The Exotic Resort Zoo — Attraction in Johnson City

The two young blond ladies -- one at the front desk, and one driving the tractor trailer -- where polite and friendly. My wife, our 2 yo toddler, and I had a great time on the ride, feeding the animals, etc. When we got back to the gift shop, we wanted to do the Giraffe Experience. This is where it went downhill. A diversity hire employee condescendingly explained to us that they were out of lettuce to feed the giraffe, so we couldn't do it. I asked, "Well, can we at least go up on the platform to see the giraffe from up there?" She rudely replied "You can, but you'd still have to pay the full price of $5/person." I started to say something, but she rudely said "Think about it and let me know", turned her back to me, and walked away. How rude! I walked over to her at the front desk and asked "Well, since y'all ran out of the food, and we'd just go up to the platform to see the giraffe, could we at least get a discount?"

The point wasn't the money, it's the principle... despite them screwing up by not having lettuce, this employee, instead of being apologetic and trying to make it up to us somehow, was rude and dismissive.

I then asked to speak to the Manager. As is unfortunately often the case, rather than let me speak to him, she went into his office (which was right there, adjacent to the front desk), and biased him to her version. The Manager -- a middle-aged, overweight, balding guy -- told her no, and she came and glumly told me the same thing. I was of course right in the doorway, the Manager could've easily talked to me directly, but he did not. So I asked him directly this time "I understand y'all ran out of the lettuce, and that's ok, but if we only go up to the platform to see the giraffe, sans lettuce, shouldn't there be a discount on the fee?" He started giving me the standard bureaucrat-flexing-his-muscles excuses of why they couldn't do that. Again, condescending and dismissive. I told him "Ok, this is unfortunate bc until now we've had a good experience here. But now I'll have to leave a negative review." He said he was fine with that. I asked him for his name. He refused to give it to me, instead stating "You can look it up on our website." And this from a "Manager" who is in the customer service business, unbelievable.

If I were the owner of this place, I would not hire people like this Manager and this diversity hire... they taint an otherwise pleasant and positive experience for...

If I could give it less, I would. All I can say is, wow. If you love animals, DO NOT COME TO THIS FACILITY.

First off, I'm not sure if the animals have supplemental feed, but holy, they have NO grass, and the majority of the animals are GRAZERS! Probably due to over grazing as they have what I was told, 800 Animals on around 150 acres.

The animals are AGGRESSIVE with each other, and I can only assume that it is from the lack of space and what I believe to be how they are being fed. (These animals are chunky and have to eat more to be satisfied, causing the aggression) The animals are chunky from the amount of food they give out, Guests are able to purchase 8 QUART buckets of food, which I was told often doesn't last even halfway through this one-hour tour

Okay, enough about improper diets, Let's talk about the conditions of these animals. (I will attach photos)

There are MANY animals that look like they have mange. Flaky, red bald spots... The petting zoo animals look pitiful, and they are not being watched. I had to get onto people who were totally mishandling the animals in there.

Oh, can we talk about how we were ENCOURAGED to touch and grab the antlers on the deer inside the park. Grabbing antlers can lead to the growth plate moving and could cause issues with the growth of the antler and had they grabbed one of the axis who were in velvet and caused velvet damage they could have caused growth issues. Velvet is what allows for the antler to properly grow, and when it's no longer intact, the antler is not living and is not able to keep growing.

There is much more I could say, but overall, this place is not being run properly and safely.

I urge people to actually look into these roadside zoos and read about their goals as a zoological facility. It's important to support conservation work, but unfortunately, this is not the place to support it.

ERZ, please, I urge you to go back to the basics. Spend money, making sure your animals are properly taken care of. Read into AZA requirements and try to obtain them. I will always support a facility that is working to help animals, and I'd gladly support this place if they fixed the issues at hand but unfortunately with how this place is as of right now, I cannot stand behind yalls practices.

There are people who will gladly help you guys if you were to reach out. We want to see zoological facilities flourish.. but...

UPDATE: YES! Its still 100% a phenomenal place! We stayed 2 nights in their "bears den" cabin for my daughters 9th and 11th birthday, and it was the best experience ever!! Their cleaning staff, BRANDY, truly touched my soul.And BECCA rocked our socks. They were prompt, warm, kind, and extremely endeering.what a special place to harness moments of just positivity and genuine connection. And after the awesome people, definitely come the super cool animals. And it was baby season ! My heart was so full of joy the whole time. Seriously what a special place! I know my girls and I will never forget how incredibly unique it was to stay there and we hope to make it a tradition. I would say, if you are going to get a cabin, I would try and plan your private tour that you get with them as soon as you check in. We definitely had a blast and did a tour but unfortunately missed out on our private one because we waited until the last day and they weren't doing anymore. But if that's the biggest complaint, which was an error on my part for not communicating initially , then I feel like this is a solid win! I wish everyone would take a few moments to show up here and just reconnect with nature a bit. Plus, how cool are goat and deer petting pens! To feel like some sort of Disney princess and hand feed animals makes my soul happy lol. So please come out and support this incredibly deserving, local place that takes time to teach you about animals you may have never gotten to know any other way!

Absolutely the best thing you could do with your time and money! Not only do they totally rock as people, but they have an amazing number of animals (750!) And a ridiculous amount of species. We did a guided tour and what am awesome experience!!! I will absolutely be back and am bringing everyone I know ! Olivia and what I believe to be her sister were the ones who helped us and they were so incredibly kind, patient, and warm hearted you just couldn't help but want to support them and their cause. I highly recommend this place and hope you help support their family business that's making such a fantastic impact...