Trash don t waste your time or money here!!! Worst zoo I ve ever seen. Animals weren t feed right exhibits were ugly and small the zoo as a whole was tiny and terrible if I could give this place 0 stars I would
I like the rescue concept, so worth spending the money. However, go with the expectation that it is not a high quality zoo.
Very beautiful place to take the children to know the animals. There is a small part where you can interact with the goats from a secure fence. They are very friendly
Cheap, fun place to visit with kids. The facility has done the best they can to keep the animals and visitors safe during covid-19. Not a huge Zoo and a lot of things are blocked off but overall a great place to have a fun time!
Nice tiny zoo. There is no food on the site so be sure to have something with you.
If you're looking for a traditional zoo experience, the Austin Zoo won't fit the bill. (I suggest the San Antonio Zoo if you're looking to go that route.)
The Austin Zoo is a rescue zoo, which means adjusting expectations in a few respects:
1. They are a non profit. Don't expect anything super fancy. The walkways are crushed granite and their setup is pretty basic. However, they do great work and really seek to care for animals in need of a good home.
2. They operate for the well being off the animals, not your entertainment. I appreciate this aspect of the zoo, too. The animals here came from bad situations and are at the zoo because they need a bit of extra TLC.
3. You won't see everything a typical zoo has to offer. They do have bears, reptiles, monkeys and even tigers. However, you won't find elephants, zebras or many other animals you'd find at a larger zoo.
All this being said, it is a great little zoo, and you can see pretty much everything within about 3 hours.You can buy food and feed many of the animals if you want to make the trip last a little longer. There is also a train (my daughter's favorite part!)
You won't find a cafeteria or coffee shop, but they do have a small concession stand for snacks (ballpark nachos, snow cones, etc.)
Overall, a good zoo with a great mission.
Excellent Halloween activity for the whole family. Boo at the Zoo = getting to watch the nocturnal animals being VERY active
The name is misleading. This is a private, non profit, rescue zoo. They take in abandoned or injured animals. Wolves, bears, monkeys, lots of goats . . . Very worthwhile to visit and your donation helps alot
Nice zoo experience and great to see the caring of once neglected animals!
Less of a zoo and more of a rescue center but that is not a bad thing! I always worry about how the animals are treated in a zoos but listening to the handlers explain about the personality of the animals, how they are introduced to each other, etc was a great way to be put at ease.
I recommend checking out the talks that the handlers have at different points of the day! Can be a bit hot during the summer, but well worth a visit!
It was alright, needs more money and animals. It's my state's capital zoo, it should have more of everything. If your a Texan and have money to spare, donate to the Austin Zoo. Thank you.
More animals are missing like giraffes or elephants
Nice small zoo. Can be covered in a couple of hours.
Love how casual it is and love all the conservation and rescue efforts.
I live this Zoo! It's perfect for my kids, it's laid back and for a good cause.
Great place to take the kids. Only thing that we didn t see was the tiger. Hopefully next
It need much help and needed funding, most of the enclosures were empty.
Not clean bathrooms. Please help them
Really nice place, animals are all rescued. Also it's more like a walk in the woods than a concrete jungle.
It's a rescue zoo, so don't expect a traditional zoo experience. Its fairly small, but still has many beautiful animals to see. My toddler loved it, especially the birds and wild lizards he saw that run around the zoo. He also loved feeding the animals. Nice place to visit for a few hours. They don't have much in the way of food though. It would be nice if they had a system in place (like a stamp or something) that would allow you to leave to eat, and then come back in the same day without having to pay again.
It's a small zoo and easy to miss from the main connecting road
Just the right size for my family, good people and non-profit. Had some issue with the pathes and incline but was manageable.
I love this zoo! Is it a big commercial park with miles of concrete and huge pens of exotic animals? No. Does it have a mission of helping retired and debilitated animals live a somewhat comfortable life to a conclusion? Yes! The reason my wife and I support this place is not because of the wow factor but the good will this place is founded upon. It is a great place to take younger kids to expose them to wildlife in a zoo setting without traveling to another city or ponying up $20/head in admission fees. The staff is great and loves what they do; they truly care, not just care-takers.
Great rescue zoo that you can get through in a couple of hours. The animals are well-loved and the zoo is well maintained.
Nice zoo with interesting animals and enclosures. Good for young kids
This zoo needs more species of animals please. This is the capital we should be better than Houston
Nice place for kids.lots of animals is there.beautiful peacocks is there,my kids enjoys a lot.
My daughter loves! Easy access in and out of area. Good way to spend a beautiful Austin day! :)
Due to Covid19, orange netting is surrounding much of the exhibits. Please don't let this deter you! This does not obstruct viewing, only for extra distance purposes for the animals. The old admissions building is no longer open. You will now walk up to a small outside trailer to show proof of online ticket purchase, which is preferred. By the way, NO CASH.. just debit/credit cards are being used.
This day we visited around 3pm when many animals were active. Zoo keepers fed most of the animals while we watched. Our 3 year old enjoyed feeding the goats, sheep, deer and Llamas. Brown bag feed bags are $3 which you will find in the now outside souvenir shop next to the reptile exhibit. We all also rode the train for $5 a person. The scenery/displays on the train ride could use some improvement but I understand the money raised here goes back in to keeping those sweet animals happy and healthy. Concession stand is closed, but they offer a small selection of chips and drinks in the souvenir shop. You can bring your own refreshments in, just no sharing with the animals. Oh! And watch out for the beautiful roaming free peacocks. They are mesmerizing!
Overall, we love visiting Austin Zoo. We visit 2-3 times a year. It's small but worth seeing the smile on your kiddos face.
Love the Austin zoo. The service was great, quick and the staff was very friendly. Will definitely visit the zoo again
As a rescue zoo, this really is a nice place to take kids. Many field trips are taken here from the various school district to expose the kids to the animals and rescue/conservation work. It is worth the trip and while small, is a worthy group to support.
We were hardly able to see any of the animals because they were almost all inside and because they changed it to go one way, lots of exhibits are blocked off. We left really hot and really disappointed.
Better than one would think given the small budget at this zoo. Amazing bears, lions, and tigers. Best part is that you can feed animals and they lick your hand. Buy a bag of food when you enter. Good times.
Had a really good experience visiting this place. All animals are rescued and they are very well taken care of. It is a small zoo, but it is a good place to go to with the family. They have a train that takes you around and you can also buy food bags to feed the llamas and the goats. Animals are very friendly and they will eat straight out of your hand!
It's a little dirty and very hilly but the kids like it so it's worth a trip
Such a nice outdoor zoo, the staff is super friendly and they even have strollers free for use for your little ones.
Super small for the same price as big zoos like houston. Limited food and bathrooms.
Went here with my 3 &1 year olds and it was just the best time ever. Getting to feed and pet some of the animals and seeing all of the others was just awesome. This tiny rescue zoo is perfect for kids. Sooooo happy we took the kids.
Not really the typical zoo. Make the drive to San Antonio, Dallas or Fort Worth is you want a true zoo experience.
Zoo for saved animals from dislocated zoos or animals not wanted from pet owners. Kind of pricey, but the money goes to keeping the animals safe and fed. Nice haven for these animals.
Small but mighty! This zoo was so awesome. I'm not sure what the exact thing is or more likely a combination of many things, but this was the most fun I've had at a zoo. The animals were very interactive with the humans. These animals actually want to to look at them and talk to them. And tons of peacocks and peahens. Please don't feed the wrong animals the food, you'll ruin it for everyone.
Awesome zoo! We love how they care for the animals. This is more like a learning experience, than a zoo.
Don't forget to pet Macaroni, the "house" cat...
Nice place to spend couple hours with kids. Its a rescue zoo, but still there are loads of animals and birds to look at. My son loved the tiger and the monkeys, they have their own playing toys, that was very cute.
The cages have a plaque for each animal and their story on how they came to the zoo which is a good read for the older kids.
It's so nice to see a place that cares so much for animals. The world really needs more sanctuaries like the Austin Zoo. I would most definitely come back here!
It is a very beautiful and well-kept place, everything is with your due precautions
Great concept for a zoo. All of the animals are rescue animals. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. They have done a great thing here, with a smaller budget than a "real "zoo the animals all seem happy and healthy.
We took our granddaughter here yesterday and she had a wonderful time. The zoo's mission, rehabilitation of sick or wounded animals is certainly a noble cause.
Its an outside sanctuary, not necessarily a zoo. If you pay, you can get food and feed the animals. There isn't an aquarium, there's a reptile center. Smaller than other zoo's I've been to.
Not the biggest zoo, but still a great place to take the kids to see some exotic animals.
Awesome little zoo. Very impressed. I am also glad to see that this is one of the ethical rescue zoos.
Need to add recycling bins!!! And a piece of roof to give Lions a bit more shade!!
Small zoo, good for young children friendly staff. We enjoy reading about how the animals got there and wondering what the heck some people were thinking when they tried to keep some of them as pets!
We visited for boo at the zoo during Halloween. It was good. As a zoo there is very little. Most of the animals are saved from circus or similar.
Nice and clean zoo the train ride was nice but this place has a bee problem but it s still a nice zoo!
Found this place to be just perfect for a family with small children. It's small enough to not be overwhelming - you won't be exhausted from schlepping kids around. Admission was reasonable and the food truck they had onsite was enough for our picnic bench lunch. Would be a fun place for a child's birthday party.
The zoo was pretty fun for the kids. It is a rescue zoo, which is nice. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of other for profit zoos, but they take care of animals that were injured and such and that is good. So i like supporting that they take care of these animals.
One we only seen Birds and turtles!!! None of the animals bur we seen the signs on what the animal was lol. And I feel sad for them cause they could have Sprinkler system set up for them so they could cool down and be more happy.
Amazing big - little zoo! It's one of my kids favorite spots in Austin! The best part are the knowledge zoo keepers that are willing to take the time to answer my son's 10,000 questions.
Wonderful place ! Lots of shade! Staff everywhere talking about the animals. Great place for families!
Very small, but in a good way. Not as crowded as the bigger, more well known zoos, but still has most of the animals people go to the zoo see. Bonus points for being a rescue zoo.
Very neat, simple place. I love that it's a rescue for the animals which is what makes it so important to support.
I think it's cool that the animals in the zoo are all rescues. The zoo is the smallest I've ever visited, so it's hard to spend more than a couple of hours here, but they have a fair variety of animals and a lot of heart.
Only takes an hr to get through the whole zoo but I liked seeing the animals
Loud children, bad, anyoing. animals good, I didn't see them.
I can appreciate that these are rescue animals. My 4 year old had a good time. Train ride was ok. Don t try to compare this zoo to the larger ones.
Get close and personal with the animals. Not crowded plus they rescue and rehabilitate animals
Always a great experience coming in contact with cool animals they have here...
This zoo was awesome! Very up close experience with the animals. Felt as if they were probably really cold ! No heat for the animals. Over all really cool non profit zoo. Workers knew all the animals by name. Were very friendly and willing to tell me about the animals.
It's a closer experience with the animals than a larger zoo. Mostly big cats, monkeys, bears, wolves and birds.
Take the train around the zoo! They also have a space for birthday parties! This is a unique place for a party!!!
Very small and oddly organized but it is a nonprofit that rescues exotics from collectors and pet owners so it s a great cause and still worth going to visit.
Loved it cuz they take in animals that needed a permanent home. And the have lots of trees around so you're not walking on a hot sidewalk.
I LOVE THIS ZOO!! I am not a fan of zoos because I feel that the animals are being treated more as a display than letting them be in a habitat similar to their natural environment. However, this zoo is really different than any of the other zoos that I have been to. My family decided to spontaneously go to this zoo and it so happened to be three of the bears birthday!!! Now, while the zoo did make a little show of the whole thing, the zookeepers did give them a little treat putting goodies in boxes and hanging them, putting them in little hiding spots so the baby bears had to attempt using natural senses and strengths to obtain their birthday presents. The zookeepers obviously invest a lot of time and energy into the care of the animals and are all super knowledgeable. AND, what makes this zoo even better is that all of the animals are rescued! Please take the time to go visit this amazing place and consider purchasing an item or two from the gift shop to help support this small zoo so they can help more animals and maintain the beautiful zoo.
Want to enjoy an animal sanctuary full of happy faces of rescued animals go here you would enjoy it .
The family goes atleast twice a year and love it everytime! Its alot more intimate then bigger zoos
My kids liked it. Wasn't what I was used to bit had happy entertaining animals.
austinzoo.org