Wellington Zoo Reviews

Went there only like 10 animals please try to get more because we were excited for lions nothing there. Then went to the cafe and food was awful

Thr is no animals in da zoo, visit to waste of money n time! Searching searching, finally we seen only one bird n monkey, highly disappointed! Thy charged $ 45 for 2 ppl, never again!

Value for money. Staff are outstanding and are not afraid to answer questions.

Really awesome place to go lots to see the staff are really engaged in what they do ,the animals are just a wonder would highly recommend going,great for a family day out

I haven't been to the zoo in 30 years and found it much greener and better than I remember. Shame about the rain! But the morning was magnificent. Could have spent longer if the weather had been better.

Great place for kids. Beautiful animals and really great and interesting zoo keepers.

Absolutely love seeing the animals and how friendly the staff are and the food is delicious.

Beautiful place to take the kids and spend a whole day outdoors, weather permitting, of course. Enjoy a picnic at the (Australian) Neighbours area surrounded by kangoroos and an Emu. I still can't believe we had the chance to do that! You can also make a booking for you birthday to hold one of your favourite animals, not the lion, I guess :), but the Red Panda, for example. How cool is that!

Amazing zoo with some extremely special close encounters if you have a bit of extra cash! We did the Cheetah Close Encounter and it was one of the coolest things either of us have ever done. The rest of the zoo is beautiful with lots of interesting animals that seem pretty happy.

Very nice Zoo. A little different to the ones you normally go.

Meh. The baboons are gone, you often cant see half the animals due to the enclosures and so many of the displays are empty. Honestly, go to one of the other sanctuaries around wellington, you see roughly the same amount.

You are welcomed by very friendly staff. The Zoo is so neat and visitors friendly. I also liked the fact that they show you animals from different countries. This is a must see when you visit Wellington.

Modest zoo. Hella interesting and lots to see/do for kids. Tuatara, kiwi, otters, capybara, red panda...

Maybe not the best zoo I've ever been to but definitely worth a visit. You can get very close to the kangaroos and the emus. I also really appreciate their conservation work and the recycling initiative.

If you want to see native animals from New Zealand, Australia etc it is an unforgettable experience

Overall the experience was ok but generally the staff seemed miserable. Cheetah enclosure seems way too small. There weren't clear signs to show whether animals were in their enclosures or not. Our opinion is probably tainted by the weather which wasn't great and the fact that parts of the zoo were closed because of covid.

Had an absolute blast. It's not a huge zoo but it's about the right size for a nice day wandering around (though it's on a hillside, so just be aware and wear practical shoes). The Close Encounter with the cheetahs was incredible! The staff were all lovely and very knowledgeable.

Pretty awesome zoo, nice and compact. Map is clear and its fairly hard to get lost. Am disappointed there wasn't a tshirt that said 'Tried to trade in for an otter but they said no' to get for my niece.

Good place for family picnic. Animals seem well treated and happy. We didn't see the tigers and the bear.

The staff are friendly, knowledgable and the animals are beautiful and well taken care of, but the zoo does feel like a giant playground for under 5s. Its almost like there's more emphasis on making play areas for pre-school kids than having a zoo that has educational experiences that cater for all ages. I took my 4 and 6 year old along recently - 4yo LOVED It, 6 yo (who's very interested in learning about science and nature) Was getting sick of all the "baby playgrounds" - I kinda had to agree with him a little.
Nice to see some of the animals out in the open, but sad to see some of the other people at the zoo not respecting the animals safe spaces and wandering in them to "get a pat".

I was in few zoos already in different countries. All are more and more interactive but this one is top. You can walk through kea parrot aviary. And the australian exposition - I almost got a hertattack when an emu just showed behind my back when I was wathing tasmanian devil. You literally can walk with the animals here! And I almost forget the biggest star - kiwi

It's been a number of years since I was last here, so turned into a fantastic outing

Compact but diverse zoo with great enclosures for the animals. It's on the side of a rather steep hill but the way the paths weave around it doesn't leave you feeling like you've climbed a mountain by the end. Loving the new Kea enclosure where you walk though with the Keas, and I'm curious to see how the new chimpanzee enclosure turns out. I've been coming to this zoo for about 40 years and every time there's something new. The way they work with the space available is truly awesome. I also love the close up encounters you can do with some of the animals. I've done the cheetah one, it was amazing (and a little scary) being in there with these wild animals - I highly recommend it!

Nz $ 27. There are penguins, kiwis, red fenders, giraffes, lions, tigers and Australian animals. Cars can be found around the outside Newland Park. There is a place to sit and relax for a picnic. You can buy snacks and ice cream in the cafe, inside Dongwool, and eat before you enter. Care must be taken not to feed the animals.

Very lonely zoo with a hefty price. Aucklamd zoo price is $24 while wellington is $27 as of posting. While auckland zoo is a bit boring but it is way livelier than wellington zoo.

Great day out at the zoo. Friendly well trained informative staff, heaps of animals to see. Recommend going to feeding times to learn more about the animals. Priced accordingly, well worth the visit.

It was a nice Zoo with talks throughout the day, but in terms of size and the amount of animals, I still cannot help but compare with Auckland Zoo which I think is better and bigger. With that said, it is still a good place to spend an afternoon or morning if you're in Wellington.

Love the Zoo, they have done a great job. Bit expensive though

The best little zoo, much improved over the last decade, a fantastic outing with young kids.

what an amazing zoo with amazing animals and amazing staff and zoo keepers

Amazing place, we had lots of fun and the kids learned a lot about the animals. The staff were very friendly too.

Beautiful place, easy to spend 3 hours ambling around

There are definitely better zoos. The chimps are adorable. The food is okish but a bit pricey considering the quality of the food. The gift shop is cute and there are great places to take pictures.

Very fun well laid out, just remember there is no car park so public or on street parking is your only option.

The staff are all knowledgeable and friendly, and they clearly have the animals' best interests at heart. I can fully recommend doing an encounter, they are amazing, and help raise funds for wildlife charities.

Friendly staff, super clean, great day out for the family!

Great for kids young and old. Well thought out layout design.

Free tickets, great day!! Pity it wasn't sunny but so good for the kids :) Take a picnic, can eat in the theater or old elephant building if wet

Contains Animals. NOt a big a fan. SHould be let free. VEGAN BTW

Great enclosures and experiences for adults and children alike, however quiet expensive. Now is the time to visit with newborn Capybara babies.

Great zoo. Good variety of animals, some natives as well, right in the city.

We took 4 grandchildren between the age of 3 and 10 to the zoo. It was a lovely warm day with just enough wind to keep you comfortable. The 3 year old wanted to see giraffes, the 4 year old otters, 6 year old kiwi and 10 year old the red panda. Grandparents wanted to see the new chimp enclosure. We managed to see all requests so that was great. My only complaint would be we never came across water drinking fountains and there seemed to be only one place to buy a coffee and ice blocks. Otherwise it was a great day out and we will be back to see the areas we missed.

Great learning opportunity for the kids to experience first hand the animals

Excellent zoo.
Very Inpressed with number of wheelchair access toilets and use of wheelchair during our visit..
The staff are very helpful.

I love this zoo. Such great displays for the animals.

Very good. Great for interacting with some animals.

Great animals. Well set out zoo. Value for money. Friendly staff

Beautiful zoo with a beautiful view of Wellington Very many interactions with animals and presentations throughout the day Very well equipped to spend a whole day with many picnic areas

Nice small zoo with lots of interesting animals and great conservation credentials.

A few exhibits empty but overall very fun and entertaining for a day. Quite expensive so wouldn't go often but loved it none the less. Good date idea.

It's a nice and peaceful place, worth spending a weekend with family or friends. It's 20nzd for students so quite cheap and a great experience. A must place during summers

Great place for the kids to burn some energy and see a good selection of animals

Lovely walk around the zoo - beautiful greenery and wonderful animals to see

It's actual waste of money. Animals always hiding behind the bushes and u pay to see the bushes.

The zoo is well set out and accessible. However take your own food and drink. That supplied in the cafes is of poor quality and very expensive for what it is. The rating I have given relates to the zoo and it's layout. If a rating was offered for the on site cafe I would be generous in giving it a one star

Really nice zoo. Enclosures look larger than in the past and a good range of well looked after animals

We are so lucky to have such an outstanding zoo on our doorstep. Visit often! The encounters are also thoroughly recommended.

A great place where people care about the animals, others and the environment. And trying to save the wild. Awesome staffs who always smile and friendly.

All glasses/cages have too much reflex making it quiet hard to see the animals inside...

Loved it. Circled back a few times to some enclosures to have a second shot of seeing some of the animals. This is my second visit to this zoo and did not see any of the lions. A lot of them were hiding today. The zoo was very neat, clean and the staff were very friendly and knowledgeable about the animals and happy to answer any questions. The talks were great, I went to the sun bear and the kiwi talk.
The food was expensive so I settled on an ice chocolate. The ice chocolate was small and 65% of it consisted of ice and with what room was left; the chocolate syrup sunk to the bottom, the tiny bit of ice cream was just there and the milk filled the rest of the space. Not worth the money I spent for just ice and milk.