Maia Zoo — Attraction in Maia

Zoo da Maia is a small zoo near Oporto that offers a family experience with a variety of animals, but it also has some noticeable shortcomings. The highlight of the visit was definitely the impressive white tiger and lynx, which stood out as majestic and well-cared-for animals. The freely roaming peacocks also added a charming and unexpected touch to the visit.

However, there were several empty habitats, which was disappointing. Some enclosures lacked proper signage, and in a few cases, the animal descriptions were just A4 Word documents printed and glued next to the habitat—giving the impression that resources are very limited. The zoo seems to be underfunded, and while the staff appeared to be doing their best with what they have, it could benefit from more investment to improve the overall experience.

Despite these drawbacks, the zoo still provides a pleasant outing, especially for families with children. With some improvements in maintenance, animal diversity, and signage, it could become a much stronger attraction in the region. If you go with realistic expectations, it can still be an enjoyable and...

You can have fun in here, even if the quantity of species isn't big. It's fun for people. But I don't think the animals were having fun. First of all, the natural habitats for most of them were outside of Europe and it dind't seem to me that they had the correct environment surrounding them. Then, most of the cages had different animals (deers with chickens, alligators with turtles). Then you have the lack of space in each cage. The bear was notably nervous and kept walking in circules, having no space more space to walk. The seal, even though it was extremely funny and intelligent, made me pity him because of the lack of space to swim. And last, but not least, (actually, what disturbed me the most)... It seemed to me that the big animals like the lions, some of the monkeys, the tigers, etc were sedated. I'm not sure of this, ofc, but it really seemed like they were. Anyway, as I said before, good and fun for people, not really good for...

Greatly surprised about this zoo!

It doesn't look like much from the outside, but this park hosts a good amount of impressive, healthy and happy looking animals such as lions, a white tiger, a brown bear, zebra, different types of primates and a good collection of reptiles and snakes.

The park itself looks understated but the animals look incredibly healthy and well fed.

Low price of admission and not busy at all, even on the weekend. Please mind that we visited on a grey and cloudy Saturday in November. The park is very easily reachable from Porto by 25 minute Metro ride and a short walk.

Recommended when visiting Porto for more than a couple of days.

Please note: zoo staff typically speaks English and likely Spanish too, but the park itself (signs, audio guide) is only available...