The St. Louis Zoo won USA Today Reader’s Choice for Best Zoo in 2017 as well as America’s Top Free Attraction. This isn’t the first time the Zoo has won Best Zoo; they won the award in 2016 as well. The Zoo has been open since the early 1900’s and is continuing to add new things as the years pass.

“It makes sense that St. Louis Zoo won Best Zoo,” junior Clayton Burbank said, “I have enjoyed going there with friends and family for years because it’s free fun.”

“Me and my family always go to the Zoo when the weather is nice enough,” sophomore Mandy Heutel said. “We really enjoy going to the Zoo for their holiday decor during Halloween and Christmas.”

The St. Louis Zoo has the newly added sea lion exhibit and they recently revamped the penguin habitat for visitors to experience. The Zoo has invested time and money into creating a family friendly attraction and a safe place for the animals, some even endangered, to live. Winning Best Zoo two years in a row gives the St. Louis Zoo some credit for all the hard work they’ve done in the past and now.

“The penguin exhibit has been my favorite since I was a kid and now that they remodeled it I think I enjoy it as much as I used to as a little girl,” senior Allie Boettcher said.

There’s lots of interactive things for families to enjoy at the St. Louis Zoo such as the stingray exhibit where the visitors can feel the stingrays as they swim by, as well as watch a few small sharks that are harmless. There are even chances to feed the stingrays throughout the day. The St. Louis Zoo now offers a sea lion show for those visiting the zoo to watch and enjoy as the sea lions perform tricks they have learned for the crowds.

“Me and my family always go to the Zoo when the weather is nice enough,” sophomore Mandy Heutel said. “My little cousins go into touch stingray’s almost every time we go.”