Potential visitors from all over the country and world will soon be able to take a virtual tour of the Detroit Zoo through Google Maps' Street View.

The Detroit Zoo was the top vote-getter among theme parks and zoos around the country in Google's national Street View trike contest held last fall to determine which university campus, park, pedestrian mall, national landmark and theme park or zoo to send the trike to next.

The photo-equipped trike, pictured here was developed to shoot tours of spots inaccessible by car.

The Detroit Zoo garnered 15,000 votes to come out ahead of the other finalist institutions in its category: Bronx Zoo in New York, Busch Gardens in Virginia, Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, the San Diego Zoo and Universal Studios in Florida.

Google plans to send the trike to collect digital images of the Arctic Ring of Life, Australian Outback Adventure and other attractions on the Detroit Zoo's 125 acres in the coming months, the zoo said in a release.

The Google Street View trike will collect digital images throughout the Detroit Zoo, including the Arctic Ring of Life's clear underwater passage, where visitors are surrounded by swimming polar bears and seals, as well as the walk-through at the Australian Outback Adventure, where kangaroos and wallabies hop freely about.

The panoramic, virtual tour of the Detroit Zoo should be available through Google Maps Street View later this year, the zoo said.