Rounding out the categories for animal-centered organizations worthy of your donations is zoos and aquariums. (Previously the top 79 animal rights, welfare, and service organizations and the top 24 wildlife conservation organizations were listed.)
“Top” standings were derived by using ratings generated by Charity Navigator. Any zoo or aquarium that they gave four stars (their highest rating) to meant it passed mustard and made the list.
The zoos and aquariums are listed in alphabetical order and are linked to their websites. In cases where the information was readily available, each zoos number of animals and acres is also listed.
1. Birmingham Zoo – Birmingham, Alabama. Number of animals: 750. Number of acres: 122.
2. Blank Park Zoo – Des Moines, Iowa. Number of animals: 1,484. Number of acres: 22.
3. Dallas Zoological Society – Dallas, Texas. Number of acres: 95.
4. Fort Wayne Zoological Society – Fort Wayne, Indiana. Number of animals: 1,500.
5. Henry Vilas Park Zoological Society – Madison, Wisconsin. Number of acres: 30.
6. Houston Zoo – Houston, Texas. Number of animals: 4,500. Number of acres: 55.
7. Louisville Zoo Foundation – Louisville, Kentucky. Number of animals: 1,300.
8. Memphis Zoo – Memphis, Tennessee. Number of animals: 3,500. Number of acres: 70.
9. Monterey Bay Aquarium – Monterey, California. Number of species: 550. Over 100 exhibit tanks.
10. North Carolina Aquarium Society – Comprised of three facilities located at Roanoke Island, Pine Knoll Shores, and Fort Fisher.
11. North Carolina Zoological Society – Asheboro, North Carolina. Number of animals: 1,100. Number of acres: 500.
12. Oregon Zoo Foundation – Portland, Oregon. Number of animals: 1,029.
13. Palm Beach Zoo – West Palm Beach, Florida. Number of animals: 1,500. Number of acres: 23.
14. Point Defiance Zoological Society – Tacoma, Washington. Number of animals: 792. Number of acres: 29.
15. Rhode Island Zoological Soceity – Providence, Rhode Island. Number of animals: 950. Number of acres: 40.
16. Seattle Aquarium Society – Seattle, Washington.
17. Wildlife Conservation Society – Bronx, New York. Supports the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and Prospect Park Zoo.
18. Zoological Society of San Diego – San Diego, California. Number of animals: 4,000 (zoo); 3,500 (Wild Animal Park). Number of acres: 100 (zoo); 1,800 (Wild Animal Park).
Questions to Readers
Were any of the zoos where you live on the list? Have you visited any of the above zoos? What’s the best zoo you ever went to? (My favorite, for sentimental reasons, is the Denver Zoo.)
Related Articles
Donating Products and Services to Charity Events
Five Non-Cash Ways to Help Animals/Shelters this Holiday Season
How to Put Your Shopping Dollars to Work Helping Animals