Miriam Mora

Review of Rosamond Gifford Zoo

So, as a zoo this place is ok. However, I was taki...

So, as a zoo this place is ok. However, I was taking a friends two year old there while babysitting and on the way there, he asked me, "will there be dinosaurs at the zoo?" To which I responded, "no, because we go to the zoo to see real live animals, and as cool as dinosaurs are, they're extinct, which means that there are none living anymore." We get to the zoo, and to my great frustration, it is FULL OF ANIMATRONIC DINOSAURS! So now I have unintentionally lied to a little boy by telling they wouldn't be there, and also completely confused him about the meaning of extinction.

I would also add that as we stood there, and I pointed out the robotic, predictable motions of the dinosaur to explain that they aren't real (and why my charge didn't be frightened) when another woman with a small child scolded me, because her son believed they were real, and here I was spoiling his good time. This isn't Santa people, it's science! Don't lie to your kid about the existence of real life dinosaurs! And this is not the purpose of a freaking zoo. You're supposed to feel connected to nature in some way, to appreciate the majesty of real-life creatures you may not get the chance to encounter in your life otherwise.

People were crowded around a fake dinosaur while behind them, real, actual elephants played and bathed in a little pond, practically unobserved. Very frustrating experience, on the whole.

Oh, and lastly, these fake dinosaurs were LOUD. you could hear then roaring all over the park. There was no escape. And perhaps that wouldn't be so bad, unless you are one of the parents with a terrified kids sure those mean dinosaurs are going to get them because they aren't in cages. In that case, you just have to take your horrified screaming toddler out of the zoo.. or at least you should.

Thumbs down for authenticity and experience. I have it two states instead of one because there WERE still lovely animals and it was walkable, even if you couldn't escape the Jurassic Park sounds effects.