Where to See Animals in Guatemala

The one zoo this directory lists in Guatemala is La Aurora Zoo in Guatemala City, an accredited collection of 287 species spread across continent-themed zones. If you want animals in the wild rather than in enclosures, the country's cloud forests hold the resplendent quetzal, its national bird, while Tikal's ruins and Monterrico's beaches each come with wildlife of their own.

What not to miss

Featured location Parque Zoológico Nacional La Aurora Guatemala City, Guatemala ALPZA Parque Zoológico Nacional La Aurora, opened in 1924, is a zoo in Guatemala. Animals on show include Camellos, Pericas Australianas, Jirafas and lémures.

The zoo dates to 1924, when it opened in the south of the city as part of a larger entertainment complex then called Parque Reforma; part of that original ground was later given up as La Aurora International Airport expanded, including the 2007 demolition of the zoo's old hippodrome. What's left today is organised by continent: Sabana Africana, an Asia zone, Terra América, and Oceanía, alongside aviaries, an aquarium, a small farm and a botanical garden.

Conservation is a stated focus rather than an afterthought. The zoo runs breeding programmes for the Humboldt penguin, the Central American tapir and the Caribbean flamingo, plus projects for two threatened Guatemalan lizards, the Heloderma and the Abronia, and a Marine Conservation Center working with sea turtles and other marine species.

figures among the 15 best zoological gardens of America

Tickets and saving money

The zoo's own site doesn't publish a general adult or child admission price. What it does price: three animal-feeding experiences (camels and giraffes at Q10 each, Australian parakeets at Q5), and four bookable VIP tours -- Paquidermos (elephants, rhinos and hippos up close), a penguin tour with feeding, Jilefante (giraffes, elephants and lemurs) and a mixed macaw-giraffe-elephant tour -- whose prices you have to request by phone or WhatsApp rather than find online.

If you'll visit more than once, membership is the clearer deal: Q450 a year for one non-transferable adult, or Q1,100 a year for a family of two adults and two children aged 2-12, with unlimited entry, free locker and carriage rental, and access to the Marine Conservation Center thrown in. Membership excludes parking and the animal-interaction experiences above. Parking itself is separate and cheap: Q45 for a car or motorcycle, Q60 for a school bus.

Getting there

The zoo is at 5ta calle Interior, Finca La Aurora, Zona 13 -- close enough to the airport that the zoo's own site puts it at a 20-minute walk. By vehicle, it's about 15 minutes from Zona Viva in Zona 10 and about 30 minutes from downtown Zona 1. Public buses 40R, 63 and 83 stop opposite the zoo's footbridge, the Transmetro green line's nearest stop is Los Arcos, and Transurbano route 250 stops at stop 140, opposite the Mercado de Artesanías.

With kids and accessibility

Wheelchairs, carriages and lockers are all available at the zoo, subject to availability, so it's worth asking at the gate rather than assuming. For younger children, the KinderZoo programme (ages 2-4, with an adult) runs one session a week -- four a month -- for Q400 a month or Q100 for a single day.

Best time to visit

Plan around the Monday closure: the zoo shuts every Monday for park maintenance and is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9am to 4pm.

Other wildlife nearby

Guatemala's national animal, the resplendent quetzal, isn't at the zoo: it lives wild in cloud forests in the country's volcanic highlands and the Verapaces region, and it's classified as near threatened. The bird gave its name to the national currency and appears on the flag and coat of arms.

For wildlife alongside ruins, Tikal National Park -- about 188 miles north of Guatemala City in Petén -- was established in 1955 as the country's first protected area and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Its forests hold howler and spider monkeys, jaguars, ocelots, toucans and harpy eagles among the temple complexes.

Closer to the capital, Monterrico on the Pacific coast is a popular weekend trip from Guatemala City, known for black-sand beaches and as a nesting ground for sea turtles. Their breeding season runs from August to November.