Fodor's Expert Review Indianapolis Zoo

Forget cages. The Indianapolis Zoo is all about biomes, providing its 3,000 animals living habitats that simulate the real thing. Here, you'll find temperate and tropical forests with red pandas, white-handed gibbons, otters, Alaskan brown bears, and American bald eagles. In the desert biome, look out for the rare Jamaican iguana, the meerkats and the endangered Grand Cayman blue iguana. Across the plains you'll see kudu, zebra, ostriches, lions and baboons. The brand-new Flights of Fancy exhibit gives winged beauties the spotlight, showcasing hundreds of exotic and local birds. A zoo favorite is the Marine Mammals exhibit, which boasts the world's only underwater dolphin viewing dome. This, plus the zoo's meticulous landscaping of its White River Gardens won the zoo the country's first triple accreditation as zoological park, aquarium and botanical garden.