A great zoo exhibit engages visitors with the animals they're observing while keeping the welfare and enrichment of its animal residents front and center.
We asked a panel of zoo and family travel experts to nominate their favorite animal exhibits in North American (excluding aquariums), and for the past four weeks, 10Best readers have been voting daily for their favorites.
The top 10 winners in the category Best Zoo Exhibit are as follows:
- Sea Lion Sound - Saint Louis Zoo
- African Grasslands - Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
- Museum of Living Art - Fort Worth Zoo
- Polk Penguin Conservation Center - Detroit Zoo
- Simmons Hippo Outpost - Dallas Zoo
- Simon Skjodt International Orangutan Center - Indianapolis Zoo
- Meerkat Maze - Philadelphia Zoo
- Arctic Passage - Henry Vilas Zoo
- Predator Ridge - Denver Zoo
- Gibbon Trails and Langur Landing - Zoo Knoxville
A panel of experts partnered with 10Best editors to picked the initial 20 nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote. Experts Debra Erickson (International Zoo Educators Association), Mommy Nearest , Eileen Ogintz (Taking the Kids) and Alan Sironen (Zoo Consultants International) were chosen based on their knowledge and experience of America's zoos.
Congratulations to all these winning zoo exhibits!
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The Experts
Debra Erickson
Debra Erickson is President of the International... Read More
Debra Erickson is President of the International Zoo Educators Association. She is also the Marketing Director for San Diego Zoo Global, Executive Director of Atlantis Blue Project Foundation and Accreditation Chair for Atlantis, Paradise Island. She has been in the conservation, interpretation, marketing, communications, and education fields for 30 years and has worked for the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Atlantis, Paradise Island, Atlantis, The Palm, SeaWorld San Diego, SeaWorld Orlando, S.E.A. Aquarium and Dolphin Island. Debra has held a wide variety of positions in the education and interpretation field including Education Director at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, SeaWorld Orlando, and Atlantis, Paradise Island. She has created interpretive plans for a wide variety of exhibits including Manatees: The Last Generation, Wild Arctic, and Tiger Trail which have all won the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums Top Exhibit Honors award. Currently she is leading the effort to provide San Diego Zoo Kids, a 24-hour, commercial-free television channel, to 300 children’s hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses around the world. Having worked in over 40 countries during her career and seeing the challenges that many developing countries face, Debra has a keen commitment to conservation. She worked as Executive Director and Conservation Director for Orangutan Foundation International and was responsible for developing and implementing the conservation plan for Tanjung Puting National Park. Debra continues her conservation work through the Atlantis Blue Project Foundation where she funds marine conservation projects and mentors conservationists in the field. Debra received her B.A. in Biology from Scripps College and her M.A. in Educational Technology from San Diego State University.
Debra Erickson

Debra Erickson is President of the International Zoo Educators Association. She is also the Marketing Director for San Diego Zoo Global, Executive Director of Atlantis Blue Project Foundation and Accreditation Chair for Atlantis, Paradise Island. She has been in the conservation, interpretation, marketing, communications, and education fields for 30 years and has worked for the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Atlantis, Paradise Island, Atlantis, The Palm, SeaWorld San Diego, SeaWorld Orlando, S.E.A. Aquarium and Dolphin Island. Debra has held a wide variety of positions in the education and interpretation field including Education Director at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, SeaWorld Orlando, and Atlantis, Paradise Island. She has created interpretive plans for a wide variety of exhibits including Manatees: The Last Generation, Wild Arctic, and Tiger Trail which have all won the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums Top Exhibit Honors award. Currently she is leading the effort to provide San Diego Zoo Kids, a 24-hour, commercial-free television channel, to 300 children’s hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses around the world. Having worked in over 40 countries during her career and seeing the challenges that many developing countries face, Debra has a keen commitment to conservation. She worked as Executive Director and Conservation Director for Orangutan Foundation International and was responsible for developing and implementing the conservation plan for Tanjung Puting National Park. Debra continues her conservation work through the Atlantis Blue Project Foundation where she funds marine conservation projects and mentors conservationists in the field. Debra received her B.A. in Biology from Scripps College and her M.A. in Educational Technology from San Diego State University.
Mommy Nearest
Mommy Nearest is an award-winning, tech-enabled... Read More
Mommy Nearest is an award-winning, tech-enabled media company for millennial parents. The company is the most trusted and widely-used geo-based app for discovering family-friendly places nationwide, and the website, mommynearest.com, has quickly become the leading site for parenting content.
Mommy Nearest

Mommy Nearest is an award-winning, tech-enabled media company for millennial parents. The company is the most trusted and widely-used geo-based app for discovering family-friendly places nationwide, and the website, mommynearest.com, has quickly become the leading site for parenting content.
Eileen Ogintz
Eileen Ogintz, a leading national expert on family... Read More
Eileen Ogintz, a leading national expert on family travel, is the author of the Tribune Interactive syndicated column Taking the Kids that appears around the country, creator of the popular website TakingtheKids.com and co-chair of the TMS Family Travel Conference which draws top family travel influencers and major travel brands. She is the author of the 11-book Kids Guideseries; The Kid’s Guide to Acadia National Park is being released in April 2019. The Kid’s Guide to NYC is now in its 3d edition and The Kid’s Guide to Washington, DC the second edition.
Eileen Ogintz

Eileen Ogintz, a leading national expert on family travel, is the author of the Tribune Interactive syndicated column Taking the Kids that appears around the country, creator of the popular website TakingtheKids.com and co-chair of the TMS Family Travel Conference which draws top family travel influencers and major travel brands. She is the author of the 11-book Kids Guideseries; The Kid’s Guide to Acadia National Park is being released in April 2019. The Kid’s Guide to NYC is now in its 3d edition and The Kid’s Guide to Washington, DC the second edition.
Alan Sironen
Alan Sironen is the owner of Zoo Consultants... Read More
Alan Sironen is the owner of Zoo Consultants International. Zoo Consultants International assists their clients in animal exhibit planning, zoo animal equipment development, exhibit blueprint review and animal transportation. Alan was employed for over 35 years at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. During his employment at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo he held positions as Zookeeper, Head Zoo Keeper, Assistant General Curator, Curator of Mammals, Curator of Mammalogy, and Curator of Large Mammals and Carnivores. Alan Sironen received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Capital University in 1975 and a M.B.A. in International Business Administration from Baldwin Wallace College in 1986. Alan currently is a Professional Member of the Zoological Association of America and a Professional Associate Member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. He also serve on the Board of Global Conservation Connection.
Alan Sironen

Alan Sironen is the owner of Zoo Consultants International. Zoo Consultants International assists their clients in animal exhibit planning, zoo animal equipment development, exhibit blueprint review and animal transportation. Alan was employed for over 35 years at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. During his employment at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo he held positions as Zookeeper, Head Zoo Keeper, Assistant General Curator, Curator of Mammals, Curator of Mammalogy, and Curator of Large Mammals and Carnivores. Alan Sironen received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Capital University in 1975 and a M.B.A. in International Business Administration from Baldwin Wallace College in 1986. Alan currently is a Professional Member of the Zoological Association of America and a Professional Associate Member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. He also serve on the Board of Global Conservation Connection.