Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    The Wild Animal Park

    3.9 (116 reviews)

    The Wild Animal Park Photos

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - The Wild Animal Park

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Flys on wolf's ear
    Mya E.

    Went to The Wild Animal Park . Saddest zoo I've been. None of the animals have clean watcher to swim in nor to drink. There's green algae looking stuff in all of the enclosures. Every enclosure was completely fully of poop to the point there was no where for them to move without laying or stepping in it. Then to top it all off the one wolf has a cut or something on its ear and the flies all over it. I have heard rumors they don't care for their animal but never expected this. Very discussing!

    Nickoles B.

    I went here with my girlfriend this summer. Had an awesome time and I don't have a single negative thing to say about this place. I was so happy to see the animals!!! I will 100% be back (staff was awesome too)

    The Black Bears
    Madisyn P.

    The property was really well maintained, the animals were AMAZING! We got to see and interact with so many awesome animals! Truly a great place to spend a day especially with kids!

    Hope P.

    Absolutely love this zoo, they have a drive through safari which I have attached photos of, next door to the zoo as well. All the animals are well cared for and there is so much to explore

    Cookies and cream the llama.

    Went on the ride the beast experience it was fantastic seeing all the animals, feeding the animals, and learning about the animals. The staff really care about their animals and the enclosures are proof with making them look as close to their natural habitat as possible. The knowledge out tour guide had was amazing Pierce did and great job and our driver Steve did a great job making the ride as smooth as possible.

    Another big cat
    Mickey O.

    This animal park puts other local zoo attractions to shame. It's clean, lots of different animals, enclosures are attractive and leave the animals plenty of room to move around. The layout of displays is easy to follow and the paths are easy to walk. Great place for the whole family. Children and adults alike enjoy feeding the goats and the birds. Highly recommend this animal park.

    New Female White Tiger Cub
    Johnny T.

    Always such a fun day bringing the little man here. The grounds, staff and fellow patrons are always so nice!!

    Baby porcupine!
    Lydia M.

    This place has some really interesting animals you don't see at a lot of zoos, like a hyena. They also have panthers and warthogs! They also have giraffes you can feed carrots too. Worth a visit!

    Sarah F.

    We thought this place was wonderful, perfect for families and strollers/wheelchairs. We absolutely loved it!

    I have never seen lion up close like this time.
    Violetta Y.

    Everything is great about this place. We took our 31/2 year old boy there. Had lot of fun feeding animals specially giraffes. Do Not miss going into bird cage- have your camera ready, you will take lots of great pictures. Big variety of wild animals.

    Talk about making patrons feel like we serve them. You're "short staffed" because you're lining your pocket instead of hiring.
    Katrina N.

    What an absolute money pit run by a bunch of irresponsible teens! My family of 2 adults and 1 child spent over $70 on admission, plus an additional $10 on feed cups for the goats, $9.75 on train tickets, $3.25 on feeding the giraffes, and $1 on corn for the sheep and rams. We've visited to the world renowned: San Diego Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Omaha Zoo, etc and this is by far and away the biggest example of Upstate New York: self-entitled and absolutely trashy. I hope the family who owns this establishment is absolutely ashamed of how they are knowingly robbing every individual who visits. We visited The Wild on June 17, 2023. You must have cash on hand if you are purchasing anything within the zoo/after the admissions desk. Since the teens who run the front desk are trying to zip through the line, as a first time visitor, we did not know the breadth and scope of how much more we had to pay for after the admissions gate. We saw the 12pm train loading at 11:40pm and we were directed to three different booths to get tickets. We finally stood at the Gem Mining station to purchase tokens for the train to find it completely unmanned. We waited for over 15min until the girl who was supposed to run the booth finally showed up with the 12pm train pulling away-- thanks to her we had missed the 12pm train. It was of no consequence to her that we had to tell our three year old that because she was slacking on her job we now had to wait another full hour for the next train. Like sorry we were trying to give you more of our money. Disappointing, poorly run, and absolutely complacent that people around here have quite literally nothing else to do so they can capitalize on that. Will never patronize this family and business ever again.

    Hey hey :)
    Rita L.

    Cool zoo, feeding the giraffes were pretty fun! Train is skippable, not much to see there and it was so slow, you can save some feeding stuff for the drive thru Safari too! Definitely recommend checking this place out if you're in the area! Fun activity for kids and families.

    See all

    2 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 days ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Mya E.
    47
    3
    4

    1 month ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1
    Photo of Jay E.
    0
    166
    1

    2 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    10 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Hope P.
    1
    21
    34

    10 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Shy P.
    0
    11
    5

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Mickey O.
    1
    58
    160

    2 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Very nice i loved all the animals and the gift shop all in all was a great place to go to

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Johnny T.
    224
    61
    120

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 6
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Katrina N.
    142
    20
    13

    3 years ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 5
    Photo of Rita L.
    3367
    1058
    9461

    5 years ago

    Helpful 81
    Thanks 0
    Love this 84
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1
    Photo of Kyle H.
    223
    18
    11

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 0
    Love this 5
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 1

    7 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Ani
    0
    1
    0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    It is one of the more popular outdoor wild parks in the area and always a hit with families!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    Page 1 of 3

    Ask the Community - The Wild Animal Park

    What is on the menu at the snack shack?

    I know they have hamburgers and hotdogs with soft drinks and chips for starters . There is more but that's what we had

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - The Wild Animal Park

    Giraffe and bird feedings (highly recommend both), a train ride and an area with bounce houses and games.

    Mentioned in 33 reviews

    Read more highlights

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Zoos 262 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo

    Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo

    4.5
    (11 reviews)
    19.0 mi

    This was my first time at Fort Rickey, and it was a perfect day! All of the animals were active,…read moreand it was so cool to see them up close. Our capybara-loving kid was over-the-moon to get to feed the capybaras, and I think a piece of me was healed after snuggling with baby goats. The admission prices were very reasonable, especially with so much to do. We could not have had a better experience, from the friendly bird who played with us when we checked in, to all of the animal presentations and encounters. You can tell the animals are well-taken care of and happy, and the employees are, too. We were really impressed with how knowledgeable the employees were, and how great they are with the kids and families. They explained all of the safety rules clearly, and they had great enthusiasm and patience. To top it off, our kids loved getting to play on the playground, in the play place, and on the massive trampoline. Pro tip: bring a little extra cash and quarters to get some extra food for some of the animals. Core memories were created for sure, and we hope to come back on our next visit.

    The Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo is fucking AWESOME…read more We needed a place for a stopover with the kids to break up a long drive. We looked into activities in Utica and area, and someone suggested this place. We had no idea what to expect and pulling into the parking lot, were prepared to be underwhelmed. We were so wrong. Think your typical, big city zoo, and take away all the stuff you don't like, and add in more of the stuff that you do like. For example, make the size of the zoo manageable for kids to walk around. Instead of having 11,000 species of animals that most people don't care that much about, have a smaller place where you really get to be up close. Then add in more interaction - literally every 30 minutes there is something on the schedule for kids to go play with goats, or touch a porcupine. And then throw in a kids play area, and clean bathrooms! Skip the Utica Zoo and come here. 10/10 would recommend for families looking for a fun way to spend 3 or more hours of their day.

    Photos
    Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo
    Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo
    Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo

    See all

    Utica Zoo

    Utica Zoo

    4.1
    (37 reviews)
    31.8 mi

    I cannot stress enough, how much me and my family enjoyed this zoo! We came here Saturday morning…read morevisiting my aunt who lives nearby. The entire zoo is immaculately clean. As soon as we went through the doors after the ticket counter we saw some happy Gibbons swinging around, and they even started talking. We then made our way over to the lions. The area where they have the three lions (who are all siblings) is large and has a walkway that you can walk almost 360° around to get a good glimpse of them no matter where they are. The zoo looks small, but as we made our way around, we felt like it was much bigger than it first appeared. We saw a bald eagle, zebras, ostriches, emus, alligators, and quite a few reptiles! Every time we thought we saw everything we saw there was more! We made our way back over to the lions and caught the end of one of the zookeeper talks. They have three talks per day and if you're around for one it's definitely worth catching one. We learned the names of the three lions and that they were all siblings. The zookeeper asked us if we had any questions which, of course we did. He told us about how they fed the lions safely, what their diet was, and a little bit about the personality of the lions. (No spoilers, you'll have to go yourself to find out!) Everyone that works there was extremely kind, friendly, and knowledgeable. This was such a great zoo. I would highly recommend it to anybody visiting the area or just passing through.

    This is not your large city zoo, it is small and 90% outdoors, so a snowy winter day not the best…read moreidea, haha. That being said for small children it's perfect, a nice walk, easy to see the exhibits. Personally I think the areas are too small for the animals and wouldn't visit again. Price point and membership options do make it affordable for families.

    Photos
    Dinosaur
    Dinosaur
    Utica Zoo
    Beaver

    See all

    Beaver
    New York State Zoo at Thompson Park

    New York State Zoo at Thompson Park

    3.9
    (22 reviews)
    60.1 mi

    Let me start out by saying this is such a cute little zoo. My wife and I are up in the area for our…read morehoneymoon and decided this Zoo would be a fun place to visit. I guess we got lucky, and we actually got free admission due to a company sponsoring the first 100 visitors for the day. It was a cold rainy day so there were not many other visitors at the park with us. It was so neat to see a zoo mostly dedicated to the animals seen in New York State. With it being a rainy, cold day not all of the animals were out, but we were able to see most of them. Our favorite was the Wolverine who was doing lap after lap running around his enclosure. He would stop and say hi to us when we were near the fence, and then continue on doing his laps. We even stopped in the gift shop and got a wolverine stuffed animal. You could definitely tell that it has been some years since the zoo had had some renovations, but I think this is what I liked best about it. The zoo its self was nice and simple with an easy route to see all of the animals. I think if we are in the area again, and it is a nice day out, we would stop again.

    My husband and I really enjoyed this place! We were greeted by staff immediately and were informed…read moreour admission to the zoo was sponsored by a local bank, so we were fortunate to not pay anything. The zoo has several different New York wildlife species which are all rescues from various areas. The animals are clearly well taken care of and the staff love them dearly. We appreciated that this was a New York State focused zoo, and we learned a lot about the animals that live around us. There were also many different reptiles including turtles and a snake. We loved the education geared towards the kids, and the entire zoo was decorated for Halloween which was tons of fun. The gift shop had tons of different items. Our favorite animal was the Wolverine, he ran multiple laps and was showing off for us. We had to get a stuffed Wolverine from the gift shop in his honor. We would love to return!

    Photos
    New York State Zoo at Thompson Park
    New York State Zoo at Thompson Park
    New York State Zoo at Thompson Park

    See all

    Amberations

    Amberations

    5.0
    (9 reviews)
    25.4 mi

    Amberations is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting mental health through…read moreinteraction with the natural environment. With almost 50 acres, they are located on the western edge of Onondaga county in Marietta, New York. At their barn site they offer opportunities to mingle with their goats, donkey, birds and barn cats. There is easy access to a small stream, teaming with frogs, minnows, and salamanders. A lovely deck adorns one end of their barn. It's a nice place to enjoy the sounds of nature and occasionally be visited by a Great Blue Heron. This is a wheelchair friendly area. The entrance to this area is a driveway shared with 2231 Amber Road, next to the Otisco Lake Community Center. Look for the small silhouette of Big Joe the donkey! In their upper fields they have built wheelchair paths surrounding a gazebo and are always working on developing gardens. There are also very nice trails through woods as well as through their songbird habitat. This is the best area for taking dogs and walking trails. The entrance to this area is at 2345 Amber Road, up a long gravel driveway. Go left at the top to find the small parking area in the fields. There is also a large pasture with two beautiful horses to visit. Their goal is to nurture relationships with the community they seek to serve. Opportunities abound for getting involved in many capacities. If you like nature, the outdoors, gardening, animals, or helping others, please consider giving them a call and volunteering. I'm a volunteer for Amberations so I can tell you, it's an amazing organization. It was started by two families who wanted to be able to bring nature to people of all abilities. It has grown so much in its 10 years of existence. They've hosted weddings, hold two big fundraisers during the year - their Otisco Lake Bike Race and Mothers Day Brunch in the spring and Fall Festival in autumn - as well as offering glamping, a new pond full of frogs, and their wonderful animals to visit. Definitely a place for everyone to check out, whether you like animals, nature, hiking - whatever you're into, Amberations has something for you.

    Such a quaint spot. The Yelp event was very interactive and welcoming. But, the founder and…read morevolunteers at Amberations and the stories they shared really set the tone. The barn animals were adorable. Big Joe even tried to nibble on my big hair. They had beautiful horses and a hiking trail to die for. This place is certainly a diamond in the rough with so much love and history. If you have Thea chance definitely visit.

    Photos
    Amberations
    Proud treasure hunters with photographic evidence of their booty!
    Proud treasure hunters with photographic evidence of their booty!
    Amberations

    See all

    Ross Park Zoo

    Ross Park Zoo

    3.6
    (33 reviews)
    70.4 mi

    This is a cute little zoo. Agree with other reviewers that you should come in knowing what to…read moreexpect. It has a modest number of animals, but a lot of charm. We came in the morning on a weekday. Unfortunately, a lot of the animals were napping (lots of nocturnals) but we still have a nice time. This zoo is in a park and there are a lot of trees and shades -- it doubles as a walking path. I noticed that there were lots of benches throughout, which is nice. There was also cute decor like gnomes, fairy gardens, and animal statues. Standouts were the sand cats, penguins, lemurs, and red pandas. There were wolves, arctic foxes, and lots of other neat critters. At the front there's a petting zoo with sheep and goats, and you can feed them if you buy a cup of chow from the gift shop. In the gift shop, I noticed they sell art prints made by the animals, which is super cute! I noticed a bus stop across the street, so it seems accessible by public transit. The park its within has a lot of really neat play features too, so you could definitely make an afternoon of it. The price is right. It's only about $10 a ticket for admission, and like $2 - $3 for petting zoo food. Which, in this economy especially, is fantastic. Cute place. Worth checking out!

    An incredible zoo experience for all! An extensive variety of exotic species, each within close…read moreproximity of the viewer. Super antique and cutesy feel to the entire property. There are high quality informational plaques as well. For those with limited mobility- the exhibits are along a relatively steep hill. Come prepared for a bit of an incline. Overall a wonderful experience!! Would rate higher than any large zoo I've been to.

    Photos
    Ross Park Zoo
    Sleepy red panda :/
    Sleepy red panda :/
    Ross Park Zoo

    See all

    The Wild Animal Park - zoos - Updated July 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...