Zoos in Missouri

Missouri's zoos split between big-city institutions at either end of the state and smaller roadside parks. The Saint Louis Zoo, founded in 1904 in Forest Park, is AZA-accredited and has built its identity around free admission. The Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium opened in 1909 and covers 202 acres in Swope Park, with roughly 1,700 animals. In the southwest, Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield has been AZA-accredited since 1986 and has invested in Species Survival Plan work for Asian elephants, maned wolves and cheetahs. Smaller stops include the Endangered Wolf Center near St. Louis, founded in 1971 to preserve Mexican wolves and red wolves, and Branson's Wild World, an animal park and aquarium in the Ozarks tourist town of Branson.