Zoo New York — Attraction in City of Watertown

Updating previous post from 5 years ago:

Friendly staff and we were here when they were feeding the animals. The staff told us stories about the animals and where they came from. After hearing the bear story, I would consider them rescued and living their best lives here at the zoo. They get a ton of attention and interaction with the staff. They will run up and down the fence when the staff run back and forth. So did the wolves, which we've never seen active before. It was a really good visit with the staff out and about sharing stories, and active animals.

Boy, has this place changed since I was here as a kid 1980-1984....

Where is Tim the Lion? Yes, at one time, they did, in fact, have a full grown LION in a little bitty cage... he was cool, his accommodations, not so much. But all that is gone now... like, all of it. It's unrecognizable from the old days, actually. There are much nicer habitats for the animals.

This is a small zoo that is located in a historical park which sits high above the city.

If you are in town, this is a place you should come check out. Make a day of it. Visit the zoo, and when you are done, enjoy the surrounding park and its history. Stop by each of the several overlooks they have. Enjoy a picnic in the designated areas available. Fly a kite on the big grassy hill. Let the kids play at the splash park or down a bit on the massive playscape.

Back to the zoo. It is nice. The only thing I recognize is the old historical buildings that are on the site (beautifully maintained) and some of the old concrete animal sculptures we used to play on back in the day (they are still here).

See the bears, wolves, mountain lions, wolverine, snow owl, bobcat, lynx, elk, etc....

There is a fee to enter. But compared to the Detroit zoo, Toledo zoo, Jacksonville zoo, it's much more affordable. I looked at it as if I was making a donation to support a community zoo in hopes of keeping it around for the next generation.

Enjoy your visit. You can find my YouTube channel by searching "Gebo's...

Alright so I love zoos but this one was really disappointing.

1. They don’t post the time for the elk feeding and then when I got there at 11:50 and asked to purchase 2 tickets to feed the elk and then I was informed that they stopped selling tickets for that for the day (their hours are 10-5, so I was surprised they stop so early in the day), they said they only sell tickets for it from 10:45 to 11:46 and then the feeding is at 12. Which whatever I missed it, but then at 12:20 the one zookeeper had at least 10 cups of carrots that he was just chucking over the side of the fence to the elk, that was already prepared for visitors.

2. Then we went into the reptile house and out of the 6 enclosures inside 2 of them were empty and closed for renovation.

3. We went to the butterfly house at like 12 when we first arrived and it was locked, and I was told the zookeeper was probably on lunch and then I tried again an hour and a half later after I was told they’d be back between 12:30 and 1 and it was still locked. So we ended up leaving without getting to see the butterflies.

4. The petting zoo/farm animal area was also locked and not open for visitors just like the butterfly house, so we left without seeing them too.

5. They also had the wolverine and owl, and otter inclosure empty

6)They also said there was a pressed penny machine online and there was none.

There was quite a bit of play ground area and stuff for small kids to play around. Not bad for little kids but overall not a good zoo. I honestly wouldn’t advertise it as a zoo it’s more of a public park with the animals kinda like a second thought. Definitely not worth the $12 a person. Considered asking for my money back because of how disappointing it was but I didn’t...

honestly it was a disgrace i could smell dead animals somewhere the bears water was filthy'actually almost every cage and pin was terrible i felt sorry for all the animals the bear he or she is not a healthy.the grounds are not well kept i put my name and address in your suggestion box i feel for any animal that is put into your Zoo 'ive traveled all over the world seen big zoo's and small zoo's Example Hawaii has a medium size zoo kept spotless animals healthy and not depressed your poor encaged creatures were very depressed hiding for the most part did not engage with visitors, that was last year i certainly hope youve replaced whoever had control or was considered the KEEPER OF THE ZOO " whoever it was should be placed in one of those unkept cages and be treated the same way , i doubt youll allow this to print ,is you do it will show your making some progress and really listening to what the people have to say i was with others who all agreed that the Zoo was a tragic project that wasnt operated in the best it could be to and thought and saw the animals were under fed and mistreated living in unsanitary conditions.you have no idea how i have thought of these animals in the past year my grand daughter told me they added some more animals to the Zoo not to long ago this i feel had to written to protect animals there and new comers ..Judith Fero P.S this Zoo does not...