Updated for September 2026

The Best Zoos in Louisiana

How this list is ordered: by how complete our listing is — how much we hold on opening hours, ticket prices, accreditation, photographs, animals and facilities. It is a measure of our own coverage, not a judgement of the venue. We hold no visitor scores or conservation assessments, so “best” here means every zoo in Louisiana that qualifies for the list, fullest entry first.

Listed alphabetically

  1. Animal feeding experienceRides and attractionsEducation program

    Alexandria Zoological Park

    Zoo in Alexandria

    Alexandria Zoological Park, opened in 1926, is a zoo in Alexandria, United States.

  2. Audubon Zoo

    Zoo in New Orleans

    Covering 58 acres with more than 2,000 animals, the zoo sits within Audubon Park on the river side of Magazine Street. It is run by the Audubon Nature Institute, whose other sites take in the aquarium, the Louisiana Nature Center, the Freeport-McMoran Species Survival Center, the park and a coastal wildlife network.

  3. Keeper talk or show

    Baton Rouge Zoo

    Zoo in Baton Rouge

    The parish recreation and park commission, BREC, owns and runs the zoo, which holds over 800 animals.

  4. PlaygroundGuided tour

    Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo

    Zoo in Monroe

    Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo is a zoo in Monroe, United States.

  5. Indoor spaces

    Aquarium of the Americas

    Zoo & Aquarium in New Orleans

    The aquarium specialises in the aquatic life of the Americas, with exhibits covering North and South American regions, and holds 10,000 animals of 530 species. It reopened on 8 June 2023 after a $41 million rebuild that merged the Audubon Insectarium into the building. It is run by the Audubon Nature Institute, which also oversees the Audubon Zoo, a nature centre, species survival and research centres, a coastal wildlife network and parks.

  6. Audubon Aquarium & Insectarium

    Zoo & Aquarium in New Orleans

    Part of the Audubon Nature Institute group, the combined attraction dates in its present form from 8 June 2023, when it reopened after moving out of the U.S. Custom House Federal Building and onto the aquarium site. The insect museum had first opened on 13 June 2008, and it took a Thea Award in the science centre category the following year.

  7. Petting zoo

    High Delta Safari Park

    Zoo in Delhi

    The park lay off Louisiana Highway 17, 9 miles north of exit 153 on I-20, midway between Vicksburg and Monroe. It was sold at a bankruptcy auction on 21 November 2009.

  8. Pinola Conservancy

    Zoo in Shreveport

    Pinola Conservancy is a zoo in Shreveport, United States.

Our ranking methodology

This is not a ranking. The 8 venues above are listed alphabetically by name, the same order used throughout this site. We do not collect visitor reviews, star ratings, ticket-sales figures or a conservation-impact score, so none of those exist here to rank by — “best” in this page’s title means every venue that qualifies for this list, not first-to-last by quality. If we ever add a data source robust enough to support an honest ranking, this note and the order above will change together.