Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary Reviews

Fun and Exciting! Great place for the kids. They will truly enjoy.

Not a traditional zoo but lots of fun. Great animals for kids. Kind of dusty. Lions, tigers, bears, snakes, monkeys, no elephant.

Great, fun and affordable option in austin area!
Not as fancy as other zoos but they are a Rescue and from a child's perspective its great! It's never really packed so it's nice that the kids can run along at their own pace. Definitely recommended buying the bag of feed! Great cheap way of getting the kids to participate.
**only bathroom located at the beginning so make sure you go! And they have strollers there for use in case you forget yours!

A great zoo with lots of animals and easy to see most of them.

The Austin Zoo was great! Our family group had adults, teenagers, and a three year old and every person had a great time. I liked that it was a not for profit rescue and rehabilitation center for the animals (made me feel a little less guilty about going to a zoo).

Very impressive Zoo considering the size. Good variety of species. Lions tigers and bears!

This is one of my favorite Zoos, the Austin Zoo is a nice change up from traditional zoos in that the animals are rescues and the "relaxed" set up is more inviting and engaging. The animals were very active, happy, and healthy when I visited. If you enjoy zoos I highly recommend this zoo.

Most of the animals were hidden wasn't able to see a lot of animals. The train ride I don't suggest you don't see any animal's just painted plasterboard on the train ride.

My kid had fun, but by the end of the day I was sick of them asking me to round up the change to donate every time I purchased something (entry, food, gift shop). Too much if you ask me. If carrying change is too difficult, then put even dollar prices on everything. .

Wonderful time with my son. He loved seeing the animals and feeding them. We always end our visit with a train ride and even tho we didn't see much today it was a beautiful and relaxing ride

This review is specifically about Boo at the Zoo. I have great respect for the mission of this zoo and we have been coming here for 12 years since our son was born. So as not to decrease their overall rating, I will write a separate rating for the zoo itself. Here ya go folks: Boo at the Zoo has one fatal flaw...well, maybe two, that could be remedied easily.

1. Two workers at the snack truck
It can take 30 minutes or more just to get a couple of snowcones.

2. WRITE THE DEPARTURE TIME OF THE TRAIN ON THE TICKETS
The all caps was to make it loud enough for those in charge to hear ;-) We have ridden this train for the last five years, and this year was the first time we noticed that the departure time is actually 10 minutes before the time on the tickets. There were a dozen people in the standby line. One family waited 40 minutes and were turned away at the last train. Their 3 year old in tears, speechless parents. While they say that this information is in the confirmation email, it is buried a ways down, and the departure time is not clarified when you buy the tickets. It would be VERY SIMPLE to just write "departure time at ___" on the tickets they give you upon entrance. Poor crying little babies would be happy little babies, and doesn't everyone prefer that?

Love this place! Don't expect a commerical zoo, this is far from it. It's a rescue for exotic animals and that's our favorite thing about it. My kids love the train ride and being able to feed the animals. Highly recommend!!

Kids have fun watching animals.. nice place to spend time with kids

Extremely impressed at all the renovations since the zoo's funding increased! I'll definitely be coming back more often.

Beautiful animals & staff. I loved seeing how clean everything was and how much shade the animals had. Very small but quaint. The individual animal stories were heart touching.

I had my three kids with me. Ages where 10. 8 and 5. They had a blast. Staff was informative and very friendly. It was very hot, but with all the shade from the trees it was comfortable enough to enjoy. Thank you for an awesome experience.

We love this zoo. It's low key, quiet, and peaceful. The animals are well kept and the staff is very friendly.

Probably ignored by Austinites in favor of Houston, Dallas And Waco zoos, but actually a really good and worthwhile place to visit for couple of hours. Only animal you will miss is elephant otherwise they have Lions, Tigers, Bears, Birds, Monkeys and Reptiles along with numerous animals such as Goats, Sheep, Deer etc which kids can feed.

Took my girls on homeschool day. We had a blast! I think they'll definitely appreciate it more next year but really enjoyed all the little stalls set up for homeschoolers! My 5 year old got to hold a grub! We saw butterflies coming out of their cocoons! It was all pretty awesome! Small "zoo"/rescue center but we loved it!

awesome!! its a rescue zoo, so all of the animals are rescued from different situations. They are run on donations, and they take good care of the animals they take in. I highly recommend it

Brought my family here and had a wonderful time. The animals were out and about looking very well taken care of. Had good parking with plenty of shade and snacks in the park.

Okay...not real sure I will visit again. They have some issues they need to address with growing crowds.

#Lion S & #tiger S & #bear S, oh my!
I had great time here! I #goodtimes #goodvibes #happy #smile #animals > #humans

This is a great #zoo to bring the #family or yourself
The #kid in all of us! #God
Staff is awesome and friendly!
#love thee #wolf #native

#austin #atx #texas #newyork #California

Cute zoo for the little ones. I LOVE how close the Lions are.

Liked the place a bunch. The only down side I had was some lady was complaining about how people cut in line to ride the train when everyone was there waiting in the heat just the same.. I instantly left the line in discuss.

What a fun hidden jem right here in Austin. Staff was friendly and Google Maps got me there without any hiccups.

Best rescue zoo I've been to. Really nice selection of animals both domestic and not -- too bad most of them got there due to silly pet owners not knowing how to take care of their pets (or the legality of owing them). Glad they get a second chance in this wonderful space!

Different than any other zoo I've been to, but it was absolutely so much fun!

Recommend going early and planning to be there for feeding and information shows.

Austin Zoo is one of the best zoos I've been to! Seeing and learning about the animals made for a great day and a really fun date.

This is not a giant metropolitan zoo. It's quaint and a good way to spend a few hours with small kids. We live nearby and got a yearly membership. We've been maybe 5+ times a year with our twin three year olds. They also love the little train ride. I wish it didn't cost extra to ride the train.

Most of the animals weren't there, maybe asleep, but other than that it was a nice trip

I give it a four star because yes, the experience was great but not only was the smell horrible around some of the animals enclosures which is something I could get over but the peacocks and other animals being able to roam free like that in the parking lot and such is dangerous for them as well as the children chasing them and antagonising them as well as there being one sign that is really visible towards the middle of the zoo telling us not to mess with the animals. Not only are there children trying to touch the animals but adults touched the feathers of a peacock. I highly recommend it but DONT TOUCH THE ANIMALS IF THERE ISNT A SIGN SAYING THAT YOU CAN TOUCH THEM.

I liked the ride on the train and the place is generally fine, I just think it needs a remodel to be at the level of a zoo located in the capital of Texas.

There are many types of species that our children can know.

Small zoo with primarily rescue animals. Includes a train for kids, feeding area and nice gift shop. Great local find.

The animals are all well taken care for (all of the creatures are rescues or were surrendered to the zoo), and the facilities are well maintained.

This was a great local zoo!! Cheap prices and a wide selection for the "small/local" size.

It is a smaller zoo, off south of Austin. Nice if you want to hike around a couple of times and see a small collection of animals. Staff was friendly and informative. All dirt trials...

Visited Austin Zoo for the first time and it's amazing! The balance between the rescue animals' welfare and the visitors' experience of them seemed perfect. Staff were taking such obviously good care of the animals and their homes. While the zoo isn't huge in comparison to some conventional zoos, there's a broad variety of animals to observe. And you don't feel slimy at the exploitation of the animals when you leave.

Love that they give you backstories and names for many of the residents. Some seemed to enjoy hearing their names and being talked to. (Sarge the parrot in particular, ha).

Thank you so much to everyone that contributes their time here!

It's a place for rescue animals. The staff is very informative and eager to answer any questions.

2nd time here. My daughter loves it. Lots to see and the people are nice!

All rescued animals :) a good deed. You shouldn't expect much variety and/or a lot of animals..however, for kids it's more than enough. I saw so many Kiddo's who were mesmerized by the animals and their behavior. So, a must visit with kids. However, choose your timing.. Morning or evening are the best time in summer.. Once animals are fed and its hot, they generally hide and so you may miss them.

This was like a depressing holding cell for the animals.

Such a great place! I normally don't like zoos, but all the animals are rescue.

It's a great little country zoo with some great wildcats and black bears and monkeys excetera. We love going there.

I loved this place because as a rescue zoo. It's such a blast to see how happy and well the animals are in the zoo. Great family atmosphere.

Loved it. Many more animals than I expected, including large animals. A very nice experience and very educational for our young toddler. Would definitely come back.

Small zoo, but enough to keep the kids entertained. Staff is very friendly.

Smaller than I thought it would be. Needs improvements.

It was hot today so most of the animals were hiding or in the shade. The small children enjoyed the animals they could touch and feed. Small zoo, more like a sanctuary, it needs more help with donations. Would love to see the city have a larger zoo with more amenities for the animals' forever homes.

It was an amazing zoo! We came all the way from Las Cruces NM and it was refreshing compared to EL Paso and Albuquerque! The animals were very happy and well taken care of! I can't wait to come back!

It s small but well managed. My son loved the lions, cougar and wolf. They have a nice little area for feeding which is absolutely fun

I liked a lot and there were several animals with babies, besides the great work they do when rescuing and welcoming animals in danger is admirable.

Great nonprofit zoo. All rescue animals which is awesome. The kids and adults both enjoyed our visit.

Good small animal sanctuary. Some shade but super hot in the summer. Train ride is fun too

Beautiful zoo to visit, the rescue's are so sweet and friendly.

This zoo is so unique, like Austin. All their animals come from rescue situations, which takes the experience to a whole other level. The groupon made it very affordable. My kids had a great time feeding the animals.

Animals didnt come out their cages, the staff was knowledgeable and friendly

Support the cause for these animals visit this zoo this year.

Great place to take kiddos and show them some wildlife. It s a nonprofit rescue so that s why I chose to go here rather than bigger zoos say in San Antonio or Dallas. This zoo Is one of our families go to places for a fun afternoon.

Austin Zoo is a 501(c)3 nonprofit animal rescue. Many of their animals were formerly kept as "pets" and they recently took in another zoo's tamarins after they were displaced by Hurricane Harvey. They also have llamas, goats, sheep and deer that can be fed by hand. This organization does fantastic work and I cannot say enough good things about it.

Definitely not your typical zoo. Still really nice that all these animals were rescued. I highly recommend arriving as early as possible the parking situation is a disaster! Pushing a stroler around can be somewhat challenging because nothing is paved, this is not a handicapped friendly place. There is a nice gift shop, snack truck, and only one set of bathrooms at the entrance. The Groupon only allow for one coupon per account so don't buy more than one per Groupon account.

Definitely came expecting it would be a bigger zoo, and for the price my family left disappointed, as so did I listening to my 2 year old say lion because we didnt see them. I understand it is a rescue zoo so it is pretty descent.