The Zoo Dr. John A. Rivero, is administered by the National Parks Company of Puerto Rico. Kids love zoo’s and the Mayaguez Zoo on the west coast of Puerto Rico is a great way to spend a few hours getting ‘up close’ to some of the planets exotic animals, reptiles and birds. ‘Parque Nacional Zoologico de Puerto Rico Dr. Juan A. Rivero’ to give the zoo its official title (Mayaguez Zoo for short) is not a large zoo, but it is the only zoo here in Puerto Rico. The zoo is home to a wide variety of animals; zebras, lions, tigers, monkeys, giraffe, elephant as well as birds, reptiles and more. The zoo has animals from around the world, with a good representation from the African continent – zebra, elephants, rhinos and lions. The “Mariposario” is the Butterfly House. It is connected to the arthropod museum. You walk through the butterfly area – a large netted area full of flowers with butterflies flying all around. These were mostly Monarchs, with a few other types. This is a guided walk through, with the guide explaining the life cycle of the butterflies and the food they eat. They had a lab area, were they raise butterflies from eggs, then larvae to adult butterflies. The zoo is very well laid out with well paved paths (most of the time) to all of the different animals enclosures. There are ramps to get to all of the animals so the zoo is great if you have strollers or need to use a wheelchair. I will just add, that there are a couple of hilly sections but nothing too steep. It is a great park to spend a family day.
