Updated for September 2026
The Best Zoos in São Paulo
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 São Paulo that qualifies for the list, fullest entry first.
Listed alphabetically
-
São Paulo Zoo
Zoo in São Paulo
The grounds take in 824,529 square metres of original Atlantic Forest, crossed by four kilometres of walkways, and contain the headwaters of the historic Ipiranga stream in the city's southern zone. The zoo was inaugurated in 1958 with slightly more than 400 animals.
-
Zoo Safari
Zoo in São Paulo
It was founded in 1971 by Francisco Luiz Galvão to imitate a safari for tourists, and held only lions at first; Simba is Swahili for lion. Visitors tour aboard the park's own vehicles, on a route of about 2.9 km through roughly 80,000 m2.
Our ranking methodology
This is not a ranking. The 2 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.