Natural Bridge Zoo — Attraction in Lexington

We had a good time here even though it was small. We enjoy all the zoos, aquariums, and animal parks that we have visited.

They offer elephant rides for $10 bucks. It is written on the chalkboard in the gift shop in the admission area about the elephant rides, that they don’t take credit cards at the elephant stand, times the rides are available (12pm – 3pm when we visited), etc. All the info you should want about the park on times and prices should be available at the admission desk and around it. Just ask if you have any questions. She was helpful and friendly to us.

We got to do some interactions with the animals. We don’t get to do as many interactions in the big cities with animals at zoos, etc. The little baby pygmy goats are the cutest but I loved feeding all the goats that came to the fence. We fed some of the deer. The budgies were not interested in our food. It is a small aviary and they must have been already full since it was about 12pm and there just wasn’t that many of them. They would look at you from afar. A few people got them to eat but majority did not get any takers. We left our sticks in the bag near the ones where you pay so someone could have them for free. We got to see several of the animals at the zoo eat like the chickens, lemurs, turtles, monkeys, camels, etc. The zoo had food laying out for all of these animals. Some of the food did not look fresh as it already had ants on it but I am not sure the animals really cared. We did not see shading for all of the animals but I am not sure they needed it. We got some videos of half of the animals moving around, and jumping from branches, etc. Some of the animals were just sleeping like the bears or hiding like half of the lemurs, baboon, etc. It was a hot day so I can’t blame them!

The admission line was really slow and gets backed up. There was only one person working on a busy holiday weekend. The admission/ticket desk is right in the gift shop and that is where you enter the zoo as well. Our hand got stamped so we could leave and reenter the park which was great because we forgot some things. The entrance is right next to the admission desk. The prices for adults, children, etc. is right above the desk so you can see how much it is to get in. Very easy to see. Also, when you get up to the desk there is a sheet of the prices of the multi-pass/combo ticket so you can buy to save some money for the zoo + caverns + dinosaur kingdom (right across the street). The prices for the feed and budgie sticks are up there too. We bought some feed (a large bag) and the budgie sticks we got like 6 of them. We did not see an advertisement on where to get the carrots to feed the giraffes but make sure you get them at the front desk when you buy tickets because apparently that is where people got them when we saw people walking around the park with them. Don’t forget if you want to do that!

There are restrooms but they are only inside the park. One set of restrooms is right near the gift shop and the other is near the reptiles but you will see it on your map inside the middle of the animals (no air conditioning in this bathroom). However, the map does not have all of the animals that are at the zoo. You really need to walk around the zoo, go down all the paths, and the unpaved paths because we did our own thing before we even looked at the map and got to see several more animals than was mentioned on the map.

The gift shop is two rooms and there are several things to buy just like any animal gift shop which includes cups, mugs, shirts, sweatshirts, umbrellas, stuffed animals, rocks, pencils, etc. Also, there is an aquarium in there and you can see the lemurs because they have a big glass window right there in the gift shop and they have food outside of that window so the lemurs will likely come up and eat the food and you can see them up...

DO NOT VISIT!! NO REFUND FOR TERRIBLE AND DISHONEST EXPERIENCE.

My family drove 2 and a half hours to this “zoo” because I visited it about five years ago and had a good experience. It had a lot of animals and feeding-the-animal activities when I visited in 2019. When we arrived, the cashier/check in lady told us they had “reduced the number of animals” being shown due to “new management” so the price was reduced from $20 to $14. We went ahead and purchased tickets because she said there were still many exotic animals to look at and it would take 30 minutes or longer to go through. We walked in and immediately could see there was a large fence covered in tarp blocking off the back 80% of the zoo (which I know because I have been there before). We counted one porcupine, one tiger, one bobcat, one serval, two types of birds, two lemurs, regular ducks, some goats, and a small cow. It took us approximately 8 minutes to walk and look at every cage (some with no animals inside), covering less than one acre of land. We walked inside and attempted to ask the cashier why she did not let us know the animals in the “zoo” were not simply reduced, but SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED and only at a 25% discount. The cashier pointed to a small sticky note above the cashiers head, about 2 feet above eye-level stating “no refunds” in highlighter marker.

The animals in the “zoo” all appeared to be alive and fine, but none of them moved or did anything besides the ducks and goats.

We then went across the street to the Dinosaur Exhibit (an unrelated business not affiliated with the zoo). That was a FAR better experience and lasted us an entire hour. We spoke to the owners and management of the dinosaur exhibit about the Natural Bridge Zoo and they told us the state seized most of the animals for animal cruelty and unsafe conditions. They told us somehow the owner has made a “new management” so they are being allowed to stay open with some animals… how I do not know…

Upon further research, we confirmed the state did shut down the Natural Bridge Zoo and seize most of their animals because of animal cruelty. However, they have somehow made it so they can “change management” and are still operating as the same zoo with all the animals it once had. In addition, the website has not been changed to reflect the lack of animals. A fact the cashier knew and did not care/did not provide any resolution because of the sticky note two feet above her head stating “no refund.”

Needless to say, we do NOT advise giving this business any money whatsoever and it would be much better for your time (and the animals) to just go to the zoo or other animal exhibit that has never been CRIMINALLY charged with ANIMAL CRUELTY and only cares about taking your money...

I can't believe all of the negative comments. I got to the zoo around 9:30 and stayed until 3. There are plenty of animals to see. You can get very close to the cages and pet many of the animals. Animal feed can be purchased for $1-$5. You can feed the goats, a cow, camels, giraffes, deer, lamas, and donkeys. I really enjoyed feeding the giraffes because they were so neat, and the camels because they didn't turn down any food.

There were a lot of chickens running around the zoo. It was really neat. I was told the zoo donates the chickens to 4H

All of the animals were very friendly. For $5 a person you could go for an elephant ride. The staff were so knowledgeable. I was told every night the elephant goes across the street to sleep/play in the zoo's 150K acres of forest. The elephants also spends time with the employees dogs during the day.

I spent $45 for a photo holding a tiger. I fed the tigers a bottle during the photo and pet them. The staff said it was like working with a small child so the photo session went quickly. It was worth it.

I would recommend going early in the morning because all of the animals are active and hungry. In the afternoon it was hot and they all seemed to rest in the shade. All animals had shade, food and water. I saw at least 6 staff members at the park tending to the animals.

There was a staff member who spent a lot of time with one of the cougars. She explained how she had a good bond with the cat and she shared her lunch with it (chicken & rice). She said she spent hundreds of dollars on toys for the cats but they all seemed to prefer trash like water bottles or laundry detergent containers. The zoo does a lot of breeding but the one small tiger cat had been neutered and will live with its mother when it gets older. The staff member explained how the tigers have a social hierarchy, their eating habits, their behaviors and much more. She was so knowledgeable and friendly. She said the tigers have a large house they can go in for protection or relaxation. They have their own washer dryer, radiant floor eating, and bamboo painted walls. She also said sometimes hunters bring in meat for the big cats too.

The zoo may look old but they seem to invest in the important stuff.

There were a lot of picnic shelters and tables. This would be a great place to pack a cooler and have your lunch. You can also leave the park for lunch and return...