Zoos offer a safe and informative haven to observe wild animals, which typically nest inside department stores behind an impenetrable fort of last season's paisley trench coats. Get a better glimpse with today's Groupon, which gets you membership to The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. Choose between two options:

• For $45, you get a one-year family membership (a $99 value).
• For $30, you get a one-year individual membership (a $60 value).

Situated on 160 acres of Druid Hill Park and founded in 1876, The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is the third-oldest zoo in the United States. With a membership, you’ll get the following benefits:

• Unlimited admission to The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
• Members-only special events
• Discounts and advance ticket sales for special events, including the Breakfast with the Animals series and Brew at the Zoo and Wine Too
• VIP members-only entrance
• 25% off guest admission tickets
• Discounts on zoo camps and gift shop purchases
• Free or discounted admission to more than 130 zoos nationwide

As visitors wander among the habitats for more than 1,500 birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles representing nearly 200 species, they can closely observe the naturally social Addra gazelle or debate Cartesian philosophy with the African slender-snouted crocodile. In the Polar Bear Watch exhibit, late-blooming Arctic explorers can set forth on a tundra buggy to view Anoki, Magnet, and Alaska, the bear the state was named after, cavort in and out of the polar ice pool. In addition to exotic species, displays of local fauna can be found in the Maryland Wilderness section of the zoo, home to The Children's Zoo.

Experts field questions about the animals during 15-minute keeper chats, held daily at the African watering hole or the leopard-training demo, and at the polar bear, chimp, and okapi or warthog habitats. After sating your gnawing hunger for zoological knowledge, silence the voice in your stomach with a picnic lunch at one of the zoo's several open-air eating areas. For transportation to the bustling epicenter of the animal kingdom, board the free tram.

Reviews

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore received a good review from Frommer's and has been featured in the Baltimore Sun. TripAdvisors give it an average of 3.5 owl eyes, and Yelpers and Insider Pagers agree on a four-star average rating.

• The Chimpanzee Forest, Leopard Lair, and African Watering Hole are fun, but the best part is the children's zoo, with its lily pads, tree slide, farm animals, and Maryland wilderness exhibit. – Frommer's
• The zoo features an excellent Africa section, a good arctic section, and a fun swamp to venture through. – musicalsteve82, TripAdvisor