Wildlife World Zoo

I arrived in the greater Phoenix area on Friday and, once again, dropped in to hang out with my Sister for a few days. Today, after my normal work load, we both went to visit the Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium in Litchfield Park, AZ.

I’d like to say how wonderful and amazing it was, but things started going downhill almost immediately. I will ignore the hap-hazard parking area and go straight to the admission price of $31 per adult, which is about double that of a ‘major’ zoo like a San Fransisco Zoo or other large-city zoo many times larger. While I do not mind paying a few extra dollars if I felt those funds were going to care for the grounds and the animals, I did not get the feeling here. The grounds were old and run down, with trash littered everywhere and not a single sole staffed to clean it. All the trash cans were stuffed full (and we arrived mid-day) so even if I wanted to throw my wrapper in the trash, it would not fit. It seemed that the only people staffed at the entire zoo were those that took my money at admissions, and those in the gift shop who would also take my money… no rangers, no narrative talks, no greeters, nothing.

Then there were the animal’s cages, some clearly not suited for animals they housed. A cage built for a crocodile (pool of water and dripping wet) is extremely unhealthy for the snake to live in it. The newborn animals on display slept on hard concrete floors, not the soft bedding any person would expect. The larger animals outside held in pens that walls any toddler could climb up and over.

And never have I seen such “repeat animals”. They would house the same birds in a half-dozen cages scattered around the zoo. Do the same for 20 or 30 more animals, and you have a zoo that appears to have many animals. Instead, I walked away feeling ripped off more than anything. We skipped the aquarium all together.

I enjoy seeing the animals but I would rather give my money to a zoo that I know is properly handling the animals *and* it’s guests. I still took some photographs though… of the good stuff, not the bad.