WACO, Texas (Fox 44) — Cameron Park Zoo is the home to over 1,700 animals.

Cassandra Salicrup loves going to the zoo and seeing all the animals, especially the bears.

“All the animals are really fun to see,” Salicrup said.

Cameron Park Zoo is a totally natural habitat zoo, meaning a lot of the barriers are natural.

“The only exhibits that are not in a natural status are the orangutans or the obvious that you can’t leave in an open situation,” Duane McGregor marketing and public relations specialist said.

The zoo was established in 1993, so it is coming up on its 30th anniversary.

She says one thing people love is the slide at the otter exhibit.

“The otters can actually swim around the tube and interact with the kids as they come out in the slides,” McGregor said.

Selah Mcafe can attest to that.

“It’s fun seeing all the animal exhibits and the otter slide, the new animals that they have,” Mcafe said. “Today they had a birthday party for one of their orangutans.”

Last year, the zoo was on Trip Advisors Top 50 Zoos and this year, the Top 30 Things to do in Texas list.

“How that was chosen is you have to have a consistent four or five star rating for several years,” McGregor said.

Harper Pond gives the zoo five stars.

“I like all of the exhibits and that some of them have activities to do like the otter slide,” Pond said. “And if you go to the lions, you can press a button and it roars. I think that that’s really cool.”

Something to look forward to, they are building a penguin exhibit, and they’ll be here in a few years.

For ticket information, hours and more details visit here.