National Zoo and Aquarium Month
Facilitating immersive experiences to educate and inspire conservation efforts for diverse ecosystems and endangered species.
Drive family visits and memberships to zoos and aquariums by positioning June as peak season for affordable, educational wildlife experiences and conservation support.
- Plan your summer zoo adventure: best times to visit and membership perks
- Behind-the-scenes conservation stories from your local zoo
- Virtual zoo tours and live webcams for armchair explorers
- Family-friendly June activities: why zoos matter for endangered species protection
Zoos have a long, and sometimes stained, history that can be traced back more than 3000 years to wealthy people with private collections of animals who wanted to show off their status and power. While people at the time may not have been as interested in the welfare and care of the animals, in more recent decades, zoos have become as much about conservation and protection of animals as they are about entertainment.
National Zoo and Aquarium Month is an event that can follow its roots back more than 40 years. It was in 1982 when then US President Ronald Reagan proclaimed that June would be the month set aside to honor zoos and aquariums as part of a larger effort to promote marine life and animal life conservation.
Visit the Zoo or Aquarium
National Zoo and Aquarium Month is the perfect time to plan a trip to the zoo with family or friends. In many places, the weather during June is warm enough to enjoy the animals but not too hot so that zoo visitors are miserable spending the day outside. Those who live in a city with a local zoo might consider this as an opportunity to purchase a zoo membership, which often comes with not only unlimited entrance to the zoo throughout the year, but may also have other perks as well.
Check Out the Biggest Zoos in the World
Those diehard fans of zoos may want to take National Zoo and Aquarium Month even more seriously by planning a road trip or vacation to visit some of the most impressive zoos all throughout the world. Or, for those who can’t easily travel, go ahead and take a look at their live zoo webcams online. Berlin Zoological Garden. Representing the largest collection of animal species in the world, this German zoo is more than 150 years old and features 17,000 animals and more than 1,500 different species. Columbus Zoo & Aquarium. With more than 10,000 animals and 600 species that call this zoo home, this zoo-aquarium combination is centrally located in Ohio and accessible to tons of people from different towns and cities in the midwestern United States.Beijing Zoo. See some of the most beautiful collections of rare animals native to China, including the beloved Giant Pandas, as well as 14,500 other animals from over 450 species. Toronto Zoo. North Americans can head up to this largest zoo in Canada to gain access to more than 16,000 animals with over 491 different species.