Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary Review

Great place to bring the family. Super friendly staff!

small zoo, buy plenty to see. our family had a really good time.

Liked the natural surrounding and the fact that it is more like a sancatory

Summary: Affordable, well shaded, educational, fun
Power tip: visit in weekdays after 1pm to avoid the field trips full of kids

Details:
Excellent place to visit in the fall when the temps have fallen a little. The animals are more active when it's not hot as H-E-double hockey sticks.
Take the train for $3 per adult, totally worth it and the kids love it.

We really liked this zoo, truely unique, and you can tell the animals are well taken care of. The animals are all rescued, and their habitats are set up like pet homes. There is a hammock made of a pink blanket, a small pool made of a large wash bin, and a nest made of pillows you would put in your family room. Also, hens, fat and stout, are walking around with gorgeous peacocks, and small kids are thrilled just by walking along with them.

This is nice small zoo with a good variety of animals. I love that this is a non-profit and my admission fees help support the animals. It's small enough to get through in just over an hour, but can be longer if you feed the animals or watch one of the shows.

This place is simply outstanding. The staff are genuinely enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

The grounds are well kept. And the environment is festive and inviting.

Love the experience and purpose of their mission and gladly support it.

Cute small zoo and sanctuary. There are lots of different animals.

I have not been in a few years since my kids were young but this was always a favorite and one I respect tremendously. I work in animal health and am a certified wildlife rehabilitor and believe Austin Zoo is one of the best at caring for their animals.

We loved it. Great way to see some awesome animals up-close without the big city zoo crowds and long-distance walking. Kids ages 5-15 all enjoyed it!

The exhibits are amazing and the animals are beautiful.

This is a cute little zoo. It isn t very large, but we enjoyed being there. We were given the opportunity to feed llamas, deer, and goat. The lions and bears were amazing.

This "zoo" is a gem! I would more classify this as an animal sanctuary than a zoo, but the grown-ups and kiddos alike loved it. We visit often an love it!

Cute little educational Zoo with beautiful animals I never got to see at my home town zoo

For the price, one of the best zoo experience you can have. Animal's are kept in fair conditions. The train ride is awesome. It is not as big or organized as the Houston or some of the other area zoo's. It's small but nonetheless as fun experience.

Great place to bring your family. The peacocks and chickens running around we're really exciting to my younger son, and the animals were really active when we were there (around 11am).

Not what you'd expect by the word "zoo." The animals are well taken care of and it's not so commercialized like many other zoos we've visited. It's not paved, all walking paths are gravel and it's kind of hilly in spots so it made pushing a stroller around challenging. My toddlers LOVED the train. They're pretty active kids so I thought they'd be bored and want off, quite the opposite, they were mad when it was over. Can't forget to mention the free roaming peacocks. Very cool to see their beautiful colors.

I used to take my daughter all the time. Love all the rescue animals, train ride and watching the exhibits get better year after year. My favorite was the cool birds.

This is a great sized zoo for families with small kiddos. Our two- a four year old and 18 mo old- had a great time. Took about 2 hours and we saw everything.Most of the animals were out and "showing off" when we were there around 1pm. Don't know how I feel about some of the enclosures.... especially for our summer heat or the crazy freezes we've had however.

It's a small zoo, looks to be a very young zoo lacking some serious facilities, and not like the zoo you might find in San Antonio or Houston. You can pretty much see and experience every in under 2 hours. I certainly hope this zoo starts to invest more in development of a long range plan on improving the facilities not only for the animals but also the people. Just comes across as if everything bwas slapped together without really giving it much thought.

It is a rescue Zoo. Everyone is so friendly. Quant, plenty of shade. Just special because it is not huge. I watched the woman in the food cart go around and collect feathers for a family and educate the children about them.

Small Zoo with rescued animals. Really friendly staff. Kids loved it especially petting and feeding goats, deers.....

Most of the animals were not there and it definitely seems to be lacking comfort for the animals. Definitely does not worth the price!

This is a really cool place that has certain animals that have been rescued. I love how they teach you all about the animals and their normal environment. Most importantly they educate on what they do at this zoo and encourage people to donate their time in order to help these animals in need.

This poor little zoo. It is so run down and I feel bad for the animals. The lion enclosure looked ghetto with the faded paint on the back wall. In general it felt worn out. It made me depressed...all the animals just seemed sad.

Small but fun packed! Animals are well taken care of. Definitely a hidden gem!

Really great zoo park. Most of the trails are shaded which makes it very pleasant to walk around.

Very disappointing zoo for people expecting a normal zoo. If you want a normal zoo, you should go to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco or the San Antonio Zoo. And the Waco city website has coupons to make that zoo a great deal

However, if you set your expectations accordingly, and don't mind things like dirt paths, very few "new" things, fowl walking among you, then you might have a better time. Search around for discounts/coupons if you are going.

The location is extremely remote for people who don't live in South Austin.

It's a good small place for toddlers and kids. Not in the same league as the big ones but it's not aspiring to be either

The zoo has lots of different animals including wolves bears cougars snakes chickens and goats that are very friendly I recommend it.

Nice little zoo, seems more like a animal sanctuary. I personally enjoyed it and donated right before we left to help them out a little more, they aren't pushy on the donations and appreciate every penny.

For a rescue zoo it was great. The animals were being well taken care of. Wide variety of monkeys and birds. A couple big cats. It's open 9:30-6pm M-F. They have deer, sheep, goat, and llama feed that's $3. And the train ride is $3.

Not a large variety of animals, kids loved seeing new animals. Most enclosures were small.

It was an adventure! My family and I had a great time visiting the zoo. The staff was friendly the only thing to be prepared for is the peacocks. you'll know when you hear them.

Had a great time with my family, I loved the fact that it was a rescue zoo and the animals are far better off now then they were. They have quiet a collecting of animals for a small zoo.

Great place for the whole family! Try not to go when it's too hot because many animals will hide in the shade, or go early when they are up and active for the best experience! Overall great zoo.

It's not a zoo so much as a rescue and a zoo combined. It's not all concrete like so many zoos. It's like taking a hike through the woods, but with lion and tigers and bears! Oh my! They even have a little train now that they rescued from Zilker, and for just a few bucks they'll take you through the Texas Hill Country. It's gorgeous and you don't have to get all sweaty walking. And then of course there's the animals. They're well taken care of with clean enclosures. Plus there's chickens and peacocks wandering free everywhere. Which is a huge plus! It's a really great place for birthday parties. Kids love it, but then so do the adults. Go there!

Very small, not many animals, looks like it was just set up in someone's backyard.

Nice place, but when they reopened after COVID they seriously curtailed where you can go and so it was really hard to get an angle to see some of the animals. The train ride is worth it for kids under 5 maybe, older and the views just aren't worth it. The caged are pretty spacious so you have less "zoo guilt" then with some low budget places with sad animals. The staff were super friendly and you can tell they care about the animals and visitors. Nice 2-3 hour break from life in the city.

Awesome venue. Every spot in the place is a great spot. We saw ice cube, and had a great time. Vibe was amazing, drinks were great!

Love this zoo... its actually a animal rescue and not a zoo so don't judge that its on the smaller size... Enjoy and support the animals that live there... you wont regret it.

Small zoo with a fabulous purpose! We greatly enjoyed and the staff are so nice.

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!!

The animals all look happy and healthy. The staff is very nice. And it's very kid friendly. You know I've been to a lot of zoos and it's a smaller one, but I could of spent hours there. My niece and nephew got tired. But only spending 11.95 for a great experience priceless. And it looked like they are expanding. My point is the animals looked not stressed out I saw a mountain lion peacefully sleeping in a tree. We walked by the wolf exhibit and they started howling. And they have a petting and feeding the animals part that the kids loved. It great I'm going back again next week. If there was a ten star rating I'd give it that.

So beautiful and the love and care for all the animals is amazing.

Great concept: a zoo with rescue animals. But if you pull back the curtain there are significant reports of poor ownership and management. It s questionable enough to strongly suggest you search on it and consider for yourself.

For a small zoo it is a nice one! We went when it was cold so not many animals were out, but that is to be expected. I really enjoyed it though!

Very nice rescue zoo run by very caring individuals. Lots of shade along the walking paths and the animals seemed well cared for. There's not an expansive variety of animals as all the animals were rescues mostly from private individuals. Still they have enough to enjoy a few hours. Go out and support this worthwhile zoo.

You can get a lot closer to the animals than a traditional zoo. Has open air dirt walk ways full of trees that provide shade.

If you're from South India, I'm sure you would been to really nice Zoos like, Bannerghatta, Mysore, Nehru, Chennai, Sri Venkateshwara etc.

It's probably not worth the drive and time.

Family trip here was good. Lots of variety of animals and nice "HOW WE GOT HERE " storyboards on each cage

Nice zoo. About an 1.5 hours to see all of it. Little feeding area for goats and alpacas. Some areas were blocked off, all food and restrooms are closed currently.

We have an annual membership to the Austin Zoo and we love coming here with our baby boy. It is a very small zoo but we love that about it. We talk to the zookeepers often and they always answer our questions.

Nothing very mind blowing and it's not that big. But it is a rescue zoo and if you have kids, this is a great place to go.

Good place to go with the Family, Large variety of animals. Train ride was just okay

The Austin Zoo is very interesting. All the animals are rescues. The zoo itself has a very "animal park" feel to it though you don't feed the animals like you would at a real animal park. Worth the trip as there is nothing quite like it anywhere else!

Loved the animals there. Lots of shade. The lions were my favorite.

A rescue zoo for in need animals who can say anything bad about the cause. Stories about each animal gave it a special touch and petting zoo with variety of animals was fun. Property taken care of and animals seemed to be as well.

Great little zoo for an afternoon of fun. As with any place like this, pack a picnic lunch if you have kids. We also took frozen water bottles with us. It ia just my husband and I, and we still had a good time.

Great experience for the little ones but adults will enjoy it too. The animals are loose so it creates a unique experience.

We had a great time here and the animals are beautiful. Get there early in the morning so when you feed the goats they're not full and will eat right out of your hand also peacocks during mating season are out and the male peacocks are beautiful to see so up close.

It was super hot, but great mission keep up the wonderful work

Save your money. This zoo is the worst!!! I feel so bad for the animals there.

It was fun & educational. Also got the scare of my life the brother Lions near the back.
In all I'm left wanting to come back again. Didn't get to see all of it because if rain.

It's a fun way to spend an afternoon! Many of the animals are rescues, too.

The lion exhibit is the best. Hearing them roar was amazing