Is There a Zoo in Bogotá? Where to See Animals Near the Capital

Not inside the city: Bogotá has no zoo within its urban perimeter. Zoológico Santacruz, in San Antonio del Tequendama about 45 minutes away, takes in animals confiscated by environmental authorities in Colombia. For a longer day out, Parque Jaime Duque's Bioparque Wakatá sits at kilometre 34 of the Autopista Norte, and Piscilago pairs a zoo with a water park, two to three hours' drive away.

Which venue to choose

Bogotá did once have a zoo. In the 1960s and 1970s the Parque Nacional held an amusement park and a small zoo, until the district government moved them out. Today the zoos are all outside the city, so the choice comes down to how much of the day you want to give it.

Zoológico Santacruz: the closest

Santacruz was founded on 3 May 1975 by the animal scientist Gonzalo Chacón Rueda, and its first resident was a peccary. Since then it has cared for hundreds of animals confiscated by the regional environmental authority, the CAR, and Blu Radio has described it as a sanctuary for animals rescued and confiscated by the authorities. It opens from 8am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, on Sundays and on public holidays. Dress for mild weather: the zoo sits 9 km from the Salto del Tequendama, at 1,860 metres, with an average temperature of 18 to 22 °C.

Featured location Zoofundación Santacruz Colombia ALPZA Zoofundación Santacruz is a zoo in Colombia.

Parque Jaime Duque: a full day north of the city

Parque Jaime Duque, at kilometre 34 of the Autopista Norte in Tocancipá, makes a full day out. Its Bioparque Wakatá cares for about 650 animals of 110 domestic and wild species, and 60% of the wild ones were sent by environmental authorities as victims of wildlife trafficking. The Wakatá walk alone takes about two hours.

The park opens from 9am to 5pm Wednesday to Friday and from 10am to 6pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Children up to 85 centimetres tall get in free, the wristband includes parking, and you can bring your own food as long as it is not in cooking pots or polystyrene containers. Current hours are on the park's schedules and rates page.

Piscilago: animals and a water park

Piscilago is a different kind of day. Run by the family benefits fund Colsubsidio at kilometre 105 of the Bogotá-Girardot road, it combines five family pools and 35 recreational options with a zoo that, by Infobae's count, holds around 200 species of fauna and flora. It also protects more than 35 hectares of tropical dry forest. The drive takes two to three hours each way, so treat it as a full day, and one for warm weather: Infobae pitched it as a way to escape Bogotá's cold climate without travelling far.

Featured location Piscilago Colombia ALPZA Piscilago is a zoo in Colombia.

Going further: Cali

If your trip continues to Cali, the Fundación Zoológica de Cali covers 10 hectares and is home to about 1,200 animals of some 180 species.

What not to miss

At Santacruz, start with the cats. The carnivore section includes a white tiger, a black jaguar and the ocelot, the largest of the Americas' small spotted cats. Then find the cotton-top tamarin, a monkey endemic to Colombia and found only in the Atlántico and Bolívar region, and the lowland tapir, listed as critically endangered in Colombia's 2004 red book of mammals. The herbivores include a hippopotamus. A Blu Radio feature on the zoo adds birds of prey such as the páramo eagle and the Andean condor, parrots and macaws, the emu, the river otter and the raccoon.

Weekends bring more to do. You can ask at the ticket office for a guided walk with an ecological educator, and you can join the farm activities and meet the rabbits, cows, donkeys and sheep. In the school holidays, Santacruz runs programmes that include materials, zoo admission, a snack and lunch, with one aimed at children aged 5 to 7.

At Piscilago, the collection has grown through transfers from elsewhere. In April 2020 a tiger was moved there with the help of the air force, the army and environmental authorities. In August 2025, Cornare reported moving 22 wild animals there with the Colombian Aerospace Force, among them an owl that had lost the ability to hunt and two small grey titi monkeys raised behind bars; all had been through rehabilitation but could not recover enough to survive in the wild. Look out for the anaconda, and use the park's app: it shows waiting times and the park map, and its QR codes give information on the conservation area's species.

Best time to visit

Bogotá's dry and rainy seasons alternate through the year, and the driest months are December, January, July and August: the best bet for outdoor paths without a soaking.

School holidays shape the crowds. In 2026, Bogotá's public-school pupils are off from 22 June to 6 July, for Holy Week, for an October recess from 5 to 12 October, and for the year-end break from 30 November 2026 to 11 January 2027. Expect more families in those weeks, and go midweek if you can.

The day of the week matters too. Santacruz opens every day, so it is the one to pick on a Monday or Tuesday, when Parque Jaime Duque is closed. At Jaime Duque, last entry to Wakatá is 4pm on weekdays and 5pm at weekends, so arrive by early afternoon to give the two-hour walk its full time.

Getting there

• Zoológico Santacruz: buses leave Bogotá's bus terminal from the yellow module every 15 minutes, and every 10 minutes at weekends. By car, leave Bogotá on the Autopista Sur and take the road towards Mesitas del Colegio; the zoo is signposted, and the route passes the Salto de Tequendama waterfall.
• Parque Jaime Duque: from the Terminal del Norte station, take an intercity bus to Tocancipá, get off at the Arrieros restaurant roundabout and walk about five minutes to the pedestrian entrance.
• Piscilago: by car, follow the Autopista Sur out to the Soacha boundary, carry on to Melgar, then take the Girardot-Melgar corridor until the park appears on your right. Allow two to three hours.

Other wildlife nearby

To see Colombian animals in the wild, look north-east of Bogotá to Chingaza National Natural Park, in the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes. It has recorded 101 mammal species, the Andean bear among its highlights, and 531 bird species. A visit takes planning: there is no public transport, so you need a private or hired vehicle, and you must contact the park to check capacity, availability and dates before you pay. Rain falls all year, though less of it between December and February.