Tom Goes to Broadway! - A Broadway Zoological Park Review and Species List
Hello Zoochatters, I am back with another review and species list. For this review, I will be tackling a recently-opened and (at least, for the time being) obscure little rural zoo that had also just as recently popped up on my radar. The subject of my excursion, of course, is Broadway Zoological Park.
Now, you may be asking. What is Broadway Zoological Park? Where is is Broadway Zoological Park? Why is is Broadway Zoological Park? Our story takes us to the small rural town of Broadway, North Carolina, located in Lee County not far from the Cape Fear River. Raven Rock State Park is about a 10 minutes drive away to the east.
Broadway Zoological Park is a small, unaccredited, zoo in the town of the same name that was announced back in February 2024 and officially opened to the public on April 7, 2025, although they did host a few events and tours prior to the official opening. The zoo was established by veterans and aims to emphasize conservation and education, as well as provide a home for rescued and abandoned wild animals. The zoo encompasses about 45 acres and is home to over 150 species.
I visited this zoo on May 17, 2025, and spent about 5 hours at the zoo (which is definitely more than what you'd actually need to see the whole zoo). My review will be based on this visit.
Overall, the zoo is definitely a mixed bag in many aspects including, unsurprisingly, its exhibitry. In a lot of ways, I'd say this zoo definitely reminded me of Metro Richmond Zoo, a zoo I actually just visited about 2 months prior, although Broadway is not as built up being a much newer zoo. For example, whereas Metro Richmond had a proper entrance, ticket booths, and gift shop all in one, Broadway has just a single makeshift ticket counter consisting of nothing more than a table and tent, although they do accept credit cards. The ticket table is also used to check out snacks, drinks, and items from the nearby gift shop, which consists of a small shack.
Also at the ticket table, visitors can purchase buckets of food which they can feed some of the animals, particularly the ungulates. Some enclosures have PVC pipes built into the barriers, where visitors can drop food into the enclosures; an example can be seen below for the domestic goats. Invariably, this often causes animals to run right up to you as you approach the viewing windows.
The overall presentation actually isn't all that bad, and the zoo definitely benefits in this department from being new. Most paths are paved, although the main area just beyond the ticket table is unpaved gravel, and the pathways tend to only be paved in the center. Additionally, the zoo has some rather nice landscaping, with plantings lining many of the paths and a few beds here and there. Additionally, since much of the construction is still fairly new, the zoo ends up looking much nicer than its peers.
Operations and facilities are fairly minimal; the zoo has no on-site cafe or eatery, but they do have vending machines and snack fridges you can purchase from, and a lemonade stand. They do also allow you to leave and re-enter, which is good as their food offerings are very meager. The zoo only has one set of restrooms near the entrance, although they were well-maintained. The zoo is mostly out in the open, and shade is somewhat lacking for visitors (although the animals themselves all have access to shade). Another small issue I encountered throughout the zoo was that many viewing windows were either dirty, scratched to hell, or fogged up. Combined with the often horrendous glare many exhibits face due to the aforementioned lack of shade structures, it made viewing into some exhibits rather challenging.
The collection is obviously the zoo's strong point. Like Metro Richmond, it's got a nice and diverse collection of wildlife that includes quite a few rarities you don't see too often (if at all) in accredited facilities. Such examples include Variegated Squirrel, Regent Parrot (which Sylvan Heights now also has), Morelet's Crocodile, and Chinese Softshell Turtle. Other highlights with the collection include 15 species of primate, 22 species of parrots, 8 species of tortoise, and 5 species of crocodylian.
The exhibit quality, of course, going to be the main point of contention for any ZooChatter going into this place. And there are definitely areas where the exhibit quality is downright bad. But there are also areas where it's actually fairly good. But to cover the bad stuff first; the carnivoran, bird, and primate exhibits are consistently the weakest enclosures in the zoo. Like Metro Richmond, the primates in particular get the short end of the stick.
I have made it no secret in the past that Greenville Zoo is my least favorite accredited zoo, and part of the reason for that is due to their primate exhibits, which tend to be side-by-side cages connected to a central building that serves as their night quarters. Broadway applies this design to most of their primate exhibits.
While the enclosures are fairly tall, they are lacking in horizontal space, and enrichment is fairly basic. One of their Capuchins had a habit of repeatedly banging on the ceiling of their exhibit, which startled me each and every time. Also, each species only had access to one cage, although they were given free access to their indoor quarters (which, unlike Greenville, where not visible to the public). Their small cats also had a similar accommodation, although each pair of exhibits where inhabited by the same species. And they do have indoor viewing.
Their Tayra, Fennec Fox, and Coati exhibits are also similar, but seem to have fairly short in terms of height. The Coatis also have another enclosure that is basically a large corn crib cage. The River Otter exhibit is also basic and nothing special. The carnivoran with the best exhibits are undoubtedly the Binturongs.
Their bird exhibits are another major sore point in terms of exhibit quality. Most of their bird exhibits are either corn crib cages,
or small indoor rooms viewed through glass from the outside;
These exhibits all feel rather small and cramped, and the once again, glare from the sun can make it slightly challenging to see and photograph the birds on the inside. The only birds that seem to get off well are their ostriches, cassowaries, and rheas (which all roam rather large open enclosures and are often mixed with ungulates) and the birds in their Budgie aviary, which is actually not too shabby.
Their reptile exhibits aren't actually all that bad. In fact, some of them even rival some accredited zoos I have been to in terms of quality. For example, here is their main alligator exhibit, which I think is the largest alligator exhibit in the state. And this photo only shows about ~60% of the exhibit. This is viewed from an elevated deck (but still through a window for some reason).
Their tortoise exhibits are also fairly large, and they are mostly actually given a fair amount of space as well. They do have some small tortoise exhibits there, but said enclosures are home to small tortoises. They also have a trio of outdoor crocodylian exhibits, although they are basically grassy fields with pools. Also, all of their crocodylians were juveniles.
Most of their reptiles are hosed in the reptile barn. The barn is flanked on all sides by various exhibits, although one of the corner exhibits was under construction at the time. One side has a line of terrariums home to juvenile crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and tegus. The other side contains an open-air netted exhibit home to various turtles.
The interior is a simple hallway lined with terrariums on either side. The exhibits here are actually fairly solid, with good landscaping and decent size. Their crocodile monitor and sailfin lizard exhibits in particular are actually better than what I've seen at other zoos. The collection is fairly lizard-heavy, with a single species of snake and a pair of frogs to round out the lineup.
Also, for some reason, they chose to park their zoo train here.
Lastly, there is another small building home to a pair of python species and yellow anaconda. However, one of the python exhibits was under construction during my visit. Also, the terrariums are viewed from the outside, so once again, you are fighting the glare to see the animals.
Ungulates are another group of animals that are (mostly) well off at the zoo in terms of exhibits. The ungulate exhibits tend to have good space and are all lush with grass, although many of them are flat and basic in terms of landscaping. Their mixed-species "savanna" exhibit is obviously the highlight here; the exhibit goes very far back and has plenty of mature trees for shade. The one drawback is that the exhibit is viewed from ground level through fencing and windows.
The zoo also offers wagon rides, which I believe either go into or around the large ungulate enclosures. Unfortunately, wagon rides were not offered on the day of my visit. So there is a possibility there may be species only visible on the ride which I missed on my visit; Google Earth shows at least two additional enclosures not visible from the pathways, and their Instagram contains a post featuring Bison.
That will conclude my overview of the Broadway Zoological Park. I will save the species list for the next post, and then trail off with my usual conclusion and closing remarks.
To Be Continued...
