Garlyn Zoo Wildlife Park — Attraction in Hudson Township

I uploaded this review a few days ago but it seems to have disappeared, so this either got taken down or I just had bad connection. But I digress. Entry for one adult is $17, which is already a bit crazy. But other than that, these animals are being mistreated and abused. The cages they are kept in(yes I said cages, there is no known universe where these could humanly be called “enclosures”) are downright microscopic. Additionally, the deer “enclosure” was just cleared out forest with dead trees everywhere. It looked like when you see those forest fire fundraiser ads and it’s a deer standing in the middle of the charred forest. Not a single living tree in there. The “enclosures” that had pools of water in them were disgraceful. The pools were way too shallow and stagnant. Many animals that have running water in their natural habitats in the wild didn’t even have pools in their “enclosures”. The animals are either underweight or obese, no in-between. We watched them feed the carnivores(lions, tigers, bears, wolves, etc…) and they feed each enclosure the same portions of food no matter how many animals were in there or how big the animals were. And lastly, they had a brown bear in an “enclosure” with two black bears that were less than half the size of the brown bear. We witnessed the brown bear try to swing at and harm the black bears and you could tell that this was not the first time. The black bears were downright terrified of the brown bear and either kept their distance or ran off when it got to close to them. I’m no zoologist but by doing a quick search, Google will tell you that black bears and brown bears should not be kept together. They are two different species. Not only that but they are natural competitors and predators of one another. Brown bears may even view black bears as a food source in the right circumstances. I hope something gets done about the treatment of these innocent animals. As we were leaving we watched one of the higher up workers park their brand new, sparkling clean, Grand Wagoneer next to the bathrooms. Clearly they have other priorities besides the care of these...

I’m a disabled military veteran and have a necessary service dog that is federally registered. Garlyn Zoo refused to allow my service dog and I entry (on Labor Day) which, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act, we cannot be refused entry to a public location because it qualifies as discrimination as defined in this law MCL - Section 750.502c

10. A public accommodation shall permit a person with a disability to be accompanied by his or her service animal and shall permit an animal raiser or trainer to be accompanied by his or her service animal in training in all areas of a place of public accommodation where members of the public, program participants, clients, customers, patrons, or invitees are permitted to go, including public areas of establishments that sell or prepare food, even if state or local health codes prohibit animals on the premises. A public accommodation may exclude a service animal or a service animal in training from a facility if the animal's presence interferes with legitimate safety requirements of the facility such as a surgery or burn unit in a hospital in which a sterile field is required. (11) A public accommodation shall not do any of the following: (a) Isolate a person with a disability accompanied by his or her service animal. (b) Isolate an animal raiser or trainer accompanied by his or her service animal in training. (c) Treat a person with a disability accompanied by his or her service animal less favorably than other patrons. (d) Treat an animal raiser or trainer accompanied by his or her service animal in training less favorably than other patrons.

It’s hard to believe there is still such open and blatant disregard for a...

My family and I were really excited to visit this zoo. We were happy at first to support a family business, but we quickly became disappointed and sad in the appearance of most of the enclosures. I am by no means an animal expert, but I was extremely concerned after seeing the small size, and stressed behavior of the animals. Many of the aquatic species (otters) had very shallow pools of water, and larger animals (lions, tigers, servals) appeared to have TINY enclosures. Many were pacing around, and some were just lethargic. Some enclosures appeared to have too many animals for the space (goats), and other animals that should be housed in groups appeared alone and in small cages (birds, otters). I tried to give the benefit of the doubt, so I asked the workers at the front desk about whether these animals may have been rescues, or if the animals possibly have access to a larger area after zoo hours, and the workers were rude, defensive, and condescending. They were also fairly uninformed, and didn't point me in the direction of someone who could answer the questions better. You would think that after several negative reviews have been made about the conditions of the animals, they would make more of an effort to inform concerned guests. I didn't even make it out of the parking lot...