Branson's Wild World — Attraction in Branson

I’ve visited zoos and aquariums my whole life, and this was the first one I left feeling depressed. As soon as you walk through the door you can smell that the place isn’t well maintained.

The big tanks looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in months. Several small tanks were also filthy.

By far the most depressing thing was the outdoor animals. All of the enclosures were way too small with little shade. There were two gray wolves (an animal that typically lives in packs of four to nine) in a cage that couldn’t have been bigger than 90x30ft and it was on a very steep hill except for 2 five foot areas where both wolves anxiously paced the whole time we watched them.

The kangaroos were annoyed by humans being so close and in a cage maybe 20x30ft.

There was a bat being blasted with LED lights. Not as bad as having a tiny enclosure but I mean come on they live in dark areas.

There was a touch tank for a sting ray and shark but they didn’t have an area to wash your hands before and after. No regard for sanitation.

We fed the lemurs which was actually fun but admittedly kind of felt like a circus attraction; it’s also the only area of the building that they upkept at all, probably because it brings them a lot of revenue.

One thing I noticed was that none of the tanks, cases, or enclosures had any information about the animals. Not their region, description, or anything— just the name of the animal. It seemed like this place wasn’t concerned with conservation or education as much as making money.

There was one employee who let us touch a snake and he seemed to actually really care about animals. I definitely think this place’s owner is to blame, not the employees, which is sad.

Ultimately, almost none of the animals seemed happy, most seemed stressed, and some seemed sickly.

In a perfect world this place would be shut down and the animals would be moved to...

Not a bad little place! If you want to see the animals and are willing to pay the entry fee, go for it. My review is more just informational.

Don't bother buying tickets in advance, you'll have to wait in the same line as everyone else to get in and it's not a long process. The path through the exhibits can be a bit confusing but they do their best. One thing I was not expecting was a lot of steep stairs to be able to go down and see several of the outdoor animals. That was tricky for us with a stroller. Thankfully our stroller can fold small and is lightweight and has a carrying strap, so that's what we did. But phew - that was our workout for the day.

I was also sad to find out that the otters probably weren't going to be viewable that day. It wouldn't have kept us from visiting, but a sign on their exhibit or something would have been nice. We walked through multiple times and I finally asked someone and they told me the otters hadn't been out much lately because they'd just had babies a few weeks prior. I'd been hoping to feed or at least see the otters, because they're my favorite animal. I never did get to see them, so that was disappointing, but not this place's fault whatsoever!

Fair warning - some of the hallways where there are tanks with snakes or even large spiders are a bit claustrophobic. I honestly might have had a panic attack if it had been too busy for me to just walk right past and get to a more open area away from those tanks. Thankfully it was not terribly busy since it was a Monday so I was fine.

Overall I felt like we'd paid a lot of money and not really seen a whole lot other than snakes and fish and some other animals, but I am also spoiled by the STL Zoo and the fact that I can see bunnies just by visiting Rural King. If you love animals or want to pay the extra $ to hang out with the lemurs or dingoes, it's...

Branson's Wild World is worth a visit if in the Branson area. There are both good and bad things about this place.

The good... Plenty of parking, not crowded if you go on a weekday, it follows a specific path so your not walking over people, most animals are easily visible and closer than you would see at a regular zoo, good animal interactions although all are at an additional cost of $5-$15 require a signed waiver and have age restrictions, 9 hole blacklight mini golf was fun and also has fishtanks throughout course with animals not seen in main part, nice size gift shop, all staff we ran into were very friendly.

The Bad... There is a distinct smell to the place which makes sense since it's animals inside an enclosed building, the outdoor exhibit requires walking door a lot of steps and I mean a lot just to see 4 animals, personally I'd say skip that part it's just a hyena and a few small cat family animals, there are only one set of restrooms in the entire place about half way through the exhibit, if you need to go you have to navigate through to them or backtrack, one somewhere by the entrance would be a plus and most places have a restroom by the entrance, the location as a whole fits a lot into a small space but it will only take you about an hour to an hour and a half to get through so way that info against the cost to see if it's worth it for you.

Overall, we are glad we stopped by. It's one of those attractions that I feel you should do at least once during a visit to Branson, especially if you have kids. The lemurs, sharks, sea turtle, otters, and lion/tiger exhibits were...