Meerkat Friends — Attraction in Seoul

I'm really sorry to have to give this place a one star. I personally came about a month ago and had a BLAST. It was so much fun to play with a variety of adorable playful animals and the staff were very gentle and kind and didn't force the animals to do anything. They encouraged but didn't force them to interact with the visitors, and were very careful about hygiene. There was a baby wallaby that one staff member swaddled like a baby so lovingly.

However, this week, one of my good friends took her daughter there. Her daughter is a mature, adult woman, but was developmentally delayed growing up. Unfortunately, upon arrival, the staff told her that her daughter would not be allowed to enter the meerkat enclosure in the center because she is "disabled" and they were afraid she would yell, pull or squeeze the meerkats or harm them. They said she would be allowed to interact with all the other animals, just not the meerkats. My friend's daughter had been SOOOO excited and looking forward to this visit for many weeks because of the pictures and review I had sent them.

Can you imagine the pain and disappointment to be turned away because of how she looks? Her daughter is one of the kindest, sweetest, and most gentle young lady I've ever met.

I am also well familiar with the meerkat enclosure rules because I was just there, and I followed all of them myself. In fact, while I was there, one young man did not follow the rules - he kept his wallet in his pocket despite being told to remove everything from his pockets. He was kicked out of the enclosure and not allowed back in.

I would be more than happy to bet you $1 million US dollars my friend's daughter would respect and follow all the meerkat enclosure rules to a T. She is so much more mature than even many other adults I know. She is not a child. She is in control of her own body and mind. And she is beautiful inside and out.

I was really furious and disappointed when I heard my friend's report because the staff judged her daughter based on her looks alone. It was extremely humiliating for both of them, as they have not experienced such overt discrimination based on looks in many years.

I really hope that the staff of Meerkat Friends would reflect upon this situation (I am sure they will remember this incident) and consider how they judge other people based on their looks. I understand if you want to restrict little kids and babies from entering the meerkat enclosure, or people who have Asperger's or are prone to seizures or sudden jerky movements, etc, but perhaps you should not assume these things about people. Their caretaker will tell you if that is the case. But this young lady was none of the above, and I am sure the meerkats would have loved her more than many other visitors.

Please don't judge and discriminate people by their looks anymore, and I will change this...

12,000won per entry. The place is nice and cozy but don't be fooled. It isn't a café. It's optional to buy drinks. No food is provided which is understandable because of the animals. (Blogs and vlogs don't tell you these things). The meerkats have a nice big space to themselves being the star of the store. You get to go in for 10 minutes to interact with them. But be warned, if you forget to remove something from your pocket, this is what will happen. After I went in, in less than 5 minutes, I realized my Tmoney card was in my back pocket. Honesty is the best policy right? Not this place. I told them about it and the person said I should leave. I did and I thought I'd just put the card out and be let in again but no. My family tried to get me in but they just said no, which I thought was pretty harsh. She didn't even want to make eye contact with me. We did pay to get in and do what we came to do. It's one thing to be strict but this isn't. I tried talking to the manager about it but he simply said he didn't understand. Ironically, he understood everything else.

Besides meerkats, there are other animals that you probably read in blogs but it's not as cool as you think. It's heartbreaking watching these animals. They belong better in a zoo where the place is more spacious and created for their habitat. These animals looked like they were in distress. The artic foxes kept scratching at the door and pouncing around their small spaces. Another animal kept pacing around the same spot since I went in. While it's cool that you get to see meerkats up close, you'd be supporting what they really do - captivity, a mini circus pretty much. Tourists kept chasing these poor animals around when they clearly did not want to be disturbed.

The staff were unfriendly and rude. While they were hardworking at cleaning the animals pen, they avoid all sorts of conversations other than what they need to do. They're just there to earn money and they don't really care about the tourists or the animals. The animals are their golden goose. Unlike the other animal cafés I've been to, this is by far the worst in service and treatment. We couldn't wait to get out of there. I hope you'll see past your desire to play with the meerkats and other animals and not support...

Pet cafe My hubby and I went to this cafe today. This cafe doesn’t look like chilled cafe but a pet shop with some unusual animals. My concern is potential sanitation issues that might come from having animals roaming around near where food is prepared and consumed. Indeed, this cafe only serve bottled cold drinks/cold drinks. The environment makes you don’t want to drink anything as it’s a bit messy and smell of animals. You don’t want to chill here. It can take you for 30 mins to see all animal which is not worth it. The entrance fee is 10000 won without any drinks. And they put some of animals into the cage. Still it's hard to say how truly humane it is for wild animals to be put into an unnatural habitat and pet by crowds of strangers all day. There is a lady seems very care about the animals. Hwr, one of the male staff is extremely rude to customer. I sat on the chair next to the wallaby cafe and looked at the wallaby. He suddenly touched my shoulder and wave me to stand up. He didn’t say any words and pull out my chair and put it back next to table. I was shocked and didn’t know how to respond. The female staffs asked him ‘Why’ in korean but I didn’t understand what that male guy explained to that female staff. But this guy didn’t bother to explain or say excuse me to me at all. Her behavior is so weird and that’s not the right way to treat customer. Maybe he doesn’t speak any English? Attached is this male staff’s photo. I hope he will see my complaint here and improve his customer service.

I won’t recommend this cafe to any people who want to chill with friend and enjoy coffee. You can’t drink anything here at all! I would rather spend some money to go to Everland to watch animal in Seoul and go to a regular cafe for decent coffee...