Mesker Park Zoo and Botanical Gardens Review

You really otter check this place out! All the animals were out and active. Very fun and very educational.

It was a nice park for the size of the town it's in. We saw a special orchid event that ess very cool. Feeding the giraffes was fun.

Very clean park and admission price isn't bad at all

We really enjoyed this zoo! You can really see the animals up close unlike some other zoos we have been to. The food and drinks are a tad pricey hence the 4 star review. Other than that, I recommend the membership because it pays for itself after going a couple times. We will definitely be back again and again!

A nice little zoo that is growing and adding more animals and attractions.

Really nice zoo. There is a tram to ride. I just renewed my membership.

Gorgeous, very clean. Great for all ages. I was able to get closer pictures of the animals at this zoo than others I have visited. Hot day when I was there, animals not active, but easier to see and photograph. Gift shop lacks, no drink/food stands around the park. Does have drinking fountains available through the park.

Beautiful day at the Mesker Zoo. Took my elderly mother and daughter; they loved it! Food at the grill tasted old but still a great visit.

It is a great place to have a membership and walk around a few times a year for an out-of-towner like myself. If I lived in Evansville, i'd use my membership to walk here all the time. The staff is great and friendly and they are currently adding new attractions to an already great place.

My daughter and I come here monthly. Love the zoo.

Would be a nice little zoo if there wasn't a pandemic on. Not enough space, definitely got crowded by other people even though all the expected choke points are blocked off. Some of the habitats were small, didn't seem to give the animals much space.

It seems like a lot of the exhibits had weeds. I'm not an expert but it doesn't seem like a natural habitat just lazy. Other than that great zoo! The plant sale was what drove us in

Seems a little run down, small, and a lot of hills.

Bring your strollers and wagons. Huge hills. The kids will get tuckered out. It needs more updates. I now drive out of my way for the Louisville zoo

We are a big fan of the zoo. Great experience each time, love the hills as it's great exercise. They keep improving the place and Iiked the komdo dragons. We have a family membership and encourage all to get one to support them.

Kind of sad that the giraffes didn't have lots of food and were kicking rocks and eating weeds in between the rocks. Nice zoo, needs care.

We have a family membership here. Always clean and staff are always polite.

Good zoo for a small town. This is a municipal zoo which means the city owns it and allocates funding from their annual budget. The daily gate fees get turned in to the city. By a zoo membership as that money goes straight back into the zoo funds directly so they can do more. I love this zoo because they are trying hard with very little. The grounds keeping is done by a city held contract so any issues should be directed towards the city management, not the zoo. We volunteer as a family and love the heart of the zoo staff. The animals seem happy.

This zoo is way over priced and the park is run down. Not many animals. AMD the animals where very hot and locked outside. The poor jaguar was panting so hard and drawling.

Best zoo I've been to! There was a wide variety of animals and the winter price was a nice surprise.

Meeker park zoo SUCKS! half the animals are not coming out for people to look at them. Also, for the price of admission you'd think it would have more animals.

Been to a number of zoo's in my life and don't think I have been in on more poorly layed out and access to the paying public to see the exhibit. Was filthy not just dirty. Poor trimmed grasses and plants. Don't mind paying for a visit but who ever manages this zoo needs to visit the St Louis Zoo and others to see how poorly this one is. Probably should bring the Humane society in.

Great botanical garden but was not pleased with animals. The animals seemed very depressed and half of the cages were empty.

Kids had so much fun and everyone was nice and helpful.

Set up for safe visits during these trying times. Friendly staff.

Buy a membership. All the pets you could ever want with none of the maintenance.

Beautiful day for the zoo. My teenage daughter and I really enjoyed seeing the jaguar and other animals in Amazonia. Enjoyed the Carousel ride, but we wished the tram had been operating.

Much better than expected.. Loved the river otter exhibit

The best zoo in Evansville. Lol. It's much better than it used to be, I just fell bad about the animals being in such small enclosures.

This zoo is wonderful; it's clean, kid friendly, and you can tell the people working truly love the animals.

This is a well maintained zoo with friendly and knowledgeable employees ready to answer questions.

We're from Illinois so we visit the FREE St. Louis Zoo often. Once you have been to the St. Louis zoo, no other zoo you go to can compare. The price to get in was not bad. But I would not pay to go back there. It is an okay place to take young kids to let them run around and play. The animals all look miserable. They have super tiny habitats/enclosures for a lot of the animals. The animals are not in very good shape... This place broke our hearts seeing the condition of the animals. We definitely will not be back. One employee was carrying around the tail of the giraffe that had been bitten off by a zebra(they keep giraffes and zebras enclosed together, even though they obviously do not get along). She informed us this poor giraffe will not grow its tail back. Overall, our one year old and two year old had fun running around, but they would only enjoy it a couple more years. The place is just depressing. One other thing, the parrots were definitely stressed out. Pictured below are of them. You can see bones and inside one's rib cage. The other one was eating one of its feathers. This place is just sad.

What an awesome place to have in our city clean well-maintained people are extremely friendly

I like the botanical garden. I can stay there all day

Love taking pictures here of all the animals. Great way to spend the day!

It's a small zoo and expensive for what little they have compared to other zoo's

Surprisingly at lot in this little zoo. Cute and fun

Love the zoo! Always have a great time when the family goes!

Exceeds expectations of what you would think the Evansville zoo would be. Good place to spend a few hours with kids and burn some calories.

My family loves Mesker Park Zoo in Botanic Gardens. We've been annual pass holders for several years in a row. We are enjoying watching the many improvements that are being made to our hometown Zoo. We are especially looking forward to the new aviary!

Great time, had everything set up for boo at the zoo. Basically felt like a private trip through. Can't wait for the Humboldt penguins!

My grandma taught me to say wedding she said i m teaching you this ticket you save another children so when you re not with me Will let him know that you re away if we need to share information with you but there s children that need your help

Good place to take a stroll and see some animals. I wish there were more animals to see but they are doing a good job updating the walkways and hosting fun events.

Excellent winter rates. Some older facilities but many new. Good interaction for children. Tunnels and climbing equipment.

I still think Evansville is lucky to have this zoo. I love it here, it has some problems but it's always nice.

Just a small town zoo...I've felt sorry for most of the animals there throughout the years-pens have appeared too small, space wasn't utilized properly (rhino in small enclosure while other animals take up an entire field). They are trying with what funding they have, and we visit the zoo maybe once a year.

what a great place we are from maryland well worth the teip

This zoo is rather sad - the enclosures do not seem ample enough for some of the animals, it doesn't really have that much to offer and we have attended boo at the zoo twice and both experiences were completely overrated. Not worth the time or money. Really wish they would really invest into this zoo and make it something Evansville could genuinely be proud of.

I remember when it first opened!! I was so excited, especially when I got the time to go. It was an amazing experience and was my daughters first zoo! Loved the employees and all the animals and highly recommend this zoo!!!

I like the zoo it is awesome I like to walk and see all the animals

Very clean, nice open walking paths to the animals. Decent selection of exhibits for a smaller zoo.

Fun little get away. Not many animals but had a great time there

This is a beautiful, peaceful and very clean little zoo....

Love taking our son here. Giraffes are his favorite

Great little zoo. When I visited in the spring, there were multiple construction projects going on, so they are improving and investing. Great programs for little kids like Zoo School. Staff interaction was limited, but was friendly. I would say that it takes about an hour and a half to get through the entire zoo. Nice gift shop and place to get food and snacks.

Would have loved it if the zoo would have posted "closed due to private tours" on the Google search. Let's be real, not going to the website everytime I look up the park hours. Other than that we love coming to mesker park zoo. It's a nice facility. Just trying to keep this post aggressive passive.

Pretty Zoo, would like a few more things designed for the kids. Still a really nice Zoo.

Good size zoo for a small city. I liked the one way path as it made sure we saw all the animals and didn't miss anything.

Loved the zoo. Varieties of animals and easy to walk around.