American Zoos Map | – presenting 224 zoos on a map of the United States (Feb 2012) and showing you were the captive wild cat species are. Controls: Either use the controls on the map or keyboard plus and minus keys to zoom in and out. Use the keyboard arrow keys to move the map around.
This is a nationwide map showing American zoos. If you click on the place markers on the map you will see accurate (as at Feb 2012) details about the zoo and the wild cat species exhibited at the zoo. The purpose of this map, therefore, is to make it easier for people to find out where they can see captive wild cat species.
The best American zoos for seeing wild cats are: EFBC’s Feline Conservation Center “The Cat House” (Rosamond, CA), Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago, IL), DeYoung Family Zoo (Wallace, MI), Henry Doorly Zoo (Omaha, Nebraska), Central Park Zoo (New York, NY), Buffalo Zoo (Buffalo, NY), Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden (Cincinnati, OH), Cats World Park (Cave Junction, OR), Cat Tales Zoological Park (WA 99021), Memphis Zoo (Memphis, TN 38112), Hogle Zoo (Salt Lake City, UT). These zoos are placemarked in yellow except the EFBC’s Feline Conservation Center (see below).
This assessment is based on the number of wild cat species exhibited at the zoo. Of the selected zoos, Memphis Zoo gets the best customer review rating of all the zoos. Memphis Zoo is, probably, the best zoo in the United States for best overall experience and seeing the wonderful wild cat species. The largest selection of wild cat species is at: EFBC’s Feline Conservation Center “The Cat House” placemarked green on the map.
SADLY, ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO GOOGLE ENDED THE SOFTWARE – FUSION TABLES – THAT ALLOWED ME TO CREATE THIS AMAZING MAP WHICH TOOK AGES TO CREATE. THE MAP NO LONGER WORKS. THANKS GOOGLE.
You can zoom in and out and move the map around using your mouse or track pad. The details within the place markers (please click on them) show a link to the zoo’s website allowing you to explore the zoo in some detail.
One oddity that I discovered while compiling this map is that a lot of American Zoos do not list the animals at their zoo. This is no doubt because the list changes all the time. I believe that visitors to zoos would welcome a list as it would tell them about the most important aspect of the zoo. A full list should be provided together with a warning that the list can change without notice.
My warning is that the list of animals provided in this map, under the place markers, may not be 100% accurate due to change over time and due to lack of disclosure by the management at some zoos. That said the lists are as accurate as they can be at the date of creation of this American zoos map: February 2012. I hope it proves useful.
I am not going to discuss the pros and cons of zoos on this page, nor am going to give my views. Zoos tend to polarize opinion. There are other articles on PoC about captive cats (please search using the home page search box. I will say one thing: wild cats do not do well in captivity and the white tiger is inbreed as are many captive wild cats. Enjoy this American Zoos map. See this page for a list of wild cat species in captivity.
There are only a few individual cats from the small wild cat species in captivity in zoos in the United States. Pallas’s cat, sand cat, leopard cat (3) and black-footed cat are three small wild cats that you will (rarely) see at American zoos. There are many species that you won’t see in a zoo. For example: Andean cat, Chinese desert cat, marbled cat and rusty-spotted cat. There are others. That is because they are very rare in the wild and do very badly in captivity.
Of the small wild cat species that are at these zoos, the rarest is the leopard cat (AKA Asian leopard cat). This is a very independent minded cat, sometimes with great difficulty tamed to domestication. The zoos (2) placemarked in purple exhibit this cat as well as the EFBC’s Feline Conservation Center, making 3 in all, but please check. Blue markers signify organisations that are members of the Feline Conservation Federation (FCF). These places are not routinely listed.