Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary Reviews

They abuse their animals!!! Fire the zoo director and entire board and start over!!! Only after that then it is ethical to visit this facility

Definitely not your normal zoo, but lots of fun. You can get really close to the animals without the crowd.

Such a fun place to take the family. The animals all seem very well taken care of and I love the fact that many are rescued from bad situations!

Beautiful place to spend more than half a day super recommended

Small rescue zoo with a wide variety of animals, best gone during non summer months as the animals do get hot too and tend to shelter. The outbreak has made so some exhibits are inaccessible, but they are doing the best they can to keep everyone safe.

Rescue zoo with many activities throughout the year, great for all ages.

It's also an animal preserve unlike most zoos that exploit animals for entertainment

This place was so much fun. They even had animals that they took in from the floods. Staff was excellent. One of the huge turtles was upside down, went and told the staff and they were on it.

This is a rescue zoo that is puts major effort into making a better life for the animals.

A must visit place in Austin. Especially the lions are very playful sometimes and it's an unique experience to watch them play.

I loved it is the first time I visit Austin Tx. My wife just loved it is a unique zoo everything is in nature

Very interesting - but use a Groupon to save money.

Awesome place for family great worker eat the nachos and snow cones. Alot of animals!!!!

Beautiful. Animals are awake and lively at 12 pm. Friendly staff.

Nice small zoo. Don't go expecting what you would at a regular zoo. This is a rescue zoo. All of their animals are either owner surrenders or saved from other zoos due to hurricanes or disasters. Chickens and peacocks running loose are a nice sight. Never seen so many beautiful peacocks in one place. Check it out!!!

This is not a world class zoo but I love it anyway. It's a rescue zoo that takes in hurt or abandoned experience animals. It's put together with duct tape and rubber bands and you can tell it's a labor of love. Any they have a surprisingly wide array of animals. I have a membership and go when I can. The turtles are the best.

The Zoo is comprised of so many beautiful animals. The place is really good option to visit with family. I went here with my family and the children in our family were very happy with this place. They enjoyed themselves and got to learn so much. The kids were so happy that they keep on asking about our next visit. This is a wonderful place.

A nice rescue zoo a short drive from downtown ATX.

This zoo isn't extremely big or fancy, but you can tell they care about the animals. The animals are taken in from bad situations and rehabilitated and cared for.

The exhibits have educational material about the species of animals, but also about each individual animals situation and how they ended up being cared for by the zoo.

This is a much different experience than a big zoo, it's a lot quieter and less crowded if that's what you are looking for. It's also kind cheated more affordable than a big zoo. You can easily see the whole zoo in an hour, but if you take your time there's plenty to do for a couple of hours.

Great place to see some amazing wild life. They are also rescue for injured animals and even took some in from hurricane Harvey. Its just south of downtown Austin. You can even see them feed the animals at different times. Worth check it out!!

Awesome zoo! Not large, but good quality. The macaws and the cockatoo like to say hello when you stop to see them. The staff are really friendly. Be sure to buy a bag of food from them and feed the sheep, deer, llama, and goats.

I love the Austin Zoo! Enjoy a nice walk in the forest and see some cool rescued animals. Lemurs, monkeys, lions, tigers, and bears. There is a train too, but we have never been on it. Pack a snack or lunch as there is one option for food.

a little small, but better than driving to San Antonio every time you want to go to the zoo.

Rescued animals in a informative environment. Great spot for a kids party.

We drove 5 hours from Louisiana to Austin, TX and decided to stop by. I understand that everything is taped off because of covid-19 but some enclosures you couldn't even see. The reptiles were completely off limits too. I don't think the gift shop was even open. I don't regret paying because I know it goes to the animals and the workers but I would lie if I said I wasn't extremely disappointed.

It's a good zoo for Austin filled with rescued wild animals. Houses lions, tigers, mountain cats, wolves, reptiles and peacocks and more. Will take you 1 to 1.5 hours in total at this place. Tickets cheaper thro' grouponn. Definitely a visit for kids.

Good for little kids but not as impressive as San Antonio or Brownsville.

This zoo was good to visit. As we parked, we saw a beautiful peacock in the parking area. Picture is posted to the public:) I recommended better signage for finding the animals.

small zoo. ok for kids.so many peacocks are there.my kids love it.

Loved the zoo, small but interesting animals and reptiles. The kids loved the peacocks roaming about.

Admission fee is to much compared with the horrible service and the poor place accommodation..

It was a nice day to go see the zoo animals..love it...

This is a cute little zoo to take your kids to spend a couple of hours but every time we go, we see less and less animals. The cages are all far away and covered so it s hard to see the animals, there is not a paved sidewalks so bring comfortable shoes and it s not wheelchair friendly. Parking is also a dirt driveway but it s big. You pay to feed some of the animals but last visit the bag was half of the size than the times before. The only fun thing to do was to feed and pet the goats and the llamas. Anything else was empty or unable to see the animal and it wasn t even a hot day. They have a gift shop with cute merchandise and they ve a food truck that sells hot dogs and shaved ice. They have an area with picnic tables. They have a little train that goes around the zoo but you ve to pay extra $3 to ride it. But it s cute and the kids like it.

I liked it because it was the first time i had gone to the zoo in austin. I love the help and information that the keeper gave me.

70 percent of the animals were not visible many cafes under repair and no employee notified of these issues not worth the admission fee

All the animals are rescues! What a great experience.

Small but nice little zoo. If there was a play area we didn't see it. Adding a play area for kiddos would be great.

Great time for little kids and adults. No elephants or giraffes, but there were lions, wolves, and goats and llamas to feed.

The staff was friendly. You can actually feed some of the animals. My kids enjoyed it. Inexpensive entry and gifts.

Fun way to spend the day with the littles, and all of their animals are rescues

Nice place, kids loved the train. It's quite small though, probably less than 1/4 the san antonio zoo. Still very worthwhile to visit

I love that most of the animals are rescues, but this is an extremely small and simple zoo so don't expect the typical zoo experience. It's more like a farm or a big back yard. Staff are very friendly and helpful. Love that my kid could feed and pet the barn animals, and the availability of hand sanitizer and hand washing stations. This would be a difficult place for someone with limited mobility, the terrain is hilly and uneven, but it was fine for my 3 year old to walk without a stroller or wagon. Definitely take the train ride of you are with little kids. It's short but you can see lots of animals.

There is always a possibility for a close up encounter. Absolutely love the wildlife here. Foxes and wolves are by far my favorite of them all. It is a small zoo but they are here to protect and rehabilitate animals which I find far more important than bringing in animals for the sake of having them as an attraction.

My daughter visits a zoo every time we go to a new town, it's a sanctuary but was worth it would go every chance we get.

Great spot to bring the family for a weekend afternoon. Not the biggest zoo but definitely worth checking out once.

Nice place.
With variety d species.
You have a great time with your family.

I love this non-profit zoo! They are always doing fun and creative things with the a i als to keep them to as natural a habitat as can be. My son loves it here!

Great local zoo focusing on animal rescue and rehab.

Really fun out of the way zoo. It s inexpensive and full of animals that the whole family can enjoy seeing.

Not what I thought it was gonna be. But still nice.

Terrible service. I called 5 times and nobody answered. Website shown to be open so we drove the 2 hours to go to Austin and just to get told they weren t accepting Groupon that I had already bought. If they would answer the phone I wouldn t have wasted my time driving all the way over there

This is an amazing little animal sanctuary/zoo at the edge of the Taxas hill country. Our daughter's favorites are the lions and the wolves. It's not big, just the right size to spend a couple hours to see all the animals and ride the train.

So the Zoo itself only gets 3 Stars but the fact that I got to go with my son's 2nd grade class and it is a rescue zoo makes it 4 stars. All staff were very friendly and knowledgeable, they had wonderful patience with all the kids. One of the best things about this Zoo is all the shade. Very nice on a hot day.

Cute little Zoo. Not too crowded if you go early. The layout is a little weird and hard to navigate. Other than that we enjoyed our trip!

Never really see the lions or tigers but not bad for a rescue zoo

Today they hosted the "Free To Breath" charity event for lung cancer awareness and it was very lively and fun!

Website says masks are required - for a zoo! You're kidding me, right? Good luck getting people to visit....

This zoo might be the smallest zoo I've ever been to. Even cities that are much smaller than Austin have much bigger and more impressive zoos.

Horrible experience, the animals need to be removed and taken to a place that will properly care for them. The "habitats" were pathetic, it was basically just cages placed everywhere. There was no attempt to mimic the animal's proper environments. My kids said they never want to go back. HUGE WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY! I FEEL SO BAD FOR THOSE ANIMALS. Research it, they have a lot of bad press!

Excellent views of a variety of animals. Most of the zoo animals are rescues or surrendered by a prior owner. The train ride is another $3 and goes about 15 minutes in a scenic hill country viewing area. The trail is crushed granite so wear supportive footwear and use a jogging stroller if you take a small child. There are loose chickens and peacocks all over the property. No drinking fountain in the park but you can bring in food and drinks. Weekdays are best!

Nice little zoo my kids love it every time never a complaint.

This is one of my favorite places. I love that all the animals are rescues.

Boys loved the variety of animals. They also loved the train ride.

The zoo needs a lot of updating, the fences are too close to the people. The animals are always being picked on and there is not much to protect the people from the animals. Also, it is not a place to take people or kids who are in wheelchairs, walkers ect. You can easily fall in certain areas. In the summertime it is awful. There are only one set of outdoor restrooms and i do not remember seeing water fountains anywhere.

It's small for a city zoo, but it's clear the staff take loving care of the place and its residents. I recommend for any families that are even remotely interested in zoology.

This is not a regular zoo. This is a rescue zoo for many unwanted animals that have a forever home. We always have fun coming here. It is not huge but you can spend as much or as little time here. We love feeding the goats, sheep and llamas. Consider supporting the zoo as a member.

The Austin Zoo is a very enjoyable natural space with a commitment to conservation, recovery and protection of the animals under their care. Parking is convenient to the front entrance and the staff is very welcoming to guests and informative of the animals in the natural-as-possible exhibits.

This is the best zoo I have ever been to. I absolutely loved the rescue and rehabilitation aspect and the low key atmosphere. This is not your typical big city zoo experience and thats what really turns me off most zoo's. Definitely recommend going here with your kids for a much more intimate, educational, and ethical animal experience.

This is such a wonderful zoo! All of the employees are SO kind and very eager to offer information about the animals. They have educational talks all throughout the day (try not to miss these because they're excellent). The trails to the animals are gravel so it's best to bring a jogging stroller if you have a little one. The lions we're roaring the last time we went. It was incredible!

A large section was blocked off, alot of exhibits were empty. A real disappointment.

This isn't a traditional zoo. It's a zoo for rescue animals. Just putting that out there as those expecting a regular zoo will be disappointed. This zoo is nice and small and has a great little train ride. You get a close up view of the animals when you visit!