New Orleans is known worldwide for its food, music, architecture, and for having one of the top ten zoos in the country. Votes in this year’s annual USA Today 10Best Reader’s Choice Awards have just been announced – Audubon Zoo ranked #8 in the competition. This is the ninth consecutive year that Audubon Zoo has landed a top ten spot in the voting. A team of travel industry experts selected nominees for the competition, but readers of the publication and members of the public cast votes for their favorites in online voting.
Located in historic Uptown New Orleans’ Audubon Park, Audubon Zoo is consistently one of the country’s top-ranked zoos. The Zoo offers more than 50 acres with pathways and boardwalks in a beautifully landscaped gardenlike setting, including innovative natural habitat exhibits and a wide variety of more than 1,700 animals representing more than 350 species. Twenty-five percent of the animals at Audubon Zoo are endangered or threatened with potential extinction.
The newest expansion at Audubon Zoo is Jaguar Jungle River’s Edge which showcases the animals and life in Mesoamerica. The exhibit features a first-of-its-kind rope skyway for spider monkeys to scamper overhead while guests stroll the boardwalk to get close up views of other popular animals in this new experience including capybara, guanaco, cavies, and Baird’s tapirs.
Audubon’s popular membership program was also recognized as one of the best in the country in the USA Today 10Best Reader’s Choice Awards. This is the first year that Audubon’s membership program was nominated for this honor and placed #10 in the voting competition. Audubon Nature Institute membership supports Audubon’s conservation programs and gives members unlimited visitation to Audubon Zoo, Audubon Aquarium, and Audubon Insectarium.
All nominees are accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
