Georgetown, Guyana With Kids: Is the Zoo Worth It?

Not right now. Guyana Zoo, inside Georgetown's botanical gardens, has been closed to the public since around 18-19 July 2026 while the Protected Areas Commission carries out preparatory work on a government-funded rebuild, and no reopening date has been announced. When it does reopen, expect a small wildlife rescue centre worth an hour or so rather than a full day out — one stop on a Guyana trip, not the plan for it.

What not to miss

Guyana Zoo sits inside the botanical gardens in Georgetown's National Park area, and it is the country's main rescue destination for injured, sick, orphaned, unwanted or confiscated wildlife. Before the closure it drew up to 10,000 visitors a month and played a role in environmental education for school children.

Featured location Guyana Zoo Georgetown, Guyana Proposals for a zoo were aired as early as 1880, but nothing opened until 1952, on ground that had served as botanical gardens since 1895. The Victoria Regia Lily, the national flower, grows in those gardens among palms and other tropical planting. Harpy eagles and manatees draw the most attention, and around 25 people were employed in 2005.

Manatees have lived at the zoo since a pair was presented to it in 1895, alongside tapirs and capybaras — harpy eagles and manatees remain its most popular attractions. The best individual story here is the Jabiru stork: South America's tallest flying bird has lived at the zoo for more than 26 years after a broken wing left it unable to survive in the wild, and in 2024 the company SLB sponsored a renovated enclosure for it alongside red and yellow-footed tortoises, two-toed sloths, agoutis and toucans.

the closure is also necessary to ensure the safety of visitors, staff and the animals while these initial works are undertaken

Best time to visit

When it's running, regular hours are Monday to Thursday, 8am-4:30pm, and Friday 8am-3:30pm; it's closed Saturdays and Sundays. None of that applies right now: the zoo has been shut since around 18-19 July 2026 for "preparatory works... to support planned improvements to the facility," and the Commission has committed only to "updates as works progress" — no date for reopening.

The improvement plans are real money, not just talk. Guyana's parliament approved GY$2 billion for zoo work in February 2025, and in April 2026 President Irfaan Ali confirmed the wider Georgetown Zoo and Botanical Gardens transformation, including rehabilitating the gardens' water systems and building "modern zoo infrastructure to improve animal care," would begin shortly. The Commission has also proposed renaming the site Guyana's Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Centre, with a new nature school built for visiting students.

With kids

When it's open, the zoo aims squarely at families: it runs a one-week Zoo Camp for children aged 6 to 14, and the grounds cover just 2 hectares, small enough that even a short visit takes in the main enclosures.

Other wildlife nearby

The botanical gardens the zoo sits inside are worth the trip in their own right. They hold the Seven Ponds, or "Place of Heroes," a burial ground for national leaders, and, separately, a mausoleum for former president Forbes Burnham.

For wildlife in the wild rather than in rescue enclosures, Kaieteur Falls sits roughly 633km south of Georgetown and is reached by air through Kaieteur International Airport at the falls themselves. It's considered the largest single-drop waterfall on earth by volume, and it's Guyana's most-visited destination, drawing more than 8,000 visitors a year. Its wildlife includes harpy eagles and giant river otters, plus a golden rocket frog that breeds only in one bromeliad species found there and nowhere else on Earth.