GW Interactive Zoo and Wildlife Park Review

Very expensive but worth every dollar. You can see that the staff loves and takes very good care of the animals. My kids were so happy

I was brought here with summer camps several times as a child. It s a very sad place. Even as at 10 years old I felt that something wasn t right about this. Animals are in small cages and it just doesn t feel right. I encourage you not support this business, I fear that these exotic animals are being exploited.

Smelled like piss everywhere, you can't enter the reptile house because of the smell. Most of the animals have a injury and you just feel bad for how they live. Have to buy the tickets online they don't expect payment at the entrance.

Definitely not what I expected on a expensive private endangered tour. We went at the 1130pm took 2 hrs 1/2 to get there and some of the staff wasn't friendly we felt rushed the entire tour. We had a huge group of like 50 people. And besides looking at the beautiful animals the only highlights were kissing a camel, toughing a wolf and holding snakes. At the end the whole group gets too play with 1 baby tiger and hold a few other animals. Not as I expected and DO NOT PURCHASE THE $30 Cd has lots of preloaded pics and only like 7 pics of your group. And you can't ask for pictures in certain places either.

This isn't where tigers and other wild animals belong. This is just cruelty and paying to see these animals is just furthering the problem.

One of the best places to visit near DFW area. You can see the wild animals so close you feel like you are in Africa.

I own every Joe Exotic DVD and have been a long term viewer of his internet show. When I walking through the gates for the first time I couldn t stop hearing that song in my head, ...when I saw tiger... , such a beauty. When I compare this zoo to others such as Carol Baskin s it gives me hope that there are decent human beings in the world such as Joey E. Carol Baskin zoo stole my cat when I was 7 years old and I ll never forget...

Absolutely amazing! All of those 1 star reviews are complete slander. If you love animals this might be the best place in the south for a nice calm and new experience. A small bit pricey but if you're willing it's worth every penny. See tigers, lions, and bears up really close. On the Exotic tour you even get to pet WOLVES, watch giant tigers be fed, kiss camels, hold and pet snakes, lemurs, baby kangaroos, and tiger cubs. The animals are well fed, and though some cages look a little small, the animals are obviously happy as well as the staff, who have some funny stories to tell, they were all very nice. My only complaint is that the gift shop smells pretty heavily of cigarette smoke, so its kinda stinky. Still definitely recommend 100% :)

I want to make it clear this is not a zoo... Is way better and awesome. I saw Lions playing on the ground like poppies that reflects how relax and happy they fee. Also has opportunity to caress Wolf. You will get closer to animals like never before. Also they have ligers, they are amazing. Remember before you leave ask to the person on the front desk where is there restaurant. Goooood

Horrible, horrible experience with this place. Wasted $80 because they do not know how to run a business. When ordering tickets online it gives you no time a lot to show up, so we just showed up and they told us we couldn t have our time until 5:45pm. The workers are rude and the place is very unprofessional. I do NOT recommend this business and I am VERY disappointed.

Was HORRIBLE!! Absolutely sucked! There were barely any animals and the only ones there were tigers kept in extremely small cages. My aunt went a while back and loved it said they got to pet some of the animals and every cage was full. She went again with me and said she was disappointed. The workers are incredibly rude and the check in station smelt like straight up smoke. There was even a worker you could tell was high on drugs. 10/10 WOULD NOT RECOMMEND...

Their love and passion for these animals is absolutely amazing! It is exhibited in the awesome educational experience that the entire family gets from visiting. Definitely a must for all ages! Can't wait to go back!!!

We really had find at this place and my kids enjoyed it very much It was something different to try but very interesting. The more people that can donate the more the facility can do for the animals The staff was great!

Joe is awesome. Well kept zoo. He loves each and every one of his animals

Terrible place in which cross breeds of endangered animals are poorly cared for. It is NOT a certified sanctuary.

I'm going to start off on positives. The private play time with baby animals is worth it. The young girl who hosted our play time was fantastic. You can tell she really loves the animals. Playing with baby tigers, kangaroo, raccoons, lemurs, etc. was amazing. Though, the two people at the front desk I encountered were rude on the occasions of speaking over the phone, buying tickets in person, and during our time spent there. Also over-heard the owner cussing at his staff, which concerned me for the staff and animals. Might also explain why the front desk was short and rude... Otherwise, very interesting experience.

Would not recommend the pizza. Tasted like it was made from expired meat from Walmart

Amazing place. Free Joe. Carole Baskin killed her husband

I absolutely would recommend this place. My husband booked a private tour for my birthday and it was amazing. We learned so much and had the chance to interact with some amazing animals. The facility is small, but you can tell they love their rescues. We will for sure be back again!

Absolutely wonderful place to visit! They offer play time with baby tigers which has been the most wonderful experience ever. They are so curious and they climb all over you and they want attention. My 6 year old daughter wont stop talking about it. Thank you. The park has so many tigers and they are active and some has posed for me. Awesome!

I spent good times with tiger cub interactive session. It is worth having this tour.

We had a great time being close to the animals. Never been so close to that many big cats at one time. We also enjoyed the talking bird and black bear. We were there 2 hrs and did not do any of the tours.

I cannot imagine saying you had a bad time. This place is the top of the rung in animal care, love, respect for animals and people. This man is alive because his "children" spur him on. I can't say enough great things about the place and brag on him all the time. Watch his videos of him feeding those babies in the cribs and how he lovingly cares for them. Shame on anyone who puts Joe Exotic down.

If we could put this review as zero starred we would, my family and I are extremely disappointed because we thought that this place would a good place to see animals that we wouldn t see in a usual zoo, mainly because we had paid $52 dollars for it, two adults and 2 children. First of all as you go through the place it is low maintenance and the animals aren t treated the way that they are supposed. As you go through every exhibit, each animal looks tired and famished. Some are exposed in the sun without a place for shade. We have seen some animals that are greedy for food. It is a very sad sight to see, as these poor animals are treated in harsh ways and so is the whole zoo itself. These animals deserve at least more space. For example, we saw a tiger sitting on some sort of box and on top of him was the top of his shelter. He did have any space to go to the ground. Something else that is very disappointing is the water. We are not sure what s in this water, but the color is turquoise. And the last thing is the stairs that let you see the whole zoo is not safe at all. We had go down the stairs carefully and you can hear the stairs creaking. We are extremely disappointed and we will never plan on coming here again.

Amazing place! Carole Baskin arrived with me just in time to watch joe exotic's famous shootout. Great explosions! Great violence! Carole's head exploded right before my eyes. I can't wait to bring more animal rights people to the park. (:

An absolutely great experience. Do not expect the polish of a municipal zoo. This place is first an animal rescue and sanctuary...they are allowing you in to fund that important mission...their facilities are safe and secure.

If they suddenly found themselves with enough money to "fancy up the place" I have no doubt that they would, instead, spend the money on increasing the number of cats, and other animals, they are caring for and improving the quality of life those they have before dressing up the park in order to 'look' better to the public.

They've got a good mission to help sick and injured animals, would suggest it if you really, really like tigers. There are a lot of them.

I have dreamed of touching an exotic cat. I got to play a baby tiger and other animals.

All these reveies are true!! It was so hot, there was NO shade!! We had to drive 2 hours to listen to a completely racist guy who was cussing the at little kids the whole time! The guy was only there so people vote for him as Governor! He was rude and making fun of people for their race!! He said he wanted to make a difference and save the tigers from extinction but he almost shot them because they wouldnt stand up in rhe sun!The animals were sad and deppresed they had food that they didnt want to eat, and the animals water was green!!!!! The staff treated them and us like trash. They didnt even care we were there! If I could give them 0 stars I would!!!!!!! The signs were so inappropriate like if your kids get bite we dont care and its not our fault, we dont care if you have guns and the guy who was speaking said a kid went in the lion den to kill himself and the people let him die! The man said he was going to shoot anyone who disobeyed him. He told us to kiss a clean camel then after we did he told us the camel had been picking up its poop with its mouth!!!!
Avoid this place if possible its just a scam to get money!

Definitely a bittersweet visit. Loved seeing all the animals and the kids got to feed a lot which was fun. It is always hard to see these beautiful animals in cages

Such a sad sad place! Stay away if you love animals! Do not support this lunatic man.

Greatest experience we've had! Exotic tigers and the tour was fantastic. Great idea to purchase the photos too!

Boycott this place!!! Do not go there! Wild animals are sad there!!!

Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my! Wonderful seeing the wild animals up close. They have been rescued or re-homed. All was clean and good care. Reasonable price with coupon.

this is the cutest experience you'll ever have as far as animal parks, I played with their baby tiger Prince and it was a great experience, I definitely recommend this place!

It was a cool place to see rescued tiger, wolfs, etc but the place was in poor condition. I hope more people can donate to this sanctuary. But overall we learned alot about tigers.

I felt like Tarzan in the midst of so many tigers and lions, all from different places (China, India) etc. Do not miss the bear and all these wild animals are only 2 feet away. We paid extra money for playing with tiger cubs mixed with leoncitos, among others.

3 adults, 2 children, one infant and two boxes of food = $ 160 more or less.

It's depressing. You walk in and the first thing you see is a "not responsible for animal bites" sign.
The building reeks of smoke. The merch has signs all over saying "do not touch merchandise"... Pictures of "Joe Exotic" are all over. Not a super inviting place.
(Regular admission prices are $15 by the way)
The animals are in terrible conditions. None are active except for distraught tigers pacing back and forth. I didn't see water with most animals. None looked happy. Signs are all over begging for money, nothing informative about the animals.
I'm not sure how they're getting away with these living conditions... It didn't feel like a sanctuary at all, just a money hungry place.

Avoid the place. I was drawn to the place by their pictures and advertising. Where do I start
The staff are rude;
They didn't issue a proof of purchase/tickets/passes which felt suspicious;
Cages are extremely smelly;
Animals appear sleeping or tired
And did I say how rude their staff were?

A one of a kind place to be upclose to so many kinds of tigers and lions and there hybrid babies too. They have other exotic animals as well. Highly recommend the Exotic Animal tour that unlocks a whole different area for the tour participants.

The owner is hysterical. He is real about who he is and what he does. I caution bringing little children to the private tour because as he puts it " I have no filter and I don't care if I offend anyone" lol. To me, that made the trip even better. Awesome experience I will go back multiple times because it's an amazing experience that you don't get to do everyday

Visited on 15 April 2013, upon entering, my wife and I were essentially ignored by the staff until we approached the front desk, at which point we were still given very little information. After paying $30.00 admission we entered the park for a self directed tour of the grounds. The conditions were deplorable. I am an animal behaviorist, not a layman, I understand the needs of animals kept in captivity, and the animals at this park are deprived. While it seems very basic needs are being met, and the park makes attempts through poorly spelled signage to educate visitors about animal cruelty and ills of personal ownership of wild species, the park does a poor job of practicing what it preaches. Staff wasn't helpful or very friendly and the conditions are less than desirable for the animals they have "rescued". All in all, the park seems more like a tourist trap, making money at the expense of endangered animals. My advice, don't spend money supporting this park.

The animals are healthy and well taken care of.. I enjoyed very much, had a wonderful time

They were so friendly and nurturing to these animals! When I'm no longer a single mother, I hope to donate to their cause. They do everything they can for all rescues. I recommend paying to play with the tiger cubs. They're giant kittens and they eat a lot. Please check out their cause!

Such beautiful animals, they don t deserve to be held in these conditions. I don t plan on visiting and supporting a facility that can t appreciate nature and provide the right care for these animals.

This place was awesome. The endangered animal tour was amazing. I was really surprised that not many people knew about this awesome place. Highlight was the number of Tigers and other wildlife as well. Even in famous Zoo's you won't get a chance to get close and interact with Animals at this cost. When we were there we really felt that they were a non-profit organization. Kissing the Camel, Holding a Snake, Touching a Fox, Holding a list of rare species like Lemur, Coati, Skunks, Possum and the baby cub was all exciting. Its worthy to buy the $30 CD, since you don't have to worry carrying around your phone or camera to take photos. We can just experience the time with animals.

This place is dreadful. Exploitation and abuse. Please don t encourage them by giving them more money.

A MUST SEE, amazing place. *****Please keep reading to see why I gave only 2 stars*****. My family had "The Best Time" seeing exotic animals. I mean, how often you get to pet a baby Li-ger (lion and tiger cross breed), a huge Asian Python, kiss a camel !!!!!. Remember to buy Guided Endangered tour tickets ( this ticket includes the general admission too). If you don't buy this ticket then its just a zoo (still fun... but not so much). So, I would highly recommend you buy this ticket. They also have private baby animal petting time, if you are willing to pay more. Go with your family. Give your kids the life time experience they will never forget.

Then why only 2 stars?? Some staffs are horrible. They were very unprofessional, Very Very RUDE, Racist (sorry, I don't uses these kinda words often). The owner Joe is okay . I saw two of the staffs humiliating and embarrassing one of the visitors. I felt very bad for them. Since you get to touch lots of animal they should provide with hand sanitizes or soap/water, which they don't. so make sure to take it with you. The walk path way inside the zoo is gravel, so it's very dusty.

A single man owner maintaining such a majestic animal kingdom is NOT easy at all. Whatever he is doing he is doing a great job. The staffs are trained well with animals but they should be trained VERY well to behave and treat people equally and kindly, It doesn't matter what Race they are from.
"Joe, the star rating will improve a lot more if you fix your employees".

AVOID IF POSSIBLE!!! Horrible staff that even told each other to skip a few little girls while handing people animals. The animals like the white lion were super dehydrated and malnourished. Staff members held the animals in an unecceptable want like they were trash. Joe or whatever his name is was using horribly inappropriate language and talked about suicide like it was no big deal! Nothing educational was said and a few horrific signs like we are not a gun free zone and animal bites are not our responsibility were posted up. Joe said that crying or scared babies are not things he puts up with including expecting moms. Animals were not groomed well and had no signs of clean water or fresh food. Joe kept telling people to stop donating to other organizations and donate to his, he also mentioned each animal represents an honored diseased human but treats them in an unhonorable and disrespectful way while carrying a gun on in his side. Animals were helplessly being taken from their parents and we were even cheated while buying passes. DO NOT COME HERE. Every employee talks about how horrible abuse is, but look at the animals conditions!! It was upsetting, disappointing and horrifying to both the people and animals.

I recently contacted this facility to ask about their cub experience. I asked them multiple questions and they deleted my message without answering the first time, when I wrote them again they just responded that I was ignorant instead of simply answering the questions(basic tactic for those trying to get out of answering a question).
I want to know if this is like most other cub experience facilities and to find out I asked the following questions, When it comes to your cub experience where are you getting the cubs from? Where do they all go once they have reached the size where they are no longer legally allowed to be part of these experiences? Where is your breeder?
What age do they get taken away from their mother?
How long do they serve for cub experiences prior to being too large?
Do you give them any laxatives or withhold food when guests aren t there to keep them that size for longer periods of time?
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions.
I look forward to learning more about your facility from you.
They also have white tiger cubs which are inbred according to many articles I have come across. I wanted to give this place the benefit of the doubt by asking questions and hoping for good responses. However, they provided nothing and delete anything negative from their social media page or any questions that they don t want to answer. It appears it is a typical exotic animal petting zoo that exploits animals for their money and for people to get a photo opt. I do not recommend this place. It seems like a dream for animal lovers which would naturally be drawn to this however it is not ethical. Please instead of taking your money here take it to a real sanctuary.

These zoos are absolutely appalling. It s really sad how ignorant people think petting cubs is cool.

Was very fun very nice place clean .was there for 4 hours. Will go back .all the animals where out so you could see them. Not like the okc zoo .ALL the animals look good and helthy and are well taken care of. Feeding the bears cokes was a blast. Thay have done a great job .

Only got to feed a bear. Most of the cages were empty. Lots of tigers here and there. Poor staff. The vibe of the whole place was just sad...Never going back.

Wow all these animals that u can see up close and personal awesome time.

Very beautiful zoo, entering to touch the leopard was a very beautiful experience for my children. I recommend it.

The park is awesome you get pretty close to the animals an there are a lot of them ,but for the tour the owner could do less political talk an less vulgar language an more about the animals an the park don't really care about his opinions an his humor is not appropriate for kids ,for the price you pay for the tour it should be about the tour an not him , if I were to go again id just pay for general admission an not the tour ,the owner ruins it so this was my experience when we went , the best time to go is be there by 9am the animals are being fed an are roaring an moving around like I said park is great just the owner kills it .

This is such a great place to go and have a great experience with animals. Very friendly staff they have changed a lot since I went a couple years ago. Will definitely be going back

Very crappy tour. Everyone has a smartphone now so don't tell everyone to turn them off.

Many tigers in a small area. Play time with Cubs is always fun

What are you people doing? Money is the only language you poor example of our species understand and nat geo s reporting paints a clear picture. Ligers on leashes!? Really. Honestly, how do you people sleep at night? The Tiger Next Door paints a clear picture. Profits before proper animal care... I genuinely hope this place faces reckoning one way or another

Watch documentary.. Tiger King on Netflix.. This place is disgusting!

I like this place. So great. I will come back next summer.

I CANT EVEN EXPLAIN MY THOUGHTS ON THIS. ...IT IS NOT RIGHT TO PAY TO PLAY OR PET WITH A TIGER. THIS PLACE BREEDS THESE ANIMALS SO THAT IT CAN MAKE THEIR PARK MONEY. TOTAL BULLSHIT, AND THE FACT THAT THEY SAY OH THE ANIMALS ARE HAPPY IS TOTAL CRAP. THESE ANIMALS WOULD BE HAPPY IN THE WILD. AND DONT GIVE ME THE CRAP OF WELL THEY DONT KNOW THE WILD SO THEY DONT KNOW WHAT THEIR MISSING OUT ON IS BULLSHIT.. COMPLETE BULLSHIT. THEIR ANIMAL INSTINCTS ARE THERE. I WANT TO LOCK EVERYONE OF THOSE HICKS INTO A SMALL ASS CAGE AND LET THEM BE TREATED LIKE HE TREATS THEM.. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS PLACE!

It was better when Joe ran it. Now its over priced! I used to go 3x a month and they were always super nice. Now its turned into a money maker with no love.

This is one of the greatest places I have visited. The animals are well cared for. A great staff and it is a lot of fun. There is no other place you can get up close and personal with these awesome creatures. And thanks to Joe for making our stay the best

This place doesn't even deserve ONE star! PLEASE do not support this man and his God playing antics. He is the modern day North Korean dictator for tigers....how is this happening in AMERICA?? They are caged in small corridors, the animals are miserable, and the staff has absolutely no idea what they are doing. They look like they weren't even trained which was a very uneasy feeling as a paying customer. Joe King is an IMPOSTER! He is an illusionist brain washing EVERYONE who enters there by claiming he is the "World's leading Tiger Expert", when in all reality he is working closely with scientists creating hybrid cats and species of cats that don't even exist. He even claims he has re created a saber tooth tiger from 360 million years ago. WHAT?? It isn't normal to breed a liger with a tiger. He even claims the genetics of them cause them to not determine if/when they will stop growing, what they will look like when they grow up, and how their temperament will be. He could be creating monsters for all we are unaware of. All that place is to him is a science experiment. Joe barks orders at his employees, even seeing a young lady on a tour I went on yesterday being yelled at in front of everyone because lack of experience. It's almost like he "assumes" everyone knows about these big cats. The employees were standing around saying how evil of a person he was. He treats these employees TERRIBLY! These cats are in danger, the employees are in danger, and Joe King needs to be stopped IMMEDIATELY!! He isn't helping anything! He's killing animals in the process of trying to create new species. Look up all his animal abuse history. Save your money, save these animals! DON'T SUPPORT THIS MAN!! There is also a petition out there to shut this place down. I recommend ANYONE AND EVERYONE to please sign it.

This place is ungodly disgusting.
A place for a weak "man" using shocking tools and starvation tactics to "liven up" tigers for his entertainment "techniques".

His idea of hosting a child's birthday, is throwing condoms at children (with his face on it) because he is hiv positive and taken it upon himself to choose how you discuss certain safeties with your own children.)

For anyone who cares or has previously worked to nurture nature....
THIS THING IS LITERALLY THE LIVING hell for animals, that humans discuss amongst themselves.
These animals deserve a person that cares for their well being and a long life catered to; in the unfortunate instance that they can't be sent back to the wild.
This guy has funding from southern California... that is the SOL reason he has not been imprisoned for his continued abuse on animals (extensive multiple tickets to neglect and abuse on the ANIMALS are available to the public)

AND MOST IMPORTANLY THE minors

(he houses male runaways in exchange for safety and solidarity. (Which he now has multiple rape cases of a minor against him)

Feel free to contact promptly and book your next bday!

Customer service here is absolutely horrible. Pulled up the Groupon I paid for and the lady wouldn't take it. Drove an hour and half out here. So I wasted my time, money, gas, an patience. Hope this place gets shut down.

The intrigue of the park is the interaction with the animals, interactions that you may never again have the opportunity. Unfortunately, while doing so you may feel a bit off-put. The park itself seems overwhelming once you enter as the closeness to the animals is fascinating yet eerie.

When I visited the park, I was excited to see the animals but was discouraged when I saw conditions of some of the pens. Some pens had trash (muffin wrappers) smashed into or laying on the ground. I equated this to just demanding needs of a park that may be understaffed and/or money constraints.

I certainly learned it was not understaffed when it came time for the the tour they offer of the park. When massing for the beginning of the tour, many of the park employees where standing around as well waiting for it to start. Some of the employees where even smoking among the park visitors, standing right next to the animal pens. I m in no way able to spout off animal park regulations, but smoking cigarettes a few feet away from the animals seems like it would be something an employe, or anyone, should not do.

As for the tour, it was filled with many factual errors you would expect an animal park should know. If you do the tour, you will know what I'm talking about. This made me doubt the knowledge and animal education of the staff. It seemed that the goal of the park is to get pictures of people with animals and to breed tigers. Basically, here's the animal, smile, pass the animal to the next group. It was very apparent the owner Joe Exotic was very concentrated with his fighting with the Humane Society and PETA. He basically called the National Humane Society a building full of telemarketers.

Overall, the whole experience of the park is unsettling. If you catch on to some of the things they say, actions they take, and outlandish explanations of certain things in their park, you ll understand the scrutiny and spotlight that has been placed on the park.