NATURAL BRIDGE ZOO Reviews

This is a terrible terrible place stay away!! Animal abusers! Go to youtube and type "what natural bridge hid from the public is horrifying" and watch the video. How dare you do this to these animals you sick bastards. Close them down!!

I have been to many zoo's before and none of them compare to this one. My mom's favorite animal is an elephant and ever since she was little she has always wanted to ride one. I did a lot of research to find the perfect place and the best experience and found this place. I was not left with disappointment! My dad, who doesn't typically like zoo's, said he loved it. We did the tour and the elephant ride and enjoyed every minute. We got to feed so many different kinds of animals and pet them. I couldn't have asked for a better mother's day present. I HIGHLY recommend this zoo for anyone, especially if they like hands-on interactions with the animals. What made it even more enjoyable are the two tour guides we had, they were phenomenal. It was definitely worth the 3 hour drive from North Carolina, we will definitely be back.

I believe the YouTube videos are more than adequate on this zoo. Why they make Asha continue giving rides, no socialization is similar to abuse of animals in third world countries. All for money, very sad.

Been going here for years, the animals always looked healthy and active. Always saw workers cleaning, feeding and checking animals they were very nice. My kids and I always have a blast! See you in the spring!!

It was really cool they have lots of animals and an aviary full of parakeets and sometimes they will land on you. It was a lot of fun for the whole family.

Really cool place to take the kids. Good way to spend a half day and have fun with the kids. It can be expensive but it doesn't have to be. Just get a bag or two of the food and a cup of carrots and you are good to go

not well kept and too small quarters for the animals

I feel like giving them a 1 star is too high of a rating for them. The pen that the alligator is in is way too small and it doesn t even have enough water to go under all the way. I noticed that some of the pens didn t even have water for the animals to drink. Now I see the reason they have a 2 dollar per person coupon just to get visitors. I definitely won t waste my money going there again.

Asha the elephant has been in isolation for years. She has no friends Or toys to play with. Instead she carries children on her back in the swealtering heat. This abuse needs to stop.

These people allow animals to exist in FILTH and with SEVERE medical conditions that are ignored, they are ABUSED. DO NOT GO TO THIS "BUSINESS".
CALL THE CITY AND STATE AUTHORITIES AND REPORT THIS BUSINESS!

We stumbled upon this Zoo on our way back home last summer (2017). It was a good way to have fun with my daughter while allowing me time to take a break from the long drive. Our absolute favorite attraction was the BIRD CAGE!!! So amazing how they fly over and land on you for a treat!

I and my wife go every year, it has gotten better over the past years, I have never seen anything wrong with any of the animals, we do not ride the elephant as we are just not comfortable in doing so, they have made a lot of the pins bigger than in the past from when I was there as a child, support for them is support for the animals, if you see something wrong then speak up, about the animals or staff. We will go again.

The animals at this zoo are treated horribly! Please do not support this zoo. They have dozens of animal welfare violations including primates left to bleed to death due to lack of vet care and tiger cubs being beaten into submission. It is truly agony for the animals that live at Natural Bridge Zoo.

We had the best time! The grounds could definitely be improved, but the animals there were some I've never seen and they were up close and personal. We had parakeets all over us in the aviary. It was really neat! We got to get up close and personal with a sweet baby camel. One of the highlights of our trip!

This is place is really nice. The only reason I took off one stars because they advertise being able to take a picture with a baby tiger and then when I got there and I want to take a picture with the baby tiger ....they said they haven't had one in a couple years. Well take down your ads people

Nice roadside zoo with plenty of animals my kids loved it especially the white hand gibbons

This place is absolutely horrendous. The animals have no room to roam, the giraffe fence looked like those poor animals tried to kick out the fence to get free. The elephant is alone with no other friends and all she does is walk around in a small circle while people ride her. Her trainer walks around with a stick and hooks her if she misbehaves . Please do not support this place. These animals needs to be rehomed in a sanctuary where they can be in their natural habitats.

Never before have I been so sickened to my stomach after visiting a place. I read the reviews and knew what I was likely to see, but decided to do it for the kids if nothing else.

The conditions the animals are kept in are beyond appalling. The elephant, that poor thing, that broke my heart the most. For what little I know about elephants, this poor thing was depressed at a minimum and not in a good state. These people obviously have NO interest in educating the public about animals because there is nothing here that vaguely resembles their natural habitat.

If you decide to give these people your moneloy, just because you think it will make a difference for the animals, you're sadly mistaken and your efforts are sorely misplaced.

It will be an act of universal alignment to get this place shut down, and it could happen none too soon!

If you support this place, then you support animal abuse. Please, don't be trashy and support animal abuse. Look up the hidden camera footage of these sick people and what they do to animals. I can't believe this place is still allowed to be open.

We had a wonderful experience here. After all the bad publicity I was hesitant. However this zoo was clean and well maintained. All animals looked healthy and happy! My hubby and son rode the elephant, which was so sweet and gentle. My hubby touched the giraffe. It was amazing. I cannot wait for the next time! Staff was friendly and knowledgeable.

Better than just about any big city zoo's I've seen! Elephant rides, feeding the animals, petting animals and usual zoo animals to exotic ones this zoo has it all! Went for a child's birthday and had a wonderful time. Make sure you take a whole day so you can see and do everything. You'll miss so much if you just rush through. Bigger than it looks from the parking lot so don't dismiss or judge it by first glance!

Price to enter is a bit expensive. 14$ adults and 12$ for children.

They abuse their animals. There's a petition going around to close this park down.

The animals are inhumanely kept, I notified the staff that a few of the habitats were low on water, and they didn't even bother to refill them within the hour. It's more a tourist trap then an animal sanctuary. The animals are missheld in that over sized petting zoo.

my family and I absolutely LOVE this zoo
we have NEVER seen ANY abuse there and I am in the animal care industry.
oddly enough all of these complaints of abuse come just when the government is taking over natural bridge and out of private hands.
someone there in that area seems to want to get rid of privatized attractions and kitchy things.
Don't let the fake reviews deter you, come enjoy this awesome little zoo before it's a thing of the past like they want.

Only take your family here if you want to have them see malnourished, poorly treated animals. Footage available on the internet of poorly treated animals. Sad

This zoo needs to be shut down! The animals look so depressed! They had no shade! It was a horriable experience!

I've been to this zoo a few times and each time I love it more. In the morning hours you can see the animals interact with the staff. They are happy and playful.

such animal abuse, staff was unfriendly. Animals, especially birds, with missing feathers, probably due to stress and lack of care. Never go here.

Bad treatment of animals. Should be illegal & shut down. Do NOT support this kind of activity please!

Awesome time and don't miss out on the Dinosaur Kingdom across the street!!!

The elephant asha is alone and has been for 31 years. She is is forced to give rides in the hot heat of summer and is only given a small tire to play with. She is enclosed in a small space I demand justice

I have been to this zoo on several occasions after moving to the area. Nice clean and friendly. No animals seemed to be under any more stress than any other zoo I have visited.

The only reason I didn't give it 5 was because the lady selling the tickets to enter knew nothing about the up close elephant talks.

The worst part for me was the sun bear that had nothing but concrete for its enclosure. This bear is clearly depressed and his claws are frayed and cracked from trying to scratch on the concrete.

My family has been enjoying this zoo for 17 years. We have visited other zoos in the US and find Natural Bridge Zoo to be as nice or nicer than other zoos. We perceive the animals to be content and well cared for, there is always water and food in the exhibits and no bad smells. PETA has worked to destroy this family zoo because they are against zoos of any kind. There are people who will desperately do anything to disparage the keeping of any animal in any way.
NBZ promotes using beautiful wild creatures to educate the public and promote interest in conservation. People do not care about the wild jungles south America, unless they equate that area of the world with an interesting creature.
Some people don't eat animals, fine, don't. But zoos bring the animal world to us so that we will care about their world.
This zoo is a fun day trip for people of any age. The staff is accessible to answer your questions, and you will see them working hard all day throughout the zoo.

I love this place! It was such an awesome experience for my son! Definitely needs so more animals though!

I enjoy the zoo but I wish the elephant rides would stop. Animals are not meant to be locked up anyway, let alone paraded around with humans on their back just to make money.

This was a horrible experience. The zoo was dirty, there was dead animals on the walkway. The places where the animals were kept we're nasty and very small. Most of the animals looked sick and weak. There was very few animals. It was terrible.

They abuse the animals here horrifically. They e been holding them captive, beating them, mistreating them, starving them, for entertainment. I ve witnessed it and so has so many others. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS ZOO. People have been trying to get these animals out FOR YEARS, including Asha the elephant, who is alone, dying, and being tortured every damn day. SHAME ON YOU NATURAL BRIDGE.

Horrible animal abuse! Why does anyone support this place?

My only complaint would be that the alligator enclosure is a little small. Other than that everything was great.

Do not spend money here until they free Asha the Elephant. Google it. Please do not ride the elephant. Free her. The positive reviews are fake. Fake news. Free Asha. Google these people first.

This place is evil. Abusing animals. How do they handle an animal getting sick or hurt? Nothing or kill them. Pure evil.

I saw I video about this zoo. And you treat you animals like crap. SHUT DOWN THIS ZOO AND PUT THE WORKERS IN JAIL AND PUT THE ANIMALS SOMEWHERE BETTER THAN AT THIS ZOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kids love it,try on a cloudy day. Kids get tired quickly walking on the sun.The best part here is to walk-in the bird cage and feed the birds.Bit expensive!

DO NOT VISIT THIS ZOO. IT IS ANIMAL ABUSE AND CRUELTY. ELEPHANTS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE CAGED IN POOR CONDITIONS AND RIDDEN

I'm embarrassed to say that I let the media and negative reviews color my preconceptions of the zoo and didn't want to go wheny wife suggested it. We took our 3y/o and really enjoyed it. Seems well maintained and clean. Lots of animals that you can actually get close enough to see. Staff was friendly and explained that most of the negative reviews were from trolls that never visited the zoo and explained why the hype over the elephant wasn't fair. The elephant has a nice big enclosure from what I could see. Didn't seem distressed.

This zoo promotes animal abuse and allows people to ride an elephant which globally is known to be a horrid practice that requires a lot of abuse in order to train. Practices such as forced isolation, starvation, movement restriction, wipping and prodding. This is barbaric and should no longer be condoned in the united states.

Don t waste your money! This place is in humane and depressing you clearly can see the living space is too small and that they have barely any water for these poor animals. The only reason I feel anyone would give this place more than one star is they know the workers or they all happy they got to touch and play/show clout with the animals UNLIKE AN ACTUAL ZOO WHERE THEY KEEP THE ANIMALS SAFE

Offers ABUSE of elephants. Watch her cringe from their bullhook. Hope they take her to a sanctuary,

This place is awful. Google animal abuse natural bridge. You are an idiot if you visit or support this zoo.

You get a lot of zoo for the money. Ignore the troll reviews, it's a great zoo if you want something larger than Mill Mountain zoo.

Didn't seem to bad when we visited 3 years ago. It's a older zoo, the staff seemed to care about the animals.

The kids had a lot of fun, they where disappointed they couldn't ride the elephant, (Stupid Corona!) But had a blast with the other animals, especially the birdhouse.We've never been to a zoo where we've been allowed to so closely interact with animals. The kids really enjoyed it and learned a lot from it.

The poor animals, especially the elephant. She has been alone in that place for 26 years. Elephants are social and need to be around other elephants. I will not be going back!!

Watch the Humane Society's under cover animal cruelty video about this animal hell hole .

What a great place to educate young children about animals! The key to avoiding extinction for many animals is to peak the interest of our youth, and this place did just that! I highly recommend the VIP tour for up close, once in a lifetime encounters! The Staff and trainers were great! You can tell they love the animals, and the bond they share is amazing! Especially the elephant and tiger trainer! Just WOW! My kids can't wait to go back!!

DO NOT SUPPORT THIS PLACE THEY ABUSE THE HECK OUT OF THEIR ANIMALS YOU CAN TELL BY JUST LOOKING AT THEM

Nice zoo. A little smaller than we thought it would be

Wow, this place was horrible! I almost cried the whole way through. All animals are in incredibly small enclosures. The Puma facts say it can leap horizontally around 40 feet but the enclosure is like 50 feet long. Not enough room. Giraffes were on gravel the whole time. Monkeys are in such sad enclosures, flamingos have literally a 5x7 water source, my area rug is larger than that broo, this broke my heart.

Nice place to visit....would have been better if cars weren't driving through

definitely a family place to take your kids and visit. lots of different animals. great time.

this place was absolutely amazing! I did the close encounter tour which was most definitely worth the money! Not only do you get to feed animals and ride Beautiful ( the elephant) but you learn so much more about the animals and the zoo; for instance: the larger animals don't get kept in those smaller areas every night. They have acres upon acres where they walk the animals too so they have more room to run and live. I would absolutely recommend that anyone going to the Natural Bridge VA read check It out!

My family and I visited this park back in October, we found the animals to be very well cared for and a very pleasant atmosphere. The staff was knowledgeable and friendly. Will definitely revisit with my three children in spring. We love the interaction. Don't believe the bad stuff you read, I bet those people have never even set foot in the facility.

We had a great day. We were able to get very close to the animals. They looked well cared for and the zoo was very clean. My twin girls 15 yrs old and my 2 year old nephew all had a great day. There is a lot of opportunities to feed the animals. It was fun!

A nice assortment of animals just a short stop from home. The trainer with the cats was very nice and willing to share information. The elephant trainer was also very nice and enjoyed chatting.
The younger indoor staff wasn't quite as friendly as the rest, but still a great day trip.
We will return for sure!

Saw giraffes, zebras, tigers, an alligator, tortoises, huge birds and an elephant. Loved the parakeet aviary where you could feed them and they'd land on you.

A ROADSIDE ZOO IN AMERICA IS NO PLACE FOR AN AFRICAN ELEPHANT. SEND HER TO A SANCTUARY!!!! HASNT SHE MADE YOU ENOUGH MONEY????? How long must she be exploited? Elephants feel loneliness. They NEED other elephants. If you loved her, you d let her go. Monsters!!!

Please don t support this cruel inhumane place! Their animal enclosures are pitiful and they subject their poor African elephant to give humans rides for ten dollars. Elephants are social creatures and this one has been alone for 31 years with nothing but a tire to play with. All they care about is turning a profit, not the well-being of their animals. Please think twice before supporting them.

Free the elephant! Its been treated cruel for 31 years!!! Don t partake in events with this elephant. It needs to go to a sanctuary where it can finally be with other elephants!!!

So, the kids had a blast. I'm not really an animal rights activist; they don't really concern me. However, I felt slightly sad for some of their small enclosures with nothing but concrete to live on.

We paid $2 for parakeet food and the kids barely got to feed them and enjoy the birds before a lady came in and opened the door for them all to flock out. The boys were sad and we wasted $2. There was more than an hour of time left, so not sure why she felt the need to do this while there were a few other families in there as well as my own.

There is also the dead animal that was in the white tiger enclosure. It was covered in flies and looked like the skin was torn on its face. Not sure what that was about...

We bought the $5 feed and it was more than enough, in case you're wondering.

Overall, the kids enjoyed it. So, who cares about the decaying mystery animal, the depressed animals in their teeny tiny living conditions, and rude parakeet lady? I'd take my boys again. If only to see the decaying progress on that animal...

Animals need to be taken care of. VERY small cages for the animals that are caged. It's just sad. Although I had fun driving through the park, it was overpriced, not worth this trip. Animals (especially the poor monkeys) are distressed.