Denver Zoo

Denver Zoo Review

A bright peacock greets you at the door to the state's most popular cultural attraction, whose best-known exhibit showcases man-eating Komodo dragons in a lush re-creation of a cavernous riverbank. The Conservation Carousel ($2) rotates in the center of the 80-acre zoo, with handcrafted endangered species as mounts. A 7-acre Primate Panorama houses 31 species of primates in state-of-the-art environments that simulate the animals' natural habitats. Other highlights include a nursery for baby animals; seal shows; the world's only painting rhinoceros, Mshindi; the electric Safari Shuttle, which snakes through the property as you are treated to a lesson on the zoo's inhabitants; and the usual lions, tigers, bears, giraffes, and monkeys, and one extremely hairy elephant. The exhibits are spaced far apart along sprawling concrete paths, so build in plenty of time to visit.