The zoo covers 58 acres and is home to 2,000 animals. It is located in a section of Audubon Park in Uptown New Orleans, on the Mississippi River side of Magazine Street. The zoo and park are named in honor of artist and naturalist John James Audubon who lived in New Orleans starting in 1821. Some of the exhibits include gorillas, orangutans, and the Louisiana swamp exhibit. It is also home to two rare white tigers and rare white alligators.

As its name implies, the aquarium specializes in aquatic life of the Americas. The exhibits generally feature particular regions throughout North and South America. With 10,000 animals representing 530 species, noteworthy exhibits include: A Caribbean reef exhibit featuring a clear, 30-foot long tunnel surrounded by a 132,000 US gallons tank of exemplary sea life such as the tarpon and angelfish; An Amazon exhibit, encased in a glass cylinder, effectively a humid, climate-controlled greenhouse that is a prominent feature of the riverfont, that includes macaws, piranhas, an anaconda, freshwater stingrays and other specimens from the area basin; A Mississippi River gallery, featuring catfish, paddlefish, owls and a leucistic white alligator; and A Gulf of Mexico exhibit, featuring a 400,000 US gallons, 17-foot tall tank of sharks, sea turtles, and stingrays from there. The aquarium also has an IMAX theater, and exhibits for sea otters and African penguins