Overall Rating
The Pueblo Zoo was founded in 1934 and is located in Pueblo, CO. The 25 acre Zoo is set inside a public park and houses approx. 500+ animals that make up 125+ species. The Zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Great zoo to visit going or coming from Colorado Springs, CO.
Pueblo Zoo Website: www.pueblozoo.org
Hours:
October-April 9:00am-4:00pm
May-September 9:00am-5:00pm
Ticket Pricing:
Adults (18-64)-$14.00
Seniors (65+)-$11.00
Youth (3-17)-$11.00
Military Adult (with ID)-$11.00 (to all in group)
Military Kids-$7.00 (to all in group)
Kids 2 and under- Free
Parking: Free
Restaurants: There is 1 seasonally open restaurant/concession in this zoo.
Animal Habitats
Education
Cultural Immersion
Navigation
Food Variety
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Our Zoo Experience
Pueblo Zoo is a small zoo inside a public park located in Pueblo Colorado. When you visit Pueblo and you have a couple of hours, this is the place to stop and have a Zoo Adventure!
Since it is a smaller zoo you do not have to use the map provided. We checked it a few times to make sure we didn’t miss anything. Once you enter the zoo you can either go left or stay straight. We chose (you guessed it) to go left and visit the Woods exhibits.
The animals that can be found in the Woods are Red Pandas, Ringtails, Striped Skunks, American Porcupine, and Great Horned Owl.
Once you’ve made it around to the last habitat in the Woods, take a right to head to the African Plains. Here you can encounter Zebra and Ostrich.
Many habitats have a covered viewing area which is awesome, because the first time we stopped here, it was misting rain. Ha-ha that didn’t deter us though! Due to the misty weather we basically had the zoo to ourselves.
Following the path around to the right we came to the Eco-Center building. There are African Black-footed Penguins inside, and they are hams for the camera!
Also in the Eco-center is a Rainforest exhibit. It was closed unfortunately on our most recent Zoo Adventure. The zoo was being understandably cautious about a Bird flu outbreak spreading across the country. In fact many of their Bird species were off exhibit for this reason. It’s an understandable precaution and testament to the care Zoos take to protect the Animals in their care. Hopefully when you have your Zoo Adventure, the Birds are back on exhibit!
The next exhibit you will come to is the Asian Mountains. Here you will encounter my favorite Animal, Pallas Cats. These Cats are unique. No matter what zoo we are visiting or what Pallas Cat we see, all of them are camera shy. They will look at you as long as you don’t have a camera pointed at them!
As soon as you point that camera, they run and hide, they turn their head and won’t look at you. This has happened at different zoos we’ve visited.
However, on this second Zoo Adventure, we got lucky! We got to the Pallas Cat exhibit right as the Keeper was cleaning their exhibit and putting out food. As soon as he put the Cats on exhibit, we got all kinds of pictures!
Another amazing Animal located in the Asia Mountains is the Red Panda. There are two Red Pandas up in their trees enjoying the cool weather. Red Pandas are mostly arboreal.
The next area of the zoo is their Children’s Zoo; they call it the Pioneer Ranch. The theme for the Children’s Zoo is: “On the Farm On the Prairie”. They have a kid sized farmhouse and barn!
They also have different species of Domestic Animals which can be found on a farm or ranch. These Animals include Rabbits, Cows, Goats, Llama and Sheep.
After you walk through Pioneer Ranch you will enter the Serengeti Safari area. Here you will encounter Camels, African Lions, African Painted Dogs, De Brazza’s Monkeys, and (Steve’s favorite) Meerkats!
The zoo has both species of Camel! One hump=Dromedary (Chleo) and two humps=Bactrian (Pressley)!
The male Lion was doing what Cats do best, sleeping in a sun spot! His name is Taz and he can be seem atop his Kopje watching over his Pride! There are three different viewing areas you can see the Lions from.
The zoo does have a concession/restaurant called Safari Café. They are open seasonally so be sure to check the Pueblo Zoo Facebook page or website. You can also call to see if they are open!
Next we hopped over to Australia and saw Red Kangaroo and Emu (they were inside their house for safety, they are Birds after all). Then before we made it to South America we could smell the next species.
The Maned Wolf has a very distinct musky skunky smell to them. They are also very shy. Their Maned Wolf has a nice big habitat to hide if they are feeling shy. Leaving South America you will cross back over into Asia.
Here you will see a herd of Takin (rhymes with Rockin). These Animals are actually giant Mountain Goats with many similarities to Antelope. They are found in the mountains of Tibet and China. The Takin is considered one of China’s National Treasures with the highest level of protection.
Across from Asia you will encounter White-handed Gibbons and a Malayan Sun Bear (nicknamed the Honey Bear). Sharing the habitat with the Gibbons is two Reeve’s Muntjac! They are tiny Deer from Asia!
Continuing down the path you enter the Short Grass Prairie. The species that call the Short Grass Prairie home are North American Bison, Elk, and Swift Fox.
From there you enter the Colorado Wetlands and Prairie Dog habitat.
After visiting the Prairie Dogs we entered the Island Life building. Inside we learned what Animals call different islands in the World home. Outside the building is an island with a light house tower. On this island you can see Ringtail Lemurs from Madagascar. Unique in being an island and a country, Madagascar, is home to endemic species such as Lemurs, Fossa and Giant Jumping Rats!
Walking further down the path you find yourself at the World of Colors building. This is the zoo’s Herpetarium. World of Colors is a great name since Reptiles and Amphibians come in a variety of spectacular colors from the rainbow.
Inside you can see a Green Tree Monitor, a Rainbow Boa and many more colorful Reptiles!
Across from this building are the zoos first and original Bear habitats. They are from when the zoo opened back in 1934. They have been mostly decommissioned and are no long used except for a history lesson.
The Zoo has found a wonderful use for these old habitats. They make a wonderful home for some Bald Eagles who needed a home. When Bald Eagles are permanently injured or cannot be returned to the wild, some of them find wonderful homes in zoos. Zoos work closely with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to provide a permanent residence for these majestic creatures.
Walking back up the path toward the Islands of Life building we took a left. We came to a fork in the path. We followed the path back around passed the Pioneer Ranch and Asian Mountains to the River Otter habitat.
Steve and I really loved watching the River Otter play and swim is its beautiful habitat. Sometimes if you catch them at the right time they can also be extremely vocal. They have many different sounds. They chirp when happy.
Overall, the Pueblo Zoo is a great zoo to stop and spend a couple hours visiting. They have some pretty cool and unique species to see.
Pueblo Zoo is one of the first zoos we visited after deciding to take on this adventure. It was great to go back and visit this zoo again after several years of experience reviewing other zoos.
They have grown and improved, and are still improving every day to take the best care of their Animals as possible. We can’t wait to see them continue to bring education of zoo Animals to the public!
The Pueblo Zoo is a great example of Education, Inspiration and Conservation!
The one thing that did not change though: is we still highly recommend visiting the Pueblo Zoo and having yourself a wonderful Zoo Adventure here!