Wonderful zoo experience. My family and I visitin...

Wonderful zoo experience. My family and I visiting the Cincinnati Zoo for the first time over Memorial Day weekend. We are from Detroit and have visited at least 15 zoos. Cincinnati Zoo is definitely toward the top of the list, if not the best zoo we have experienced. The cheetah show was incredible. The staff all seemed to genuinely love their jobs and the animals they care for on a daily basis. The zoo was very clean and well laid out. This isn't the typical cement enclosure park with cages. There are trees, flowers and bamboo everywhere. The animals are in what appear to be natural environments which has to make much better for them compared to other zoos. Many exhibits get your very closed to animals that others zoos don't offer. We were a couple feet from the snow leopards where other zoos you'd be seeing them from 100 feet away and they would be in an unnatural cement area. The animals are mostly the same at all zoos - what set them apart are the staff and the environment in which the animals live and the visitors experience. The lushness of the zoo is what really stuck out to me. This doesn't feel like a zoo. It feels like you are walking into the natural environment of the animals and seeing them as they would be in the wild. Amazing experience - thank you! This is a destination zoo if you are within a 6 hour drive. We drove 4.5 hours and it was well worth it.