Promised Land Zoo Branson's Promised Land

SusScrofa

Well-Known Member
Didn't see this story posted before but earlier this month, two baboons escaped their enclosure after a keeper failed to properly lock it. One of the escaped baboons bit the keeper and was subsequently shot and killed.

Escaped baboon was shot and killed at Branson's Promised Land Zoo

Anyone been to this place? I'm not anti-religion or anything, but a creationist zoo just seems.... odd, to say the least. Can't say this story helped.
 
Didn't see this story posted before but earlier this month, two baboons escaped their enclosure after a keeper failed to properly lock it. One of the escaped baboons bit the keeper and was subsequently shot and killed.

Escaped baboon was shot and killed at Branson's Promised Land Zoo

Anyone been to this place? I'm not anti-religion or anything, but a creationist zoo just seems.... odd, to say the least. Can't say this story helped.

Where are you getting that they're creationists?
 
Reviews on tripadvisor say that Bible verses pervade the zoo exhibits (reviewers thought it was a positive, though). Sounds like creationism to me.
 
Are they not? They're advertises as a faith-based zoo, which to me is code for creationist.

I have never seen anything indicating being "faith based". It's just their name. They don't even push "merry christmas" in december. Also, religious doesn't mean creationist. Most christians are not creationists, it's a small (but sometimes vocal) faction. This place posts a lot about conservation and things like that (how much they follow through, idk).
 
Reviews on tripadvisor say that Bible verses pervade the zoo exhibits (reviewers thought it was a positive, though). Sounds like creationism to me.

That is a better example, one that I didn't know, and one they don't share on social media at all. It still doesn't make them creationist, though.
 
I thought I would chime in on here quickly before I possibly post a more detailed review since one doesn't exist yet as I actually visited this place over Labor Day weekend this year as my wife and I spent the weekend in Branson. I just haven't catalogued all my photos yet from the trip as life has gotten in my way a bit this fall, so I didn't want to post my review yet until I did that.

This place is an interesting place, and not really in all that good of a way, for someone that mostly sticks to AZA or at least ZAA accredited zoos. It really seems like it is more of two zoos, a more standard walkaround part and then a drive-thru portion. While the zoo makes use of the existing terrain for the most part, I will tell you that most of the animals don't make use of the spaces that sometimes seems adequate because they are so used to feeding off the pellets that visitors give them, they all crowd the fences, or your car as so as you come near. So pretty typical roadside zoo fare (or I would imagine, as this is really only the 2nd "roadside" zoo I've been to and it was more or less the same as the other one).

The thing I will note about the bible verses (that do exist around the grounds), is that they seemed more geared to caring about animals and providing for them. Which after seeing how these animals flocked to any human to as if they were trained or reliant on them for food, seemed like the antithesis to what a normal zoo would do, but I guess their interpretation is different from mine.

I was curious about visiting to see some of the more rare species they have like Olive Baboon, Nilgai, Banteng, but what initially caught my eye from Zootierliste was Bare-tailed Woolly Opossum as it is listed as the only place in the world to have this species in captivity. I will save you all the trouble of going here to see it, it isn't on exhibit. I checked and re-checked all publicly viewable exhibits and it was nowhere to be seen nor even signed. If this place does have it, it is paywalled behind their animal encounter pass. Here's the thing, you can look into the rooms that they do these encounters and I still didn't make it out in those. I did have to laugh though that this place actually signed the RARE WHITE EMU (!!) that was actually just a white Greater Rhea. I will include that picture here for giggles.

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