Alright I have mixed feelings on this one. We had fun, but there was a lot that really angered me.
So first off, we'll start with the negative.
1) The carnivores section and the bears. Not only are these animals in far too small of cages, they don't look well taken care of. The bears had some grass and dirt and a few places to hide. And there were quite a few bears! And then the carnivores... They have a surprising number of big cats and wolves. but that's only because they really cram them in. there cages are metal contraptions, and there is hardly enough room for them to get any exercise. When we went, they were almost all laying in their 'shelter' (which is open to one side, so they can't get away from people watching them or the cold weather). Very depressing to see.
2) The horses. So there are multiple fields you get to go through, separated with grates and out with the Bison (who we'll talk about in a minute) there are quite a few deer and two sad looking horses and a mule. They travel together in their little herd, and are obviously scared of the deer with the antlers! When they came up for bread, they had their ears pinned back (not a good sign with horses) and the second one of the horned deer moved, they quickly got out of there. He never got close enough for me to see, but it looked like there might have been some sores on him... around antler height? I'm not sure but I would certainly hope that somebody had a vet look at them!
3) The bread. Well, I can tell from previous reviews that the wheat-bread-only rule is a recent addition, but I still have to ask: is it really healthy for them to be eating that much bread in a day???? These animals are piggie, and people were throwing entire slices to one deer or one llama. I would be curious to know if that's a healthy idea.....
The Good:
Now here is where I am conflicted because we had some fun.
First off, at the top of the first hill there is a small place where you can get out of your car (and settle yourself for the rest of the way where you can't!) and get swarmed by peacocks, turkey and some seagulls who are more than willing to take some of that bread off your hands.
And then you go through the first gate and meet some... friendly llamas, yak and a few less than friendly zebra
(and peacocks. Just assume there are always peacocks. There are)
The llamas have absolutely to qualms about not only shoving their head into your car, but jogging along side of it so you can't escape without feeding them. And all of the animals in the free range areas come up to the car, so just wait a second and they'll be mobbing you too.
Then you round around towards the beers (see above) and to the carnivores (above) and head out to the pasture with the elk.
They have signs that say don't feed them by the gate --- don't. Because once you start feeding them, you'll be creeping through at 2 miles an hour, because they can and will stand directly in front of the car and refuse to move.
Then you cross another gate and you're in with the bison and deer. There are at least two types of deer, and one is particularly pushy (and horned). And then there are the buffalo.
Buffalo are big. And they're not particularly shy. They wander on over and shove their tongue in your car looking for bread. And they slobber. And they're big sweeties, or at least we thought so (I did read something somewhere that about in mating season they can be mean). The thing about the buffalo though? Not too fond of you leaving. even after we stopped feeding them (lack of bread) they were rubbing against our car, and knocking back our break-away mirrors... slobbering on all the windows....We had to move very slowly and carefully and try not to run into any of them.
Overall, the herbivores are worth the trip... and I would go there and recommend it if that was all they had... but the carnivore cages and the beers are horrible! They need to give up some of the animals to better homes, and work to make the animals they keep happier, pronto!
I won't be going back or supporting this place until they take a good, hard look at the living conditions of their carnivores and make some changes. It's not okay to keep animals, especially ones who were originally intended for wide open fields, in tiny little boxes with no distraction or activity. read more