Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo

The 110 acre Henry Doorly Zoo attracts more than one million visitors every year. As one of the many zoos that I have visited it is also the cleanest and seemingly people and animal friendly that I have seen. Some of the animals that I saw there were sea lions, giraffe, ostrich (among many other kinds of bird), and a wide variety of hooved animals and reptiles. I was also delighted when I discovered that the zoo has done a lot of the first work in breeding endangered animals, including tigers and elephants.

Another great exhibit is the bears, including grizzly bears, polar bears, and sun bears was set up in a way that it was very convenient and people friendly to visit. Not only did a walking path deliver you right infront of the bears, but a higher walking path swoops around the top of the areas and allows visitors to watch the bears without the glass. For me, it gaveme a closer feeling than being able to look them in the face through glass.

It's facilities seem to be well maintained and the animals were subjected to, what I would consider to be, the most "natural" artificial environment, like the Scott Aquarium and the Cat Complex. The most amazing of these are the Lied Jungle and the Desert Dome.

Final Thoughts

With a stuffed bushbaby under my arm, I reluctantly left the Henry Doorly Zoo. I know that there are a lot of things that I didn't mention and a lot of things that I never saw so that I could mention them. I just wanted to share an experience that I won't soon forget. I know that zoos aren't for everyone and not everyone has the time to see them; I hope that this essay will convince some people to go see some of our zoos and that it can bring some of the essence of, at least, this zoo) to people.