Ohio's Cincinnati Zoo named one of the best zoos in America

USA TODAY readers expressed their opinion: Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden remains one of the best places in the country for animal and plant lovers.

The national publication has announced several nominees for the Readers' Choice 10 Best of 2024 award, among which the Cincinnati Zoo was ranked first and received prize nominations in three categories: Best Botanical Garden, Best Zoo, and Best Zoological Exhibition. This was reported by cincinnati.com.

Each week, nominees for the award are selected by a panel of industry experts who choose their favourite attractions in a wide range of categories, from best waterfront to best coastal town and everything in between. Editors then review these nominations and select the final list of contenders, which is presented to the public for voting over a four-week period.

This is where the Cincinnati Zoo came out on top of the publication's travel rankings:

1 nomination for best botanical garden

The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden has more than 100,000 tulips of various colours. The gardens of the Cincinnati Zoo, which became the first zoo in the world to receive the highest level of accreditation for the development and preservation of its botanical gardens last summer, took first place in the ranking of the best botanical gardens in the country.

There is a Butterfly Garden with a variety of plants, a Dinosaur Garden with ferns and conifers, and an Endangered Species Garden dedicated to the propagation and preservation of endangered plants. The spring highlight of the botanical garden is an exhibition of tulips, which includes 100,000 bulbs.

Two Florida botanical gardens took second and third place, respectively: Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens in Coral Gables, Florida, and Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.

2nd place for the best zoo

The Cincinnati Zoo also took second place in the ranking of the best zoos in the United States. Its main attractions include watching hippos underwater and emerging in a bubble among meerkats. During the winter holidays, the zoo hosts the award-winning PNC Festival of Lights light show, which is considered one of the best in the country.

The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska, was ranked first in the Best Zoos ranking, and the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, North Carolina, was ranked third.

3rd place for the best zoo exhibition called Night Hunters

The Cincinnati Zoo's Night Hunters exhibit, which opened in 2011, was carefully planned to provide guests with a multi-sensory experience in which they can observe a variety of cats and other nocturnal hunters. Among them are clouded leopard, black-footed cat, fennec fox, vampire bats and flycatchers.

The journey ends in an open interactive area where guests can meet with a zookeeper and learn more about the animals they saw.

Cincinnati joins other top exhibits like Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which was ranked 2nd, and the Desert Dome at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, which was ranked 1st.

Earlier, TravelWise wrote about the best places in the United States for nature watching.