Let's start by saying YES it is a small zoo. I've been to numerous wildlife rehab places and smaller animal zoos than this and larger ones around the country. It is not the biggest, brightest, shove-500-species-of-animals-in-your-face kind of zoo. BUT the staff there are great! They are young and maybe they don't know ALL the ins and outs of ALL the species there BUT you can tell they really care about the animals there. The enclosures do not seem small in comparison to what I've seen at other places. I've been to a few Big Cat Rehab Centers and the cats at those places would be lucky to have the enclosures these cats had at The Texas Zoo. We also did the Primate Encounter Experience which was very intimate and the Animal Care Manager "Colton" really seemed to know what he was talking about and was very personable. It was an experience my husband and I couldn't get at any other zoo because the other big name zoos don't really offer that kind of thing. They have 15-20 types of birds, 2 types of coatis, 6-7 types of primates/monkeys/lemurs, lions, tigers, Bobcats, ocelot, badger, raccoon, otters, foxes, coyotes, reptiles, alligators, jaguar, deer, emus, and LOTS of roaming peacocks! SO much fun! I highly recommend to anyone to try this place out, ask for Colton, he will help you in any way he can. It's a very unique and intimate experience I've never had at any other zoo. :) will be coming back! read more

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We arrived at the advertised opening time of 9 only to be told they now open at 10 for winter hours despite being summer...ok. The zoo is very small. There is a small indoor section with a few rats, rabbits, a snake, a turtle and not much else. Outside there were more exhibits but either the exhibits were closed or the animals were already hiding from the heat. I did like the hawk and the whistling duck. The small walkways near the emu were closed and all in all there wasn't much there to see. You won't spend more that 35 minutes here. The parking was a small lot and was near the Pumphouse which was nice read more

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A decent small town zoo. Not a fan of the quarters for the animals at my last visit. Small children are fascinated, but, not really a great zoo for older children, teens or adults. Zoo floods whenever the river rises and I'm sure it takes a lot to keep it in any kind of shape. read more

Not too expensive and a cute little zoo. Larger then what we expected for sure! Pretty exhibits and a nice variety of different animals :) read more

The Texas Zoo - Pretty bird area you can walk into! - Zoos Near Me - Victoria, Texas

They advertised a winter wonderland and charged money to enter. Only to see The bare minimum of a single strand Christmas light. Didn't have the lights on in the cages to see the animals. There was no train even though it was advertised. The maintenance of the zoo was trash and the animals cages were poorly maintained. Sad. We spent 30 mins to drive there and 5 min to see a whole lot of NOTHING. read more

Absolutely loved visiting ! It's was not too busy, staff was knowledgeable and able to inform us why a quail and chicken were housed with rabbits, that all animal are rescues from either captivity or rehabbed but unable to be released into the wild. We were able to see animals much closer than a large zoo and the variety was better than that of the Snake Farm in New Braunfels. Highly recommend ! Only regret is not taking part of the animal encounters! read more

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This Zoo was so fun for my whole family. The peacocks roam free so it was very different and exciting. The staff was really friendly and informative. They have a wide variety of animals as well. We spent 3 hours here only looking at animals. It was very well shaded so even in 90° we could enjoy being outside. There was also tables and picnic tables inside the zoo to eat as well. read more

We loved this little zoo. We fell in love with the bunnies as soon as we walked in. There were lots of unusual animals that we very much enjoyed seeing. We will definitely recommend this zoo to others! read more

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Small but nice zoo. The zoo is in the shape of a circle. If you go to the left when you first enter you will walk past a couple of hawks and owls. The next area is enclosed with a dozen different types of small birds. Be sure to purchase a seed stick from the gift shop. The parakeets will land on it and you can see them up close, great for kids. Feed dispensers are located throughout the zoo. A quarter will get you a handful of seed that you can feed the turkeys, ducks, spoonbill, peacocks and various other birds roaming abound the zoo. There was a cute little turkey that followed me around the zoo. She would run over to the feeder than back to me then back to the feeder. I should have know better, do not be fooled into thinking your new best friend would like to eat the seed out of your hand. LOL. There is also a petting zoo for the kids. They have 2 large tortoise, a pig and quite a few little goats. The coyotes were very cool. They have a little pool that one of them was playing in the other one ran over to the fence and stood on its hind legs to get a better view of those watching him. Who is looking at who? If you like monkeys, they have them. They also have a few big cats, tigers, lioness, bobcat and a couple of ocelot. One of the things I like about this zoo is that most of the habitats had at least 2 of the same animal. If you are in Victoria, this is a great little zoo to visit. read more

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I would not want to be an animal at this zoo. The enclosures were poorly kept as well as general maintenance of the place. Much like the entire city of Victoria, TX. I wouldn't want to live there either. No offense to anyone who does. The park outside of the Zoo looked more inviting. I did like the free roaming birds, though. There was an entire section of zoo that was blocked off... kinda wondering what was back there. read more

The Texas Zoo - Zoos Near Me - Victoria, Texas

Huge "meh" on this place, even with lowered expectations going in. First, don't buy the train tickets. It's not even a train that goes on tracks or anything like that, and it doesn't go all the way around this place, either. Plus, you'll be forced to leave your stuff/umbrella/stroller behind. Just save yourself the $3/per person and skip it. It's pretty alright when you walk in. You see peacocks roaming free, which the baby loved. They also have an air conditioned walk through where you can see snakes et al. Whoever putting it together must've gotten lazy towards the end of the exhibit, as the info cards and name plates stopped getting put up. They also had this weird/cool tunnel you/kids can crawl through and poke their head up in a bubble and be surrounded by rattlesnakes. Made for a strange picture with the baby. Some of the exhibits at this place were pretty weird. For example, they cohorted a raccoon and a fox together(?). Are these creatures buddies in real life? No explanation for why they were sharing a habitat was posted. Just bizarre! Also, you are not shielded by Plexiglas when you look at the large cats. My MIL nearly pissed herself when an angry tiger lunged at the chain link fence.Another bizarre thing I saw here: A coyote playing with a coral snake. Yeah. For real. Everyone in the peanut gallery kept repeating that old rhyme: "Yellow and black, you're alright jack. Red touches yellow, you're a dead fellow...HOLY SH**!!" Hm. I also got crapped on by an emu. They had some cute lemers. But yes, this place is pretty small. They don't entirely charge you for an arm and a leg, but keep an eye out for the weirdness! read more

Visiting grandparents for an early thanksgiving treat, I have a 2 year old who loves animals! Heard about this place and decided to come check it out! It is small but big enough especially coming in on a Thursday it wasn't packed. Bought 2 bags of animal feed to feed some animals and lettuce. My only complaint was $1 per leaf of Romain, honestly had such a great time feeding the goats peacocks and their gorgeous ostrich. I think we will come again before our flight leaves! read more

The Texas Zoo - Zoos Near Me - Victoria, Texas

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You have to go into this place with an open mind, with no expectation of a real zoo. Think of this place as a birthday party petting zoo, minus the petting. Other than the Zebra and a couple of monkeys, not you typical animals from a regular zoo. The animal enclosures are poorly kept and seemed to lack the appropriate amount of space needed for some be of these animals. Not too expensive but still too much for what you get in return. read more

Very disappointed. Relatively small enclosures for some very big animals and nothing telling us about the specific specimens -- how did they come to be here, what are their names, how old are they. Does the zoo participate in any rescue and rehab programs? The person who took our $ had no idea. Enclosures generally looked poorly cared for. No keepers around but to be fair it was 1 pm on a cold and rainy day. Maybe that's why we weren't able to enter the bldg to see the snakes (one of our main interests)? Again the person in the gift shop did not know. read more

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The zoo has greatly improved over the past decade. I can remember coming to this place in the late 90s and seeing the exhibits and space in overall disrepair. lt was a gloomy experience then. Glad to say that has changed! The zoo is located in Riverside Park which itself is a great attraction, but the zoo can certainly hold it's own. It specializes in animals which are native to Texas, but also features species from around the world. It is a small place which ultimately is a bonus. That size allows the visitor to get VERY close to lions, peacocks and various birds in the aviary. Another bonus is that you can complete the trip around the location within 45 minutes, but feel like you actually got your money and time's worth out of the experience. Definitely worth the visit, as it sounds like they will be expanding space and increasing the number of exhibits in the not too distant future. read more

Liked the lemur encounter, the zoo trainer Colton is making the zoo much better, animal show was cute read more

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Had a great day visiting the zoo! Nothing but smiles! Loved seeing the extremely wide variety of animals the zoo had to offer, and the grounds were very clean. Would definitely recommend and would visit again! read more

We try to get to the at least once a week. We love to support our local zoo and hope others can find the beauty we encounter each time. read more

The Texas Zoo - Birds of a feather. - Zoos Near Me - Victoria, Texas

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I've been a member for years and always renew. The price is a great deal and it helps the zoo maintain its facilities. The exhibits are accessible, making it easy to view the animals. The variety of animals are surprising for the size of the zoo. I also like that things get changed up on a regular basis. This is a real gem in the Riverside Park area. read more

Nice clean little zoo. We enjoyed the peacocks and birds walking around with us.

Not what I was expecting. We arrived there about 30 min after they opened. They were cleaning cages so half the animals were not even out. We had to wait almost 2hrs for the lions to come out. I know that this is not a big zoo, but you would think that they would do the cleaning before business hours and have the animals ready to go so their guests don't have to wait around so long. There is not enough things to do to keep you there for more than 1 hr. Unless you are waiting for the lions to come out that is. read more

We really like this zoo. The staff are great, and they are always working to improve. It's small enough that we don't lose track of our grandkids so we don't have to constantly hold their hands. They are always asking to go to the zoo. On the weekends, there are live animal shows where we learn about some of the residents. There is a new lion enclosure so previous reviews that commented on the small enclosure could be amended. They are always trying to get new animals. While they have lots of south TX animals, they have added others. Give it a try. We live 90 miles away and go as often as we can. read more

Took my young nephew one weekday and was very disappointed. Many parts and exhibits seemed to be closed due to construction. I'm guessing the place recieved hurricane damage as some animals were displaced or simply gone. With such little to see or do, we walked through the entire park in about 15 minutes. Like others have said this is more of a rescue/rehabilitation center, so do not expect much. I feel like I could count on two hands the number of different animals that were there. The exhibits that were open were poorly managed, as we noticed very few employees in our time there. Many of the animals looked inadequately cared for and seemed miserable in the summer heat. I remember taking field trips here as a kid and enjoying much more like an exhibit building for snakes, bats, insects and other creepy crawlies. I was saddened my nephew had to experience this sad excuse of a zoo. The cost of tickets seemed overpriced, but I don't mind if that's going towards upkeep and care for the animals. read more

small town zoo. friendly staff. the best exhibits are the big cats: lions, tigers, and it's also home to the UHV mascot, Jax. the otters are a riot. They sit on the rocks, but jump in the water when people come up to the glass to watch them swim. read more

Great little Zoo. They were in the process of adding new exhibits and animals. The price was reasonable and we cant wait to return to see whats new. read more

small but very clean. animals very active. perfect size for small children with plenty of variety..

this zoo is constantly changing & improving. it is a great asset to victoria. very good shows by the keepers. definitely a must see for residents & visitors alike! read more