Free OR reduced (commonly 50%) general admission at other participating zoos/aquariums -- which one applies is set per receiving institution, not standardized. AZA's official chart uses a numeric 'reciprocity' cross-reference system (per secondary reporting, since aza.org blocked automated access): find your home institution's number, find the destination institution's number, and a reference table indicates the discount tier. A member-published 2026 mirror of the chart (see source) marks free-admission institutions with an asterisk; unmarked institutions offer a reduced/discounted rate. The current cycle runs May 2026 - April 2027. Current paid membership (any card-carrying member level, with a physical membership card + photo ID) at an AZA-accredited zoo or aquarium that has opted into the Reciprocal Admissions Program. Not every AZA-accredited institution participates, and participation/benefit level is set individually by each institution via AZA's annually-published reciprocity chart. Read from the official AZA Reciprocal Admissions Program roster — 148 US institutions in our map, pulled 2026-09-05. Use the lookup on this page to see the ones near your ZIP with the rules computed.
Roughly 175-200+ participating zoos/aquariums appear on the sourced 2026 chart (exact automated count is unreliable due to the PDF's 3-column layout). Secondary reporting states there are ~240 AZA-accredited institutions total in the US, but not all opt into the Reciprocal Admissions Program -- AZA's own reciprocity page does not publish a single headline participant count. — published as a PDF chart ('2026 AZA Reciprocal Admissions Chart', cycle May 2026-April 2027), distributed by AZA to member institutions, which in turn is commonly re-posted by individual zoos/aquariums on their own sites. aza.org/reciprocity itself is protected by a Cloudflare JS challenge that blocked automated fetch; used a mirrored copy of the same official chart published by the Phoenix Zoo (dated 'Updated 4/3/26') for the roster data below -- this is the same underlying AZA-issued list, not an independent source. at aza.org. Rosters change quarterly; our map was pulled 2026-09-05 and is refreshed on that rhythm.
California: Los Angeles Zoo, Oakland Zoo, San Francisco Zoological Gardens, Sacramento Zoo, Fresno Chaffee Zoo, Santa Barbara Zoo
New York: Buffalo Zoo, Aquarium of Niagara, Seneca Park Zoo, Staten Island Zoo, Rosamund Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park, Utica Zoo
Illinois: Lincoln Park Zoo, John G. Shedd Aquarium, Miller Park Zoo, Peoria Zoo, Scovill Zoo, Cosley Zoo
Texas: Dallas Zoo, Fort Worth Zoo, Houston Zoo, San Antonio Zoological Society, Texas State Aquarium, Gladys Porter Zoo
Florida: ZooTampa at Lowry Park, The Florida Aquarium, Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens, Zoo Miami, Brevard Zoo, Palm Beach Zoo
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Zoo, Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium, ZOOAMERICA North American Wildlife Park, National Aviary, Elmwood Park Zoo, Lehigh Valley Zoo
Ohio: Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, The Toledo Zoo, Akron Zoological Park, The Wilds
Michigan: Detroit Zoo, Binder Park Zoo, John Ball Zoological Garden, Potter Park Zoological Gardens, Saginaw Children's Zoo, SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium
Washington: Woodland Park Zoo, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park
Massachusetts: Franklin Park Zoo, Buttonwood Park Zoo, Capron Park Zoo, Walter D. Stone Memorial Zoo, Museum of Science
Colorado: Pueblo Zoo, Butterfly Pavilion
Georgia: Zoo Atlanta
Minnesota: Minnesota Zoological Garden, Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, Lake Superior Zoo
Missouri: Saint Louis Zoo, Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium, SEA LIFE Kansas City Aquarium, Endangered Wolf Center, Dickerson Park Zoo
Arizona: Reid Park Zoo, SEA LIFE Arizona Aquarium
A reciprocal membership plus a free-day calendar covers most trips: see free museum days in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles — or the full free-days index.
↥ Check another membership → Browse all reciprocity guides →
Free OR reduced (commonly 50%) general admission at other participating zoos/aquariums -- which one applies is set per receiving institution, not standardized. AZA's official chart uses a numeric 'reciprocity' cross-reference system (per secondary reporting, since aza.org blocked automated access): find your home institution's number, find the destination institution's number, and a reference table indicates the discount tier. A member-published 2026 mirror of the chart (see source) marks free-admission institutions with an asterisk; unmarked institutions offer a reduced/discounted rate. The current cycle runs May 2026 - April 2027.. Current paid membership (any card-carrying member level, with a physical membership card + photo ID) at an AZA-accredited zoo or aquarium that has opted into the Reciprocal Admissions Program. Not every AZA-accredited institution participates, and participation/benefit level is set individually by each institution via AZA's annually-published reciprocity chart.
Our current map holds 148 US roster rows (pulled 2026-09-05); the official roster is at www.aza.org/reciprocity.
No fixed, universally-stated mileage exclusion rule was found in the sources retrieved (aza.org/reciprocity itself returned a Cloudflare bot-challenge and could not be fetched directly). In practice AZA lets each institution independently decide which other institutions to reciprocate with via the chart, and nearby institutions commonly decline to reciprocate with each other at their own discretion -- but this is institution-by-institution, not a published universal radius like ASTC's 90 miles. Should be verified directly against the official aza.org/reciprocity PDF chart when it can be reached without a bot-challenge.