The Santa Barbara Zoo is a thirty-acre zoo located in Santa Barbara, California. The zoo is used to be known as the Child?s Estate Zoo. It plays home to six hundred animals and has been ranked plenty of times as one of the best small zoos in the United States.

The Santa Barbara Zoo first opened its doors to the public on August 1963. The zoo has six popular exhibits. In the Cats of Africa exhibit, you can see African lions and black-footed cats. The Forest?s Edge features two Western lowland gorillas. In the California Trails exhibit, you can see California condors, bald eagles, and desert tortoises. The African Veldt features animals from the savannah, such as Baringo giraffes and Sulcata tortoises. The Crawford Family Penguin House is home to a colony of Humboldt penguins, and the Elephant Walk features Asian elephants.

The Santa Barbara zoo offers various attractions like the barnyard, where you can feed domestic sheep. The zoo also offers a giraffe-feeding activity, where you can hand-feed the Baringo giraffes. The zoo carousel is a treat that is sure to amuse the youngest visitors. The zoo?s most recent resident is a life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex. Meet Duncan the Dinosaur and watch him run, roar, growl, blink, and even poop.

The Santa Barbara Zoo also lets you get behind the scenes through its ?Keeper for a Day? activity. Guests can secure backstage passes and get up close and personal with the animals themselves. The Santa Barbara Zoo also has dining areas, lodging options, and a gift and souvenir shop. The zoo has a smoke-free environment.