Blank Park Zoo — Attraction in Des Moines

Zoos are complicated, especially when you know how abusive and dangerous some can be to the animals in captivity. I did my research on this zoo before deciding to visit and understood the situations behind the animals that have died here from accidents or neglect. However, this being an AZA-accredited zoo dedicated to conservation, and with only a handful of animal deaths, made me decide to visit. I'm quite glad I did, and am hopeful that in future this zoo will better be able to care for its animals.

As with most zoos, many of the exhibit spaces seemed small for the animals they housed, tho there were some that my pal and I agreed were quite large. The bald eagles, for example, seemed frightened and were glued to a branch in their small, dark enclosure. But the otter nearby was busy swimming around, nosing thru the plants, and generally seeming to have a delightful time. The seals and sea lions were also quite active and seemed happy to circle around and splash in their enclosure. The tortoises had a relatively large space compared to their needs.

My absolute favorite animal, and one of the reasons I was so excited to visit, were the two stunning, massive cinereous vultures housed in a large enclosure with some monkeys. It was a joy to watch the vultures hop around, spread their large wings, and observe us visitors. I was extremely disappointed, however, that there was no signage about them anywhere! Vultures are such vital parts of ecosystems, and are extremely misunderstood birds. People ought to be educated about them instead of viewing them and mistaking them for eagles. I ended up educating some other visitors about vultures, and at one point someone asked if I worked for the zoo!

There were some other areas of signage that were lacking as well, but the vultures was the most disappointing. Many vulture species are endangered or threatened, and zoos should be spaces to educate people on all animals and how interconnected ecosystems are, rather than only highlighting the charismatic animals. I wish the website also had a complete list of the animals here, instead of highlighting the popular ones like giraffes and tortoises. "Ugly" guys need some love and attention, too!

Lightning round: The train ride was lovely, tho the usage of a native american face as a train logo on most of the cars is cringe. It's 2023; indigeneous people are not mascots. Stroller and wheelchair accessibility is decent, tho there are some areas where there are only stairs to access a space (such as a viewing station by the giraffes). The vending machine near the train station wasn't working. None of the gift shop animals included vultures or "non-cute" animals. Signage for the virtual map QR code was unclear, and I wish that the online map was interactive or at the very least oriented so north is at the top. And since there are still some people without phones, having a small stack of paper maps and/or having some large, standing "you are here"-style board maps...

We love the zoo, especially because we live on the south side and can take advantage of it on a regular basis.

If you go here regularly, the membership is completely worth it. The membership also gives you benefits at other zoos such as the Omaha zoo too.

They have fun extra activities here such as face painting, feeding the goats, hanging out with alpacas, and giraffe feeding. It would also be a nice venue for an event like a wedding, and the building they have on site where they host some special activities and events at times is very nice too.

They are constantly improving things at the zoo and it’s always exciting to see what things they add next. Depending on how quickly you go through the zoo, you can visit everything in a couple hours or so, or about one hour if you are just walking through the exhibits for the most part.

Great family friendly place, always a great place to bring the kids, and I have always found people here to be pleasant and polite. Also highly recommend the Zoo Brew events to experience the zoo with adults only as well.

Parking can fill up quickly in the main lot and the overflow lot. I recommend coming early or during the weekdays. In the summer the weekdays can get busy too though. I like parking in the side lot to the west of the main one. It is still close to the entrance, and seems like fewer people look for parking there.

Keep up the great work...

It's a good zoo for a smaller city. I especially like the cool entrance through the "caves" that lead into the botanical garden with waterfall and rope bridge. The zoo is laid out in a nice circle. My granddaughter enjoyed the Merry Go Round and feeding the giraffe for $5 for three helpings. Nice sized petting zoo with a pond that has huge Koi fish to feed and swans. I was a little sad to see they added Alpacas in a fence off area that cost like 30 bucks for a half hour. My favorite was the bird enclosure by the train entrance where you can pay $2 to feed parakeets a sick with PB and for seed on it and they'll come sit right on your hand. My 1 y.o. granddaughter did actually grab one off my hand so be careful!😳😳 but it was fine. The peacocks were also a favorite and they roam around free on the sidewalks near the petting zoo. The tortoises 🐢 were so neat, I could sit and watch them all day and you can get fairly close to them. The big fella has a couple girlfriend in there so watch out for some frisky business when you walk up🤣. They were good about allowing us to bring our own waters in the stroller too but there is a little spot to buy food at the top of the hill by the restrooms and just before the Giraffes. There's also pop vending machines scattered about. They do face painting by the petting zoo too. I bought my daughter's family a season pass for Christmas and I highly...