Rolling Hills Zoo — Attraction in Kansas

My wife and I love to Zoo hop. We've been to the Topeka Zoo, Kansas City Zoo, Sunset Zoo, Omaha Zoo and now here. I have to say this is probably one of the best zoos for the state of Kansas (KC Zoo is in Missouri so I'm excluding it lol). But for a smaller to medium sized zoo, this one was really great, partly because the animal museum is a great bonus that is part of your admissions price.

The zoo part was really well laid out. It is spacious but not to hard to walk, it isn't that big but big enough to have a fair amount of animals. The animals are in nice enclosures and some have a good amount of space to live in. Usually smaller zoos have animals in small spaces, but this zoo has pretty large enclosures for their animals. To me the other plus is they don't have a lot of the same species in one exhibit. Some zoos will have one too many of a certain animal that should really accommodate one or maybe two of that said animal. Here there is one to three in a larger enclosure, the exception is the chimps, but I felt between the outdoor and indoor living spaces they had were a good size for this size of zoo. To me the biggest attractions that were really worth it was the rhinoceros and the chimpanzees. The rhinos were walking around and seemed pretty happy. The chimpanzees were awesome and were running around, playing, eating and seemed to enjoyed where they were at. Overall the animals looked really well taken care of, again, especially for a smaller zoo.

Now, to be honest, at first I didn't think the museum was going to be that great. I thought yeah we will go through it but It wasn't a priority for me. But boy was I wrong. Honestly, the museum I think is a great gem this zoo has. Don't get me wrong, the animals were great, but the museum was really awesome, the dioramas were awesome and the animals seemed to be life sized and not miniatures or scaled down. I have to say, the zoo is about 2 hours and the museum is about one hour. So 3 hours of time is well worth it. I think if you slowed down and ate and really animal watched and take it all in you could make this a 4 hour trip. We ate before we came and my daughter is 3 and wanted to keep looking at the next animal because she loved it. But I think you could get 4 hours between the two if you really took the time.

Overall, a really great zoo. It ended up being better than I expected, especially the museum. Trust me, the museum is...

I had good first impressions about this place because a friend of mine said that this zoo allows people to pet the animals and even the billboard signs say "close encounters" . . . yet when we got there the girl in the gift store told us it was only the kids zone where they have sheep and cows that allows guests to actually touch the animals. Let me tell you calling that area a "petting zoo" is being extremely generous. That was no petting zoo I've ever been to - you can't even get near the animals even though they pose no danger to people. I was just very displeased and disgusted by the extent of false advertisement of this place considering we only tried this place out to pet some animals!! The only animal we were able to pet was a cow!! I think that's absolute bogus. Not only that but I was also very dissatisfied with the fact that you really can't get very up close and personal with the animals like most normal zoos and what I mean by that is you can't step up to the cages or the glass containments - you're standing a good distance away from all the animals and that doesn't offer a very satisfying experience. :/. I was also unhappy that it seemed that there were a few miserable animals lingering around - especially the "vanishing animals" which were alone in their cages and were not placed in there with another of their kind. Nobody wants to go to the zoo to feel sorry for the animals :( and no animal should have to be lonely and it's my opinion that if they're going to be in their environment they shouldn't be placed in it at all. Another thing I did notice and didn't make my trip here much better was the fact that so many of the animals were just gone - nowhere to be seen. A lot of the areas had signs reading they were moved for the winter but I've been to plenty of zoos in the area and never have I heard of this not to mention it's not even winter anymore :/. Some of the positive things I liked about this place was the nice outdoor environment like the lakes and fountains that were very pleasing to the eye and it was nice having affordable food at the restaurant there for lunch. :) I've just personally been to better places and wouldn't recommend this zoo to anyone, but we did have...

World Oceans Day has recently come upon us, so I think it's appropriate to call attention to our institutions dedicated to animal ambassadorship, and that means Rolling Hills. I have been visiting this place since I was a kid, so it's a cool memory to have: In the middle of rural Central Kansas, there is this zoo which has always had its history as a wildlife refuge for critically endangered species. That's very unique and it's not all over the place. Fair warning as with any zoo, quite a few of these animals will not be all that active, and therefore possibly not even visible; the golden takin and the maned wolf are shy animals which retire from view the majority of the time. But this zoo is known for its Indian rhinoceros, its scimitar horned oryxes and its capybaras. Lastly, there is a very impressive museum at the end. It's mainly taxidermied animals and that might be problematic for some visitors, but going through the museum is optional and the specimens in the dioramas are there to make a point about wildlife conservation and ambassadorship by reminding everyone of what a healthy Balance of Nature looks like. It's a beautiful thing for those who will give it a chance.

Addendum: Dear friends, I am not sure, but I am given to understand Rolling Hills once purchased at least one specimen of tiger from Joe Exotic. If this is actually the case and offensive to you, I feel obligated to point it out. I might be wrong, and the institution seems to prove conscious about maintaining reputable integrity for the sake of its ambassadors. I think they would have purchased this tiger back before everyone knew what Joe Exotic was, and at any rate, they would never condone such things in this season of their mission. I would hope that this would not drive you to write them off. Thank you for your patience and...