Guests Who are Blind or Have Low Vision

The Birmingham Zoo is proud to offer our newest resource, the Visually Inclusive Program or V.I.P. This program is designed to provide educational materials for guests who are blind or have low vision in order to enhance their experience throughout the Zoo.

If you wish to check-out the V.I.P bag please email the Guest Service Team at [email protected] at least 24 hours prior to your visit date. Please be aware it is not available for same day reservation, we do require an advance notice. The V.I.P bag can be checked out for no charge, and includes objects to touch, hear, and smell correlating to habitats throughout the Zoo. A guide explaining these items is available in written text, with a Braille version coming soon! For more information, or to reserve the V.I.P Bag, please email the Guest Service Department at [email protected] or call 205.879.0409 Ext. 231. We look forward to seeing you at The Birmingham Zoo!

In addition to the V.I.P. Bag, there are several tactile resources to enhance your experience.  Below is a list of tactile exhibits located throughout the Zoo:

• Trails of Africa

  • Elephant statue at Safari Peak

    

  • Baby giraffe statue at the Kiwanis Giraffe Encounter

  • Life-sized cinereous vulture cutout at Kiwanis Giraffe Encounter

• Primates/South America Building

  • Cast of jaguar paw print at jaguar habitat

  • Life-sized orangutan statue and cutout at orangutan habitat

• Reptile Building

  • Life-sized Komodo Dragon statue

• Alabama Wilds

  • Tree trunk featuring bear markings and bear paw prints at bear habitat

  • Life-sized golden eagle cutout at golden eagle habitat

Service Animals

All service animals must check in through our Guest Services office before being admitted on Zoo grounds. During your visit, please be sensitive to the Zoo animals.  If they seem distressed by your service animal’s presence, please step back from the habitat to help the Zoo animal to calm down.

For the health and safety of the Zoo animals, personal pets are not permitted.  The Zoo does not offer pet boarding facilities.