Zoo Atlanta

Are you look­ing for what to do with your kids in Atlanta? Then go to one of all time favorite kids attrac­tions in Geor­gia. After all, what bet­ter way is there to spend qual­ity time with the fam­ily and chil­dren than hav­ing a pic­nic or mean­der­ing through 40 acres and 250 species of ani­mals at Zoo Atlanta. There is much to see and learn includ­ing inter­ac­tive live ani­mal shows and events that evolve around the daily lives of over 1000 kinds of wildlife.

One of the more fas­ci­nat­ing exhibits is the Goril­las of the Ford African Rain For­est. This is home to over 20 west­ern low­land goril­las and was also home to the local favorite Willie B. who was named after the for­mer Mayor of Atlanta, William B. Harts­field. The goril­las can weigh up to 500 pounds and are the largest pri­mate species in the world. They are extremely fun to watch and it’s hard to imag­ine they can be that big while con­sum­ing only veg­eta­bles. This nation­ally renowned col­lec­tion of great apes is one of the largest pri­mate habi­tats in North Amer­ica and is part­nered through con­ser­va­tion with The Dian Fos­sey Gorilla Fund Inter­na­tional.

Per­haps the most famous attrac­tion at the Zoo are the Giant Pan­das Lu Lu, Yang Yang and their two cubs. These adorable mam­mals can weigh over two hun­dred pounds and are strik­ingly beau­ti­ful. Ref­er­ences to the Giant Panda date back to over 3000 years in China where it sym­bol­izes peace since it rarely feeds on other ani­mals. The giant panda shares many char­ac­ter­is­tics of both the bear and rac­coon fam­i­lies and it wasn’t deter­mined until recently which one they belonged too. Sci­en­tists finally agreed after DNA results deter­mined that giant pan­das are more closely related to bears and the red pan­das are related to raccoons.

Some of the more engag­ing col­lec­tions include the African ele­phants, the black rhi­nos, the Suma­tran orang­utans, and the Komodo Dragon. The Suma­tran tiger is one of the rarest and most endan­gered species in the world. The World of Rep­tiles is one of the best in the coun­try and fea­tures snakes such as the green ana­conda, king cobra, and black mamba.

One of the children’s favorite venues is the pet­ting zoo where they can stand face to face with sheep, goats and pot belly pigs. Of Course, they won’t want to miss the play­ground or rid­ing the carousel and zoo train. Some of the cur­rent pro­grams that par­ents and kids can take advan­tage of are the Fam­ily Night­crawler Over­nites and Mommy and Me. Over 1,000,000 vis­i­tors a year come to this 40 acre facil­ity located in his­toric Grant Park. Atlanta­Ga­To­day rec­om­mends the fam­ily friendly envi­ron­ment of Zoo Atlanta and ranks it as a top Atlanta attrac­tion and a favorite Geor­gia des­ti­na­tion.