What was your honest take on this zoo? Personally, I found it to be by far the worst zoo I've ever visited, but I know you've been to more roadside zoos than I so curious to see how it compares.
@Neil chace It's definitely in the worst 5, that's for sure. I hate Popcorn Park, but their exhibits are at least bigger (and outside...). Luray is comparable to this place, I'm not sure which I'd say is worse of the two. SeaQuest (I've been to the NJ one) is horrid. Hovatter's has the three worst exhibits I've seen for larger mammals. There's several others that are really really bad but overall have enough to save them from being the worst of the worst.
@TinoPup I'm relieved this is also amongst your worst zoos, as you've visited quite a lot. Prior to visiting this zoo, I was of the opinion "I'll visit any zoo once", but now whenever I'm looking at un-accredited places, I view them with strict scrutiny as to whether or not it's worth visiting. Many non-AZA places do reach this (most recently I enjoyed a visit to The Wild Animal Park), but this is, and will likely remain, my only visit to a true roadside zoo.
@Neil chace I used to be AZA only But IMO, someone needs to document these places. We need to have as complete a picture as possible when arguing that a place is decent and doesn't deserve ARA attacks, or that it truly is atrocious, or whatever. With this place, for example, several here have visited it and said it's awful, but most photos in the gallery were close ups (which is understandable!). I try to provide a more complete picture of what places look like, and what species they hold. For the few exhibits I didn't post, I do have photos, they're just a bit out of focus/blurry, have too much of my reflection, or have kids that weren't moving from in front of them (this goes for every zoo I post photos of, as well). They're also helpful for discussions on here, like when someone says parts of cincinnati are roadside quality
@TinoPup I definitely agree, if one is to visit a zoo like this, it's imperative to post exhibit photos so others see how bad it is. I did the same after my visit, albeit not as many photos as you I did post some of the worst exhibits they have. I forget if it was @snowleopard or @birdsandbats who said they visit these zoos so that others don't have to! Personally, I've gone kind of full circle on zoo visits. I used to be AZA only, but then I started to see more nuance in zoo accreditation, and was willing to visit any zoo once, now I'm only willing to visit non-AZA zoos if I'm certain they are of decent quality.
@TinoPup Without many of your photos, most people would be unaware of some of the conditions that animals are kept in. Possibly if the owners exhibited less species, they could have made better accommodation for the ones they did have! At the same time, I do appreciate that the owners probably do their best to keep the animals as well as they can, which is not always the way!
@Neil chace It was snowleopard, and I agree with that statement. I try to give just as much attention to the good zoos, as well, so people can see what proper husbandry and design looks like.
@Terry Thomas Several of these places would do much better with less species! Unfortunately having a bunch of animals, and having new ones coming in, helps bring in repeat visitors. The behind the scenes/care thing is another subject entirely. Some places aren't great but they're doing the best they can and put the animals first, others look decent up front but their owners participate in smuggling/trafficking, abuse, or other awful things. Those are harder to know about.
I really enjoy visiting roadside zoos in a bizarre sort of way, although that by no means means that I don't want to see them shut down. I just think it's so interesting to see a zoo that's s different from all the increasingly homogenous AZA zoos. You never know what you'll find around the corner at a roadside.
