Animal enclosures look unkempt and unclean. The enclosures looked inadequate for some types of animals. We were so sad about the whole situation that we left. We believe we witnessed an endangered species lay an egg and the male was getting agitated at visitors. We couldn't find a zookeeper during our entire visit and thus we couldn't notify anyone. All employees encountered were young volunteers. Which we notified but it didn't seem to help. If you're an animal lover - stay away...you will leave heart broken. read more

I heard good things about the zoo online. Got a membership, now regret it. 1. Even for a small zoo, the number of animals is quite low 2. The zoo was a mess, no clean up of leaves and other debri 3. Many exhibits did not even have the animals (and it wasn't winter yetl 4. Very little staff, so it really strange, sometime feelings should I even be here because it looks like it's not meant for public. I can let go a lot, even the number of animals, but at least have the place clean so one feels good about where they are at. And give the animals dignity to live in a nice clean spot. read more

If you need to get some steps in, please go here. Otherwise I would try and avoid the place if you are looking for a pleasant and fun filled adventure in Boise. I understand, animals in cages arent always the most cooperative things in the world but coming here was very underwhelming to cap off a day in the city. The price was fair for what you get. The zoo feels a bit crammed and the lay out is kind of off too. The food is fairly cheap and they sell larger water bottles for $5 which was nice. Hope the zoo improves in the future because somewhere as cool as Boise deserves it. In the meantime- head to the State Museum up the road- cool displays and WONDERFUL staff. read more

very disorganized beginning of week long program, 45 people waiting. No direction no person present

The staff was fantastic. Yet, it may have just been the weather but the majority of the animals were extremely docile. It was heartbreaking to see animals that sedated. Also there enclosures appeared much to small. Other zoo's seem to offer the animals a much more enriching environment. read more

Zoo Boise - Giraffe - Zoos Near Me - Boise, Idaho

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Highly disappointed with zoo Boise! It could use a lot of improvement. The flow of the place does not make any sense and you couldn't see half off the animals. Half the exhibits were closed and poorly marked that nothing is there. Glass on exhibits was super dirty. read more

I've been to many many zoos, and this is by far the worst. Everything was dilapidated and out of date. The enclosures were very bad for the larger animals and everything was dirty. You couldn't see the animals because the windows were filthy. The animals were badly kept. No. This place needs to be shut down. read more

Expensive rude staff when paying exorbitant prices for food and drink they could at least be pleasant. Not much to look at 20 years ago it was so much better. read more

Compared to other zoos this one is on the small side. It's priced accordingly and like most things in Boise, it's a good match for the size of the city. Cute, easy to navigate, located inside a big city park with free 2-hour parking, I imagine that's plenty of time to visit. We went on a slightly rainy Saturday in January so the crowds were nonexistent. A good showing of people were mulling about pushing strollers and viewing animals. They have a little gift shop, various food stands, a playground, carrousel, a petting area, and animal feedings. Not much was going on during our visit, so we walked around and viewed what animals were out. Some enclosures were empty but most were available to view. What was impressive was unlike bigger zoos, the viewing areas were easy to access and see the animals up close. The tiger exhibit was nice since they have a big clean glass wall and the tiger was out walking around. We were happy with the variety of what we saw. No elephant or giraffes (that we saw), bears, hippos, etc. I posted pics of the main animals we saw that day. It was enough to enjoy our visit. In all, I wouldn't try to compare this zoo to the bigger ones out there and I have no idea what their mission is here. I'd like to think they get animals that need a little help and they take good care to ensure their happiness. This was my thought as we walked through, I'd rather see fewer but happy animals in appropriate enclosures that are well taken care of. It seemed that way here. A fun visit for kids, allow 2 hours to see it all. read more

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Saddest zoo I've ever seen. Over half of the enclosures were empty; the unfortunate animals that resided there were kept in filthy enclosures. The viewing areas were so dirty that you could barely see the animals through the glass. Most of the animals we did see were in poor condition. The healthiest looking animals were the giraffes; they were secured in their indoor pens and not out for open viewing. Two thumbs down on this zoo. A waste of time and money. read more

Not all the animals were available. It's a rea small zoo the animals that we did see were cool.

Literally such a fun time. Small but impactful & cheap for a zoo. I've been to zoos all over the country but the animals here were some of the most interactive I've seen. Had the best time -- loved the new female red panda, she was the best red panda I've seen! It would be nice if there was specific information about the actual animals & not just the species in general though. Like their names & how old they are; how the zoo came about them etc. I also wish the gift shop had more personalized items -- like the bags saying Zoo Boise & more red panda items. read more

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I have no words. We are visiting from California and decided to take my 2 year old and his cousin who is 1 for a nice trip to see some animals and be hands on. It was everything less then that. These animals look like they had been tranquilized, all sleeping and half the exhibits were empty! The animals that were awake look as if they were calling for help!! The water in their cages was dirty and not to mention filled with their own fesses. There was trash in ever cage, egg cartons, paper bags, cereal boxes and much more. The layout is all over the place . It is not organized at all. Someone needs to come in and either shut the park down and take these animals to a better place or turn this park around! read more

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For the capital city, the zoo is quite small. It sorely needs to be relocated. Seriously the state needs to fund the zoo revitalization asap. Unfortunately, many exhibits were closed. All workers, staff & employees were fantastic; friendly, & knowledgeable with a positive attitude! The gift shop looked like it hadn't been restocked in months. Sad. Entrance fee is reasonable and honestly could be higher. It's an old zoo and it shows. read more

We were super excited to be able to visit this zoo, they are the only ones having a sloth on exhibit within hundreds of miles. Unfortunately many of the exhibits were closed including the sloth, no reason given (probably covid as usual), many animals of exhibit due to health problems and none of it mentioned online. I wish they would put that information on their website on what animals are currently not available. I was also sad to see some of the remaining exhibits in disrepair and in need of cleaning/vegetation cutting and the little meerkats were only 2? I didn't see any in the back, I hope there are more, since those are very social animals and should be in larger groups. Most concession stands were also closed or had only a small amount of items available. I usually love small zoos, but I think this one could use a bit of help all around. read more

I have lived in the Boise Valley for over 30 years, raised my 4 kids here and now enjoy spending time with my grandchildren. We used to love to go to the Boise zoo when our kids were younger, but sadly, this zoo has really gone downhill and after visiting there today, I won't be going back with the grandkids and would recommend that people don't waste their money going to the Boise Zoo. More than half of the animal exhibits/enclosures were empty. The few animals that we did see seemed to be depressed or lethargic even though it was a beautiful day with temperatures in the mid 70s. The enclosures are not well-maintained and I feel the entire zoo should be managed better. read more

The worst zoo of all time. $45 dollars to get in. Half the exhibits had no animals. The pretzel was $7! The pretzels at Disneyland are cheaper. It's dirty! Don't waste your money. Save the money and take your kids to a free park and have a picnic. read more

Been here a couple times now and each time I went the animals just looked sad, even my friends 4 year old picked up on it. Would not recommend. read more

Zoo Boise - Monkey - Zoos Near Me - Boise, Idaho

Don't waste your money. Aside from the zoo being extremely small, all of the animal enclosures are way too small. Every animal looks depressed... I'm not just saying that to be some woo hoo lady. Coming from Texas, the ft worth zoo is HUGE and every animal enclosure is clean and big, all the animals look so content and taken care of. This place honestly was so sad and needs to be shut down. The best thing they had was the butterflies. Almost every single animal was hiding or sleeping where you couldn't see them. There were MULTIPLE animals just pacing back and forth and penguins who kept swimming down into the bottom of their pool and hitting the walls. It was a scary sight to see, everyone there needs to be fired and the animals should be taken somewhere else. read more

Very cute zoo, most animals were hiding tho when we came. I'm hoping summer time will be better.

Do not waste your hard earned money at this zoo. Not only was just about every exhibit closed and barricades set up throughout the park, the staff we extremely discriminatory against those with health issues. It was my daughters 9th birthday and all she wanted was to go to the zoo with her bestie. She was very disappointed by the lack of visibility of the animals and all the closures. It was extremely uncomfortable and we were bullied by other visitors. Two weeks ago we went to the Omaha Zoo in Nebraska - the second largest zoo in the country. We were able to roam freely between enclosures outside with no masks. The contrast between this tiny, arrogant zoo and the Omaha Zoo were night and day. As much as we loved Zoo Boise in the past, we will not be supporting this facility in the future for their behavior the last week. My daughter even cancelled her Homeschool Zoo date this week because of it. read more

Zoo Boise - Note the Sloth Bear is 50 feet away at the closest. Physical distancing of 6ft is more than adequately met. - Zoos Near Me - Boise, Idaho

We recently received a season pass for my oldest sons birthday this year, and he just loves visiting. They have fun interactive things to take photos with and learn about different animals. I do wish the big slide by the monkeys was open! Not sure if they are doing construction on it or when it plans to reopen. My son really likes the giraffe slide. It would be nice if they extended the play area in the future with more slides & climbing structures for the kids. Zoo Boise isn't a huge zoo but if you have younger kids it's a nice place to visit & walk around in the morning when it's cooler out to let them get some exercise. My son also likes the little petting zoo they have when it's open. read more

Zoo Boise - Giraffe slide at Zoo Boise - Zoos Near Me - Boise, Idaho

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This is great for a nice family adventure! With avian flu, unfortunately most of the birds are still off exhibit. The seasonal butterfly exhibit is beautiful and fun for the littles! My toddler was mesmerized by them dancing around her. Highly recommend wearing bright colors or florals! They have a new female tiger who was very active and vocal! Really drew a crowd! Another recommendation I would give is to get the feeding schedule and try to plan your visit around then. Animals are much more active when they are getting yummy treats, go figure! We saw the African wild dogs and hyena being fed and they went wild! Was an absolute blast! There's one petting area with goats, which is fun for the littles, where you can feed them. As well as different interactive exhibits, like the prairie dog exhibit with peek-a-boo domes for kiddos. Keep in mind this is a smaller zoo, you can't compare it to San Diego. But overall good, reasonably priced, and entertaining for the kiddos read more

I love Zoo Boise for many reasons. Reason #1: We get the family pass - a screaming deal! $100 for an entire year of admission for 2 adults and 2 children. We come here a lot. Then we don't feel guilty for leaving after 30 minutes because of rain, or a tantrum, or because Dear Husband forgot to bring the stroller (I'm not still mad about that or anything). Reason #2: The rentable wagons and strollers. Because your spouse will inevitably forget the stroller one day and you're not about to carry a 2 year old for 2 hours in the July heat. Reason #3: Cleanliness. Zoo Boise does a super job of keeping the space clean. Trash, nature debris and animal feces are regularly carted away to keep the air fresh and the pathways beautiful. Reason #4: The Carousel. That thing has saved a crappy day many times in my house. It's only $1 per child rider and it makes my kids delirious with happiness. Reason #5: The animals, duh! I do occasionally get a little sad to see any animal in a cage. But then I remind myself of all the good stuff that zoos do, such as conservation or caring for injured animals. Plus the exposure for my kids is pretty great. We talk about zoology and botany a lot when we're at the zoo. You know...when my 4 year old isn't distracted by her excitement to see a SQUIRREL at the zoo. The Butterflies in Bloom exhibit (only open during summer) is our absolute favorite. It is truly magical. My one caveat: I would love it if Zoo Boise offered booze. Because. Booze. read more

Zoo Boise - Roar! - Zoos Near Me - Boise, Idaho

I've been to many Zoo's thru my life, and even the smallest Zoo was better than the Boise Zoo. Expect most cages empty if you go. I won't be back. read more

literally one of the worst zoos I've never been to. The animals looked depressed and the cages are dirty and the animals don't look treated well or enriched. most of the exhibits are closed and the ones that are open are way too small for the animals that are in them. I'd go as far as saying it should be closed for these poor animals. read more

I love zoos. I am not an animal rights activist and I do not want this zoo to shut down but it needs some serious help. A lot of enclosures are empty. The penguin enclosure was filthy. Most animals did not look healthy. We even saw a monkey chewing on plaster that a rope led too. I pointed this out to a zoo keeper and told him that shoukd be fixed ( meaning move the rope so the monkey can't reach it.) He told me that someone comes and fixes the drywall from time to time instead. Come on Boise. This zoo has potential but your not living up to it. read more

Zoo Boise - Monkey eating plaster. - Zoos Near Me - Boise, Idaho

For a small zoo, they sure had a lot of animals. We easily spent an hour and a half or so there. The food was also great and customer service was amazing. The little cruise was great. Phil was a great captain. read more

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We absolutely love our Downtown Zoo. Is it the biggest or fanciest zoo we've ever been to...? Not even close but it is still fantastic. They've got great exhibits like the Komodo Dragon and some Giraffes. They've got 3 beautiful lions and as of yesterday (although I've yet to see!) a new tiger. They are in the middle of a huge renovation in which they are adding a large new section with a few new exhibits. They are also improving some of the existing areas which is great to see. Why not 5 stars? Boise is becoming a great craft beer haven so why not get some of the local brewers to set up inside the zoo. Bring in some local wine and food as well. Zoos are so far beyond the burger and dogs now. Why hasn't our zoo kept up? I'm not saying we need sushi and a martini bar but a cold beer from The Western Collective and some bison poutine from Boise Fry Co sounds pretty freaking fantastic.... Right?!?! read more

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Nice smallish zoo with inexpensive admission of 12$ at time of writing this. They had some animals from different parts of the world but my favorite were the otters, penguins, and giraffes. They do have some encounters you can setup in advance to feed some of the animals etc. The butterfly exhibit was pretty neat as well. Most of the staff looked like volunteer kids, which I think is pretty cool. It only took about 2hrs to see everything and it wasn't too crowded on a Sunday morning. The parking is also next to a rose garden and there are plenty of benches to make a picnic out of the situation if desired. The park is nice right outside the zoo. Parking was free. read more

We love the zoo!! The last time we got to go (Saturday) some of the exhibits were closed so we missed a few animals but the carousel was up and running so my girls got to go on a ride one on an elephant and the other a zebra. The zoo is always a good time for the kids and a nice walk about for adults. read more

A fun experience for us coming from out of town. We needed a short outdoor experience for our kids with their grandparents. We saw lots of the animals lions, zebra, giraffes, crocodile and monkeys. Our favorite were the monkeys they were running and playing it was so fun to watch! The carousel was a nice ending to our visit! read more

Me and my son love this zoo! Came here for vacation and we had so much fun! A great size for the middle of Boise! Staff was very kind and happy! Will be returning! read more

Ok this may not be e best zoo ever, but I really loved this zoo! We went at the end of October, and even with all of the fencing off and having to wear masks (which I hate), it was still great. They don't have the most exciting animals, but they do have a beautiful tiger, gorgeous giraffes, and a warthog like Pumba, but the setting is gorgeous! It was like a fall wonderland. Sooooo pretty! read more

Nice small zoo. Came here for an event and wasn't sure if my prego wife would be able to walk through it all but she did and enjoyed it! Staff was nice and there were plenty of different species of animals to see. read more

More than half of the exhibits were empty today. All the customers were so frustrated as we walked together and passed empty exhibit after empty exhibit. It was the same when we went a year ago but I went back this year thinking they would have filled those exhibits but the same ones were empty. I would say about 60% of them. I think they should charge half price if more than half of the exhibits are empty. The giraffe slide which was the funnest thing from last year was cautioned off with caution tape. The Photo Booth station was out of order. We also sat and a table that had very obviously not been cleaned for months. We weren't able to clean the table with a pack of wipes it was caked on so thick. Our kids had to hold their food in the air rather than set it on the table. I'm writing this review for constructive criticism so they can improve because the place has potential and can definitely improve under better management. read more

Spent more time looking at empty enclosures and signs as to why they were empty. For $24 (for two) of it wasn't helping the animals I would really feel ripped off. We maybe saw 1/3 of the animals that were supposedly there. I would recommend to go if you want to spend money to help support the animals but don't go if you expect to see an exciting zoo because it's really not. Even the "experiences" seriously lack. No real interaction with animals. Just being honest. I think there are better things to do with your money. read more

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Worst experience today. It was $33 for 2 adults and 2 children. We were at the zoo for about 3 hours. We saw 4 animals in total. Every exhibit was empty. I was in shock and so disappointed. We walked into the new expansion to see an ottor and an alligator, that's it. The kids were so sad. They asked to go to the carousel and it was also a joke. No music, and of course, the two horses my kids went on were the only two that didn't go up and down. The server at the food court delivered food with multiple piercings in her face, lips, eyeboes, and ripped jeans, exposing her thighs from pubic area to her ankles. Jet black lipstick, and it scared my children. Overall, when your kids beg to leave because there's nothing to see, you know it's a lame zoo read more

Most exhibits are empty and they're doing construction. I feel like we should have been warned that the zoo is so empty and under construction and dirty, we wasted our money. read more

Probably the worst zoo experience. I paid full price to see nearly only a handful of animals. Many sections were closed off to guests and the majority of the convenient booths were closed. I am truely disappointed and what a waste of money. I advise to call in advance to make sure everything is open. read more