This family owned zoo is so fun. We have been coming almost every time we visit Cherokee NC. We've have pictures with a few of the babies and seen them grow up! The family is so nice and the girls are beautiful and so polite. They have albums of pictures with their children and the bears growing up together. The bears are like pets to them. It's also very clean and family friendly. The gift shop is nice also. read more

Cherokee Zoo - He was being so playfull! - Zoos Near Me - Cherokee, North Carolina

I would give this place zero stars. It's a disgrace for Native Americans, who supposedly care so much about nature, to keep these poor animals in CEMENT enclosures. If they feel they have to imprison wild animals, the absolute least they could do is have a very large enclosure so the animals have access to grass, trees, and the things they are meant to be around. One of my exes took me here once many years ago, and I had no idea what it was all about. I ended up bawling my eyes out by the time I left. And I would NEVER give them another dime. I have complained about them to the tribal chief of the Cherokee, as well as to PETA (several times). It is absolutely heartbreaking to see these majestic creatures in a cement tomb. I don't know how these people sleep at night. read more

Are we really still using animals for entertainment in 2026? Please do not support this place. Animal lovers advocate and educate. The animals are kept in very small and unnatural enclosures. Their mental and physical wellbeing are in no way thriving by living on concrete and confined. We need to seriously need to consider how horrible that must feel to be isolated from their natural world and used for entertainment. We have the awareness and kindness to help them better, please change the focus to making this a better home and world for them to thrive in. read more

These animals are suffering for our "entertainment." Please think twice before supporting a place like this. They're trapped in small, cold concrete enclosures - no windows, no enrichment, no resemblance to the homes they were meant to live in. It's heartbreaking, and it's not right. read more

We had a great time feeding the bears and goats. You're able to buy the food there to feed both the bears and goats. The place is small, but open and clean. When you exit, you go right into the gift shop which is nice. There are some negative reviews regarding the size of the enclosures, however, the animals do not look neglected and some of the bears look older. It makes me think that this place may be more of a sanctuary and not a zoo. I think some background on the bears would alleviate these comments. Additionally, the bears are located on the first floor and you're located on a second floor balcony like floor. This was our first time in this type of structure so we taught our kids to have the bears look at you and then give them food, as opposed to just throwing food in their direction. Maybe having signs to reflect this would educate people on how to feed animals from a top floor. Overall, we had a positive experience here and would come again. read more

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This is one of those places where we have mixed feelings, mostly because she's we don't know all of the details of how it is ran and how the bears are cared for aside from what we see while quickly visiting. This is somewhere we've been twice now. We have enjoyed it both times as we enjoy seeing bears because they're not something you normally see, much less up close, and at this zoo you can even feed them! The workers running the place are super nice and it's very cheap to get in. Two adults, a three year old, and four trays of food was only $15. The bears do seem to beg for the food, but they're bears and we're feeding them fruits and vegetables. It's not exactly filling and nothing different than animals at petting zoos and drive through zoo experiences begging for the food pellets they have provided there. Their fur and bodies look healthy and today several of the bears were splashing the water and playing with their tire toys. None of them seemed unwell or miserable. My hope is that they are treated well aside from what we see as guests in the 30ish minutes we are there. There are also goats you can feed and lemurs as well as some sort of foxes(?) to look at on the way out of the place. read more

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Awful!!! The animals were so stressed!!! They kept pacing around and the facility was not clean at all. The bears were in a tiny enclosure. read more

Cherokee Zoo - Animals pacing small cage - Zoos Near Me - Cherokee, North Carolina

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They are very sweet they help you out and it is a really nice place me and my family love it every time we come down here we always top here first it's definitely recommend read more

Cherokee Zoo - One of the bears really fat LOL and playful we'll clap and wave at you - Zoos Near Me - Cherokee, North Carolina

This is a small bear zoo located in Cherokee. It's $6 per person and $1 for a food tray, a mixture of apple slices, whole wheat bread and lettuce. We even got some free trays. It's sad to see them in captivity but exciting to see them up close and being fed. They love being fed and will wave back at you if you wave. It's small but nice and you are I. The shade. It's an inexpensive place to visit if in town! read more

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animals this big should not be confined to small spaces!!!!!! they are going crazy in there walking in circles read more

Please, why's wild animals are absolutely being neglected. The conditions they are living in are not normal. Living on cement, floors and in wire cages is unacceptable. The animals clearly lacked stimulation as they pace. The only reason this place is not closed down is because it is on tribal land. read more

DO NOT support this zoo. Every enclosure is absolutely too small and so incredibly heartbreakingly wrong. The bears are in four concrete walls of A SMALL enclosure... and the walls are so tall-where they never see past the walls in that boxed in enclosure.. We wouldn't live like this. Why should they? It's so wrong. DO NOT SUPPORT. read more

Animal abuse!!! Not enough space for these bears, nor any greenery for them. Their necks are always having to be compromised from looking upward for food to drop, they live on cement and in a very small area. It's horrendous. There's no excuses, no matter what they say to try to defend it all. It's shameful & is truly painful to witness. read more

Estos animales no tienen las condiciones de vida para estar ahí, concreto no es adecuado y una jaula de concreto de 10|10 no Pages para ver animales en malas condiciones read more

My husband always visit here to see and feed the bears. Nice friendly staff who seem to really care about these animals read more

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Bears are in concrete pits with little to no stimulation and cubs are just in cages. Seems highly inhumane and like a cash grab as animals should have sufficient space and not used as photo ops read more

Was able to feed and take a picture with a cub bear as well as feed the other animals

Yesterday we visited the Bear Zoo in Cherokee. We were greeted by a very polite gentleman as we entered and paid for our tickets and bear food. The enclosures and bears (including all animals) are well cared for. Their prices were $6.00 a person and $1.00 per feeding tray. We will be back! read more

After years of investigations WHY ISNT ANYTHING BEING DONE?!! Visited and was SHOCKED at the living conditions of these bears. Not to mention how thin and sick looking they are! How could anyone visit and think that this is ok for a zoo is beyond my comprehension. Please spread the word about how horribly these precious animals are being treated. They deserve to be free. Thank read more

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I have terribly mixed emotions on this one. Prior to arriving we walked up a ramp to a block building backed up by woods. I had read the negative reviews but saw that most of them were a few years old (not on Yelp) and decided to go and see what the fuss was about. Everyone was very nice and friendly and I thought people were just being trolls. I loved the experience for my kids. They loved it. Had a blast feeding the bears and snapping photos. Cheap as well. $6.00 entry. As we cleared the cashiers entry, I was taken aback... the five sections of block walls for the bears just were heartbreaking. I'm not a zoologist but this seemed to suck. Just seems they are laying there for entertainment pleasure. We did it. We are guilty but I am anti troll so I immediately thought it couldn't be that bad. There are some great reviews out there, 5-1 on other sites. We won't return. read more

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Read some mixed reviews and decided to go anyway. This 'zoo' is sort of bittersweet. We took my boyfriend's son, he's three, and he had a blast feeding the bears -- he seriously thought it was the best thing in the world and talked about it for the following two days. However, the bears are in small, concrete environments with little to no shade or protection from the sun. There might have been one or two things for them to climb on, a couple balls to play with, and maybe a water and food dish. I'm not sure what they do with the bears while they clean the pens or if they stay there through the night, but I just felt generally bad about supporting their lifestyle. Below, there is a goat pen, with seriously like 30 goats, and a couple cages with some scary monkeys. I didn't like the monkeys at all, they seemed sort of mean and kept yelling when we walked past. They have containers filled with what I think was dog food and it's like 25 or 50 cents to feed the goats. There is also a cage with a baby bear. You can take pictures with and feed him for like $20. We didn't participate though. General admission was only $6 per person and, I believe, children under three are free. It's an additional $1 per container of bear food. read more

Sad, reminds me of Tiger king but with bears. I wish they would send the bears to an actual sanctuary. The baby bear looked over worked and stressed. I had to leave because I almost just started crying my eyes out. read more

Cherokee Bear Zoo in North Carolina imprisons bears in concrete pits, breeds them, and uses their cubs or acquires cubs from other disreputable operations for photo ops. When those cubs become too big to interact with humans, the roadside zoo either ships them off to other dingy facilities or relegates them to the same barren concrete pits that the older bears are in, where they have nothing to do but stare at the walls, pace in circles, and beg for food. Some of the bears suffer from early-onset arthritis and have been seen struggling to walk due to being forced to live on concrete. Bears belong in nature, where they can roam for miles, forage for a variety of food, and live happily with members of their family. read more

I'm on vacation in the area and won't even go because of how awful these pictures are. Close this place!!

A review is an opinion in many cases so I will give mine. We went because of good reviews we saw somewhere on Google. Now 20 years ago when I went to a bear zoo in Cherokee that was owned by different folks I didn't like it. Cherokee Beer Zoo was so special today! Ask questions and you will know that Norbert treats these animals like pets. There is a large area and three others that all connect and the animals go in all together at the end of the day. The bears lay on padded mats and the concrete w/drains allow frequent cleaning of any waste immediately as we saw. The bears were playful and happy it seemed. Like I said ask questions. All the bears were raised there and when they get older they go to a Zoo. Why? Of course you would not put domesticated animals in the wild. No mean monkeys either! Do you go to other zoos?? Good if you do. Attached are the expansion plans under construction for this zoo. A very special young lady I know that has Autism loves animals such as her dogs, guinea pigs, bunny, ducks, and she had a great time here. Yes for $20 she fed a baby bear Leo and had her pic taken. PRICELESS read more

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I have been here the past six years in a row on vacation & I have read most of the reviews. The man who owns this place actually raised each and every one of these bears and they love him. he can get in with them and play with them and they trust him. They DO NOT sleep here. read more

As much as my son enjoyed seeing the bears, it is heart breaking to see them in such a closed environment. They almost looked pity begging fir food. They are wild animals and need to be out in the open. I made a mistake by visiting it. read more

Mixed feelings. On one hand the bears seemed very well fed and happy. On the other hand I would have wished they had a nicer ha I saw a news article a few weeks ago stating that the bears were abused and starving. They were very fed and fat! They only beg because they are so used to people they know what to expect when the tourists peer over the fence! I believe the baby bear who is know 6 months will not be available for pictures. The handler said that normally they stop pictures in august. The handler treated the bear with respect. She didn't want to come out of or he cage and had to stand aside and wait when she was ready. Picture turned out great. They also have monkeys and goats. You can feed the goats with feed out of a vending machine for 25cents a handful. Entry was 6$ pp, cash only. Pictures with bear was 20$ read more

Grandkids wanted to see bears so badly we went in here on our recent vacation. Wish I had it to do over. The man doing photographs with the baby bear cub was horribly rude, told me to hush and let the man speak (referring to my husband), then proceeded to argue with me when I refused to let the kids have a photograph taken. This place shouldn't be in business. I truly felt sickened by this place and couldn't believe zoo was even in the name. The bears are below in what makes me think of a below ground pool that is divided up. There was a tire in one pen. This is not a zoo this is cruel. Zoo makes you think the animal would be in a habitat that is close to what it lives in the wild. Bears don't live in cement pits. Sad. read more

As a bear enthusiast I was delighted to have my dreams come true by playing with a bear cub, fed grizzly's, brown bears, and black bears. We got the pleasure of watching them interact with their beloved owner (dad). The man who ran the top part was an absolute delight, he showed us pictures of each bear as cubs, hisself was included in these photos. We watched as he called for one of the bears and I was thrilled to watch one happily run over to him while he waged his booty. This WILL become an every few months trip for us as my love for this place is MASSIVE. The price is UNBELIEVABLE for what you get. If you don't have a love for bears this may not be the place for you. I've seen bad reviews discussing the fur of these bears while during shedding season. News flash, bears look different as they shed off their winter coats. These bears are loved and well fed, even after feeding time they spend there day eating snacks (1$ a basket) that YOU yourself fed them. If people want change, go support your folks at your local reservation! Like I said, we will be back multiple throughout the years to check on the bears and our new friends at Cherokee Zoo. read more

Sad animals, hard concrete floors. They don't belong here. The bears pace back and forth a sign of distress. Please do not go here and help send the bears to a sanctuary that resembles a real habitat this is pathetic and unjust. It makes me want to cry. read more

Although it had bears and a few other animals, this is a sad and depressing habitat for the animals. Cages were clean but offered little stimulation and treats were "thrown" down into a cage and bears had learned to sit and look up to catch them. Do not go to this place. read more

I love this place. Yeah it might not be up to par but the bears seem fat and happy...just like the locals. Its cool and fun... I do expect a horrible newsflash someday about the barrier breaking and a few kids and some old people falling into it..thats tragedy, bears in cement cages being fed all day with clean water is not. read more

We went to the zoo with an open mind regarding it is good or not to keep the bears in captivity. The first minutes it is hartwarming to see the bears doing tricks while You Throw food at them. Then You realize they're being held in way too small concrete pits with little to no stimulation or room to excercice. (Bears have 18 active hours in the wild) The bears in captivity are likely to develop arthritis. The Most sad part was the baby bear being held in a Tiny cage isolated from the rest, just so it can be used as a photo prop. Yes it's a very cheap way to visit exotic animale and they're all cute , so your kids wil love this zoo. But it's inhumane and heartbreaking. They need to get to a specialised rescuecentre where they can run free and get prepared for a chance in the wild! read more

My wife and I planned a trip to Cherokee to see the heard or Elk as we do every season. Later that morning we decided to visit the Cherokee Bear Zoo to check it out. When we got up to the window they had a sign that said cash only but they did have an ATM on site. As I was reading the sign, I noticed the area where the bears are kept and contained and like every other review left it was completely sad and disheartening. I could see from a distance it was a small contained space and thought to myself how can not one bear but multiple bears have a quality of life in those living conditions. Then the sign continued to read that you could feed the bears for $1.00, after reading all of this and noticed that you were given a tray of what looked like vegetables to apparently throw into the confined space for the bears to eat. If anyone thinks about this with common sense would you want your food thrown at you; its simply inhumane. I told the guy behind the counter, which I assume was the owner that I would get cash and be back, he said ok. My wife however seen another sign that said no camcorders, cameras or phones were allowed. After hearing this, I thought what kind of zoo or exhibit does not allow pictures unless there were certain animals being on exhibit that were sensitive to camera flashes and video recording which bears are not; since every other zoo, such as the Knoxville Zoo will allow you to photograph and film their animals. My wife looked at me and said I do not want to come back hear, why would I not be allowed to take pictures, what is the reason are they abusing their animals? This was a private and quite conversation between my wife and I as we were walking away to go down the ramp at the premises. Apparently the owner heard the comment and continued to follow us to our car, and was saying we do not want your money and we do not want you to come back. I said to him that we would never come back and not to worry about it. He continued on to follow us to our car and said like an idiot he was calling the police and took a picture of our license plate. He said again I do not want you to come back because we do not abuse our animals and that comment was necessary. He simply did not understand that it was a private conversation and he seemed to insert himself into it. Look I have not left a review on any product or place I have been no matter if it was a good or bad experience. The guy that owns this business is simply and completely off his rocker. My wife and I were completely polite about the situation and cordial, even as this guy kept talking and being completely nuts about the whole situation. It is simple this business needs to be closed down and the animals need to be placed in habitat that is more suitable for bears that are that large. It is completely sad and inhumane, there are several photos and youtube videos in reviews that completely back up everything said, unfortunately I do not have any to display or would do so. Very simple stay away from this place and do NOT support it in any way so these bears can be placed in a place to live where they have room to run and play everyday. read more