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| - The Pittsburgh zoo has come quite a long way since I remember my first time visiting the zoo as a child. The first time I visited was probably about 1989 when we first moved to Pittsburgh, and at that time, the "children's zoo" (If you could call it that) consisted of a yak, a couple of small mammals, and a camel. The redesigned Kids Kingdom is quite the maze of slides, rope climbs, and tunnels, in addition to a walk-through deer path ( It's nice to see them alive instead of dead on the side of the road for once) and walk-through kanagroo path. They have a nice indoor building that also contains bats, small mammals and reptiles, and a lot of interactive activities for kiddos of all ages.
The zoo divides the animals by continents, which from other zoos I have visited, is a standard way of organizing exhibits. They are lacking some animals I have really enjoyed from other zoos, namely panda bears and hippos, but they do have a wide variety in general. Many cities have separate aquariums, however, Pittsburgh's aquarium is part of the zoo and included with admission. Just like the kiddie zoo, the aquarium has come quite a long way from the dolphin I remember as a child that always looked so sad swimming back and forth. My favorite exhibit is a tie between the penguins and the tall shark tank. For kids they have a touch tank with manta rays in it, which is neat.
Obviously, you want to pick a nice day to visit the zoo, but I'd also suggest going on a bit of a cooler day if possible. The animals are more active then and you don't sweat up a storm hiking through the hills the zoo is built on. Also, parking is free but there is a PAT bus stop right there too.
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