Zoos in New Mexico

New Mexico's zoos range from a large city zoo in Albuquerque to small municipal and state-run parks scattered across the desert. ABQ BioPark Zoo covers 64 acres along the Rio Grande, opened in 1927 as the Rio Grande Zoo, and is part of an AZA-accredited BioPark that also includes an aquarium and botanic garden. In the southeast, Alameda Park Zoo in Alamogordo was established in 1898, while Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park in Carlsbad opened in 1967 and is reached by a single self-guided walking route. Wildlife West Nature Park in Edgewood, a 122-acre park just off Interstate 40 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, keeps non-releasable native animals. Hillcrest Park and Zoo in Clovis and Spring River Zoo in Roswell are city-run options on the eastern plains.