This is a massive zoo. It took me 6 hours to explo...

This is a massive zoo. It took me 6 hours to explore everything without breaking for lunch, and I tried to keep a fairly quick pace. I recommend wearing comfortable shoes (preferably closed toe because the trails are dirt), sunscreen and bring some water. Also bring lots of quarters because the food they provide to feed the animals is in vending type machines that only accept quarters.

The area with the ducks, geese and swans was nice and peaceful. I was surprised to see several beautiful peacocks walking around among the patrons. I loved feeding the giraffes. There is a 6 foot easement between you and the giraffes which makes it hard for kids to feed them since they can't reach across properly.

There are a lot of animals here. I noticed some were in multiple locations, mostly monkeys and macaws. The leopards, tigers and lions were inactive and hard to take photos. Most of them sit in dark, shaded areas or as far away from people as they can get.

I agree with the other reviewers that expressed some unhappiness with how small the cages were, especially for the birds (who have wings and were meant to fly.) Some of the alligators and crocodiles were in cages so small they could barely turn around. And the penguins area was also very small. Other cages, like the jackals, llamas and alpacas were very sparse. It was like looking into someone's backyard in a lower-income neighborhood... chain link fence, overgrown grass and a makeshift dog house for shade. That's it. A little more thought and creativity into building a lifelike habitat would have been appreciated.

All of the animals looked sad and depressed. None of them were lively except for the white tiger which was pacing back and forth near the edge of the cage and growling at a little girl who wanted to get too close. One of the white tigers is also cross-eyed, as a result of inbreeding. After doing some research I found all white tigers are inbreed for the sole purpose of exhibiting them for money. The ostriches were pecking at each other's feathers. The alpacas were biting on the fence (called bar-biting, a sign of distress). It was nice to get up close to animals that I would not have been able to otherwise, but seeing them held in captivity, and under obvious distress, when they should have been roaming the wild was hard to look at. These may have been rescued animals and unable to survive in the wild. If so, at least give them more space to roam and be free.

After visiting here I really questioned the righteousness of keeping wild animals in captivity to be extorted and photographed by visitors for the sole purpose of making a profit. Next time I feel like visiting animals I will be donating the price of admission to a non-profit animal sanctuary or rescue organization instead.