Utica Zoo — Attraction in City of Utica

My rating is more 4.5 out of 5 google stars.

We did the red panda experience and it was worth the cost for 4 people. The keeper we interacted with was informative and friendly while also being very mindful of the safety and comfort of the red pandas. We were given lots of information about this species and plenty of time to ask questions. Our session consisted of being led to the side of the enclosure so that we could feed Mei Lin and Khairo leaf eater biscuits through the mesh fence. We were asked to wear gloves and masks for the safety of the animals, which I appreciated. Red pandas can get many of the same illnesses that humans can and I'd hate to have passed on something unwittingly.

I would rate this experience a 8/10 and only because we weren't allowed to take photos while feeding the red pandas. (You're only allowed to take photos from behind the glass on the outside of the enclosure where the public is allowed to be). I would have liked to take a "selfie" with Mei Lin and Khairo but I understand that these mostly solitary animals don't necessarily want that kind of interaction with humans and it's better to respect an animal's needs that a human's wants.

Mei Lin and Khairo are adorable and had their own personalities. Mei Lin was very interested in our biscuits and ate them very daintily. Khairo was much less food motivated and only ate a few biscuits. He was more interested in grooming Mei Lin's body while she ignored him to eat as many biscuits as possible. You can tell them apart because Khairo has the "angry eyebrows" that some red pandas have and even though we knew he wasn't actually angry, it was charming to see his grumpy face. It offsets the adorableness and makes them even more charming.

As for the Utica zoo, I believe going closer to summer is more ideal since you have a better view of all the animals (some were off display for winter) but we still got to hear gibbons "sing" and swing around their enclosure. The lions were out and one male lion stood on a rock and roared as if to make announcements to the zoo. The otters were active and liked to stand up and show off their bellies. The farm animals were really cute and great for kids. I saw a few animals I had never seen before, like the Patagonian cavy (think a cross between a rabbit and a capybara), which is impressive because I have a membership to the Bronx Zoo.

For a small regional zoo I think they offer a decent experience for families and animal lovers. I also like that they are accredited by the association of zoos and aquariums. This means they have high standards of care, participate in the red panda species survival plan and in general work with other zoos and organizations working toward animal and habitat conservation. Unlike for profit animal exhibits, you can feel good about supporting an organization that cares about the welfare of animals and their natural habitats. Animals all seemed calm, anxiety free, and well cared for while still maintaining their own unique traits. No one is making them do tricks for human entertainment. They get to be lions, red pandas, etc.

If you're in the area definitely go. If you find yourself in Utica for another purpose,...

The zoo has made a lot of wonderful changes since I was a child. My family now has a zoo membership. We bought the Extended Family pass so that I can bring along my niece and nephew and my sister and her husband are able to take my children. We bring my mom with us and she is able to be on our membership too and take the grandkids...all under the same membership. It is a great option!

The new primate exhibit is beautiful and really has expanded their habitat to triple the former size. My children love the obstacles along the nature path and wish there were more rocks with tracks to guess along the way. They really like to see the camels now that they moved to a spot easier for children to observe them. Their new home is open and makes for a lot of fun to watch them.

We really appreciate the zoo talks with the animals and the opportunity to ask questions and learn about the different animals while visiting. We hope to see more of these "feeding" times offered in the future for other animals--serval, porcupine, owls, fox, lamas, goats, tortoise, etc. My kids just love to hear about the animals and see the feeding times. It adds something fun to do rather than just walk around the grounds.

The garden beds look really nice! Hopefully plants can grow this year with the new fence around it.

This was also my first year to attend the Wine in the Wilderness. The music was great and the opportunity to sample a variety of wines from local vineyards was wonderful. There were certainly some wines I was glad to sample before I purchased because I would have wasted money on a bottle of something I didn't like. At the same time, the featured wine was AMAZING! The light snacks offered was wonderful and I really look forward to attending next year. It was neat to see the animals after hours. I have only been to the zoo during the day, so the night time provided a different view of the animals. Many were more active than I had expected.

What else can I say? I think that the zoo would attract more visitors if they had baby animals. Kids like that kind of stuff a lot. Also, the building with the new viewing windows is a wonderful idea but I had to pick up all my kids to see in the windows and that gets to be heavy. If the windows were lower, more kids would be able to see inside! Not all adults going to the zoo can pick up kids to see inside.

We REALLY LOVE the new camera inside the Tamarin/Iguana exhibit! What a great idea. They are really fun to watch.

The gift shop offers something for everyone and every budget to take home a special memorabilia from their trip to the zoo. We are excited to...

This Zoo was incredible. As a Member of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, I found this Zoo to be far more appealing. The playground and bounce area are such an awesome addition to help kids get out energy and explore something aside from the animals. When comparing our Zoo to Utica, I found Utica to have significantly better prices, and far better quality food. They also had a much better menu to choose from. Service was extremely fast as well. I loved how many animals Utica Zoo had that we don't: Alligators, Emu's, Ostriches, Zebra's, and the beautiful African Painted Dogs. It was so nice to witness animals in person we never have before. The addition of the dinosaurs this summer was amazing, my son's got a real kick out of the spitting one. In fact, it doubled as a sprinkler to cool them down! The Hiking trail was a brilliant addition, however I did find it quite steep, making it significantly harder to push the stroller wagon in some areas, there are caution signs about this so proceed as you are ohaysically able. However, once at the top that view was breathtaking. The employees were incredibly interactive, patient, and kind. I have a son who had endless questions about the Ostriches & Zebras, and the young woman employee had no trouble at all entertaining him in conversation by answering EVERY. SINGLE. QUESTION, he had. That was amazing to witness. The gift shop had an adorable array of souvenirs, and the animal ride ones were such a neat touch. Price comparison to other zoo's was about the same. What really made the trip nice was that adjacent to the Zoo was the NY Power Authority - Energy Zone. That place was INCREDIBLE, and FREE! Combined activities boasted a FULL 5 hours of activities for our family, and we truly had a wonderful time. The only thing I think would have made this Zoo better would have been an area with Aquaric animals like fish or corals. They did however had a SMALL indoor area called "Scales & Tales" which housed lizards, Iguanas, Snakes, and other amphibian and related reptiles. We definitely have plans to return before the winter season, and we plan to visit the new Kids Museum right down the road. I Highly recommend this Zoo & Energy Zone definitely 10/10...