Top American Zoos – The Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum

Just a couple weeks ago we featured a Living Desert, and today we’re back with a Living Museum which, for better or worse, is nothing like the latest Ben Stiller paycheck.

The Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum is a great opportunity for us not only to get the word out on a top-notch family attraction, but also to finally bring a little love to Oklahoma, long neglected by USA Travel Guide and for that we apologize.

Opened in 1927 in Tulsa, Oklahoma’s humongous Mohawk Park, the Tulsa Zoo was a global endeavor from day one featuring a collection of 35 animals spanning the Earth, including an American black bear and an Indian rhesus monkey. This collection has since grown tremendously to more than 1500 animals across 436 species, many of them endangered, rare or at risk, but the curators have never abandoned the global focus.

Arranged by continent or geographic designation, the zoo features robust habitats housing the animals of Asia, Africa, North America, tropical America and the oceans and islands of the world. The amazing menagerie features reticulated giraffes, lions, zebras, meerkats, chimpanzees, white rhinos, siamangs, Siberian tigers, Asian elephants, African penguins, lemurs and spectacled bears, just to name a few.

One consistently popular attraction (and half of the name) is the North American Living Museum, an unusual four-building complex that features educational museum-style exhibits, some interactive even, to round out an afternoon of animal encounters. Divided among four abundant North American ecological regions – arctic, desert, forest and lowlands – the Living Museum is a chance to learn as much about the habitats as about the animals that call them home. Popular stops include the earthquake simulation, natural walk-through cave and 20,000-gallon shark tank.

The Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the American Association of Museums (AAM), and they’ve got a bid for membership to the American Public Gardens Association (APGA), so this place has all the right credentials, but what we love is how much the place always seems to have going on. Nearly every month brings a new event to the zoo, some upscale, some family-friendly, all of them a good time.

Coming soon is their flagship event, WALTZ on the Wild Side 2009. This major fundraising event (tickets are $150) hosts a live auction, silent auction, live music, the cuisine of more than 40 restaurants and a classy cocktail atmosphere where Safari Chic is A-OK. The party is June 19, 2009, so if you’ll be in the area, there’s still plenty of time to plan to attend.

The Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum is open year-round from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Non-member adult admission is $8.00, quite reasonable for a park of this caliber. Learn more at their Web site.

For hotels in Tulsa, OK, we like the Hilton Tulsa Southern Hills. It’s not the closest you could find (it’s located adjacent to Oral Roberts University), but we always have a good experience at the property and the prices are reasonable. Newly-renovated, too!

Have a fun time at this Top American Zoo!

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2. Top American Zoos: Zoo Atlanta
3. Top American Zoos – The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
4. Top American Zoos – San Antonio Zoo
5. Top American Zoos – San Francisco Zoo
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7. Top American Zoos – The Bronx Zoo