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April 2024 by Travis Olwin
Wide variety of animals, some of which have quirky personalities and all looked to be in very good health (Southern Ground Hornbills, I'm looking directly at you).That said, this isn't a blow your socks off zoo since it is showing signs of aging. The display banners and informational signage are in desperate need of replacement due to fading from open sunlight, plus some of the pathways could use repaving. I'd also recommend eating before coming here; the food prices aren't outrageous but it's nothing to write to home about.If you can look past the age and mid-quality concessions, this is a nice "hole in the wall" attraction to visit with family for a quick day trip.
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April 2024 by Ghost
This is the most dreadful zoo I have ever visited. I I was mislead by the positive reviews and the put together website, however the animal enclosures are miserable, with little to no terrain. They are kept only in chain-link fences, the paths are not well kept, and then animals look sad and bored.Do not come here, do not give them your money. They clearly do not care about the well-being of the animals they keep.
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April 2024 by Dreeno
Just a sad sorry excuse for a zoo. Found one of the birds out of its exhibit freely roaming. Small flat boring enclosures for the animals. The animals all look sad. Nothing is put together well and it just seems like somebodys giant back yard they filled with animals. Chainlink fences block the animals in. Paths are rough. I have nothing good to say, it doesn't even feel like a zoo. Go to any other zoo
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March 2024 by Jonathan Pender
We love this place!
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March 2024 by Larry Boykin
I love going to the richmond metro zoo. I love feeding the animals
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March 2024 by Moe
The zoo was nice with a nice range of a variety of animals to see. The walking path was paved, but it had quite a few areas where the pavement was being forced up and crumbling. I saw people pushing strollers on it, so I guess it could be wheelchair friendly, but it could get tricky in spots.The zoo keepers were there at some exhibits to talk to about the animals and made it more fun and interactive. The zoo was smaller than I expected, but it was still a fun day.Our favorite part was feeding the giraffes and goats. Make sure you get plenty of food to feed all the animals you're allowed to at the zoo.There are a few rides that cost extra. Parking was on sight and free, and the zoo was easy to find. We went in March on a cloudy day with small crowds. It was nice.
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March 2024 by Lisa Sherrill
We had a awesome day at zoo yesterday. So much to see! Great experience! Friendly staff! And we booked the animal encounter. Definitely worth it, the kids loved it!
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March 2024 by Foxxy Loxxy
My family went on a Saturday and had a great time . We got there around 1:30 and had plenty of time to enjoy the zoo . The zoo is laid out quite easily . Lots of the animals was out enjoying the beautiful day and all looked very healthy. The first zoo I have ever been to where a dog and a cheetah live together in the same enclosure . I thought that was a very interesting backstory. Only thing that disappointed was there were no lions tigers elephants out the day we were there. Not sure if they were in their houses or what but we didn’t see any of the above that I stated . Also we did stop and enjoy the wonderful funnel fries along with the ice cream it was such a night treat on a beautiful day . I’ve been to several zoos some smaller some larger and overall this is a wonderful zoo !
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March 2024 by Connor Witty
amazing zoo
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December 2023 by Brandon Smith
Hands down best zoo I’ve been to! Definitely worth getting the annual pass, but the $25 single-entry ticket is still worth it if you only plan to visit once! Fantastic array of animal species to see and the park is clean, family friendly, and the animals are well cared for having more spacious and natural enclosures than I’ve seen at other zoos. My family and I will definitely visit again!
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December 2023 by Robert Crouch
Had an absolute blast with the family. We loved the more open look to the zoo with some free roaming animals and the use of moats over fences when possible. The birds were a huge hit with the kids, go ahead and get the sticks if you have kids they'll love it. Getting to feed many of the animals was pretty awesome and adds a hands on and up close element you just don't get at many zoos. The gift shop was extremely reasonably priced which was a nice change of pace. If you're in the area you should check it out.
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November 2023 by Jason Johnson: JJ Realty Group
Hands down best zoo I've ever been to. Not the biggest or the brightest but it has something those can never have. Charm and connection with the animals. Let's not even mention the wide range of animals they have, that I have never even seen in a book, let alone the fun family activities. All this leads to the most magical zoo or park I have ever seen and I hope they stick around for generations to come!
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November 2023 by Ashleigh Matos
I've thought a lot about how I should word my feelings about this zoo and my experience. I'm somewhere between a 2 and 3-star rating. I love how fun zoos can be, so we continued our tradition of visiting a zoo each vacation we go on. This year we chose the Richmond Zoo, and it was not a show-stopper.We arrived around 1pm on a Tuesday, and there was plenty of parking. We stayed until about 4pm. There was no signage about the zoo from the highway, but you see it after you make the turn in. They might benefit from that free highway advertising if possible, and it helps with navigation.We purchased our tickets for $24 per adult. They offered us a 'zoo treat cup' to feed the animals, and it looked like kibble. I didn't like that you could feed almost any animal the same kibble. Shouldn't their diets be more customized?When you walk in, the whole place just doesn't have any color or pizzazz. They play no music, and their signage designs are all outdated. Don't misunderstand that, their signage will say 'new zoo baby! born last month' in the same faded and outdated design. It is an odd choice.Here are the good things. Their animals look healthy and they seem to provide a lot of enrichment. It was mid-October, and they were probably the most active animals in a zoo I've experienced. The place is real quiet and peaceful, smells real woodsy, and is rather clean all around. My husband commented that the lunch and snacks they sell at the cafe are probably the most reasonable prices he's ever seen, meaning they don't appear to have increased in a while.The zoo's kibble food comes in a paper cup, as their website states their hatred toward the damage plastic has on animals. They also have PVC pipes next to trash cans that are designed to collect the paper cups and keep them out of the waste bins, however, their design needs updating to help further reinforce the use of the PVC collections. If they were clear, and one cup was always inside, that's enough of a visual cue to the visitors on how it works. A picture of this is included. Walking around the zoo is very serene and the woods area they have is rather beautiful. They are also making strides toward expanding their zoo to new areas to house more animal exhibits.As you walk around the zoo, their concrete paths need fixing. There are quite a bit of uneven walkways, with clear potholes in the paths. I saw maybe one orange cone indicating danger. The day we visited, their penguin-drop ride was broken, as was their sky ride. I love sky rides, so that was disappointing that it broke just the day before we arrived (I asked the staff: when did it break?).They appear to have put a lot of trust on the visitors, as many of the animals have wired fencing to their cages instead of glass, so anything could be thrown inside, fed to the animal, or the animal could be pet. They had workers around doing their jobs, but really no one supervising to prevent abuse or danger.The saddest part of the visit was their poor farm animals. I am not an animal expert, and you can view my posted photos, but the goats appear to be grossly overweight, and I assume that's due to the unregulated 'zoo treat cups' and visitors just feeding them all the time. If I am wrong, I will gladly update my review.Overall, I unfortunately would not recommend a visit. I even Googled 'zoo red flags' and this zoo didn't really exhibit any of them, except for the pacing lions, but I didn't enjoy myself too much and wasn't impressed. They would highly benefit from a better marketing team to update their signage and stop selling the zoo treat cups.
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November 2023 by M I C H A E L
Great....I seen all types of animals with both 2, 4, and more legs. Some were fascinating, and others were unique. It's an experience of a lifetime that makes you feel blessed, compassionate, concerned, and sad that they are not free. They are there for our own selfish pleasure, but we do offer them a longer life free of predators and hunger. However, when you look in their eyes, you can see the sadness, and it makes you feel for them as a living creature.
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October 2023 by Ashleigh M.
I've thought a lot about how I should word my feelings about this zoo and my experience. I'm somewhere between a 2 and 3-star rating. I love how fun zoos can be, so we continued our tradition of visiting a zoo each vacation we go on. This year we chose the Richmond Zoo, and it was not a show-stopper. We arrived around 1pm on a Tuesday, and there was plenty of parking. We stayed until about 4pm. There was no signage about the zoo from the highway, but you see it after you make the turn in. They might benefit from that free highway advertising if possible, and it helps with navigation. We purchased our tickets for $24 per adult. They offered us a 'zoo treat cup' to feed the animals, and it looked like kibble. I didn't like that you could feed almost any animal the same kibble. Shouldn't their diets be more customized?When you walk in, the whole place just doesn't have any color or pizzazz. They play no music, and their signage designs are all outdated. Don't misunderstand that, their signage will say 'new zoo baby! born last month' in the same faded and outdated design. It is an odd choice.Here are the good things. Their animals look healthy and they seem to provide a lot of enrichment. It was mid-October, and they were probably the most active animals in a zoo I've experienced. The place is real quiet and peaceful, smells real woodsy, and is rather clean all around. My husband commented that the lunch and snacks they sell at the cafe are probably the most reasonable prices he's ever seen, meaning they don't appear to have increased in a while. The zoo's kibble food comes in a paper cup, as their website states their hatred toward the damage plastic has on animals. They also have PVC pipes next to trash cans that are designed to collect the paper cups and keep them out of the waste bins, however, their design needs updating to help further reinforce the use of the PVC collections. If they were clear, and one cup was always inside, that's enough of a visual cue to the visitors on how it works. A picture of this is included. Walking around the zoo is very serene and the woods area they have is rather beautiful. They are also making strides toward expanding their zoo to new areas to house more animal exhibits. As you walk around the zoo, their concrete paths need fixing. There are quite a bit of uneven walkways, with clear potholes in the paths. I saw maybe one orange cone indicating danger. The day we visited, their penguin-drop ride was broken, as was their sky ride. I love sky rides, so that was disappointing that it broke just the day before we arrived (I asked the staff: when did it break?). They appear to have put a lot of trust on the visitors, as many of the animals have wired fencing to their cages instead of glass, so anything could be thrown inside, fed to the animal, or the animal could be pet. They had workers around doing their jobs, but really no one supervising to prevent abuse or danger. The saddest part of the visit was their poor farm animals. I am not an animal expert, and you can view my posted photos, but the goats appear to be grossly overweight, and I assume that's due to the unregulated 'zoo treat cups' and visitors just feeding them all the time. If I am wrong, I will gladly update my review. Overall, I unfortunately would not recommend a visit. I even Googled 'zoo red flags' and this zoo didn't really exhibit any of them, except for the pacing lions, but I didn't enjoy myself too much and wasn't impressed. They would highly benefit from a better marketing team to update their signage and stop selling the zoo treat cups.
