America's Best Zoos: A Travel Guide for Fans & Families

Animals are hot! Animal Planet rules TV ratings. The Lion King reigns on Broadway. March of the Penguins was boffo. Polar bear cub Knut is an international celebrity. Zoos are educational, cheaper than amusement parks, fun for the whole family, and attract more visitors than spectator sports. America's Best Zoos is a comprehensive guide to a true family entertainment bargain. Arranged geographically for touring convenience, it gives detailed descriptions of top zoos across the country.

Jon Wassner: When I was three years old, I visited the Indianapolis Zoo with my mom and brother. At the giraffe pen, a giraffe leaned over the fence and licked me on the side of the face. Right then I knew my life's path would lead me back to a zoo. As I grew up, my interest in zoos and animals grew with me. Family vacations were accompanied by at least one, and usually multiple, zoo visits. These continued until I reached college and began what I thought would be my long-awaited career in zoos. While earning my degree at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, I spent two summers working as a zookeeper intern, the first at the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend, Indiana and the second at Chicago's Brookfield Zoo. I worked at the Indianapolis Zoo as a full-time zookeeper for Australian and African animals for a season following graduation. By then, I realized my interests lay more in zoo-exhibit design than in zookeeping. My hobbies are visiting zoos - I've tallied sixty-nine zoos and aquariums in the United States so far - playing soccer, and traveling with my wife, Kelly. We live in Indianapolis with our cat, Maddie.