and African lions. The habitats have features specific to each cat while the viewing spaces are filled with educational information about the different species, their ancestors, care at the Zoo, and conservation initiatives in the wild.
Coming in 2026, the lions will move to a brand-new habitat in Jamaa Kwa Africa, the Marjorie A. Foster Lion Conservation Center. This move will allow for increased space for both lions and tigers with the goal of successful breeding for both.
Jamaa Kwa Africa
Step into the savannah at Jamaa Kwa Africa. As you travel along the boardwalk you will be able to take in views of the giraffe and addax herds with a chance to feed the giraffe through out the summer months. Hartmann’s mountain zebra inhabit the opposite side of the boardwalk. Walking along the path, you will come up to the Okapi yard, also home to blue cranes and yellow-backed duikers. Critically endangered black rhinos have their own space that includes many specialized features.
Coming in 2026, lions will move from the Tom and Jo Ghrist Great Cat Complex to the Marjorie A. Foster Lion Conservation Center, tripling the amount the space for lions and allowing guests to connect with the lions from three different viewing experiences. Red river hogs will also see an upgrade to their space with this new experience.
Ruan Foundation Wild Iowa
Coming in 2026, a brand-new exhibit comes to Blank Park Zoo. Ruan Foundation Wild Iowa will engage guests with 3 species iconic to the Iowa landscape. North American river otters and bald eagles will move from their current spaces to upgraded habitats and an all-new species to the Zoo, the bobcat, will be able to call Blank Park Zoo home. This new exhibit is part of the largest expansion and renovation effort in the Zoo’s history, amounting to 18 million dollars in improvements.