Lupa Zoo — Attraction in Ludlow

Before reading this review, please understand that this is a privately owned and operated zoo, so you shouldn't expect there to be a lot of things normally seen at other zoos!

Having said that, this is a great zoo for your admission price. For a $15 adult ticket, the zoo is MUCH larger than it initially seems from the outside, and they have a really wide selection of animals there. Many different species of exotic bird, monkeys, and cattle, to name a few. As others have stated, one of the main drawbacks is a lack of restaurant or eating area (the one food stand was closed when I went yesterday) but the gift shop has great prices. There are a few playgrounds on the premises that are geared for younger children, but I still found it fun, since there is an electronic pingpong game, and a few different instruments to play. The bags of feed are a nice touch, since you can get an up-close and personal look at most of the animals. The exhibits themselves, for the most part, are a bit lacking; however, keep in mind this isn't a public-funded zoo, so you can't expect a massive separate biome for each individual animal.

Animal welfare was a tinge of a concern for me during my visit, but there seemed to be a large staff that was dedicated to the well-being of the animals, so that quickly got washed away. Overall, it's a nice zoo to take your kids to, or as a date location with a loved one. Don't expect a massive experience like Animal Kingdom, and you won't be disappointed. The staff are friendly (shoutouts to Maureen at the admissions booth!) and the place is really nicely set up to avoid confusion. Bathrooms are clean and stocked, which I find is uncommon for zoos. I recommend this place if you're in Hampden County and need something fun to do for...

Came to Boston from Syracuse, NY today. Researched a bit ahead of time as I was traveling with my 2 year old son who LOVES animals. Came across the Lupa Zoo in searching, and said WOW, this is the perfect place to let him run around for an hour on our trip. Anyways, arrived on 4/30 just before 4pm to bop around for an hour as the advertised hours were until 5pm. We drive in, park and make our way to the entry. Another gentleman states he is looking for anyone who works there as he was there to pick up his season pass, however no one is to be found. We walk up to the entry where there is no real closed sign, yet no real sign of life. Then a gentleman with his young children come walking out with a stroller. We ask if the place is open, he says yea til 5pm, but was not sure where the staff was. We walk into trying to find any sort of help. We come up to a monkey exhibit where my kid is immediately tuned in to, full of smiles. Within seconds, here comes a Chevy S10 pickup coming into through a semi open gate, actually striking the fence scratching the truck. I walk over to actually help the guy, open the fence and help him back out. No thanks, instead he gets out saying "I came to actually tell you we are closed".... ok.... so I tell him we just drove 4 hours and were hoping to see the animals for a few. "Sorry, no, the weather sucked today so we closed early".... nothing more.. thanks... my kid is crying screaming "more monkeys".... Would've gladly paid to 40 bucks for the 2 adults and 2 year old to walk around for a half hour, but was not even an option. Thanks for a horrid experience, and basically stalking us in your pickup until we pulled out....

I came to this zoo about 2 years ago and got on here rating it one star. The smell of urine and feces was overwhelming as you walked into the zoo. Most of the animal spaces were either empty or really dirty. There was no staff to watch some of the visitors who were throwing food at the animals. There was one animal pacing and slamming itself into the gate. There was only one lone zebra amongst many other single animals. And the area for food was closed.

Today was my first time going since then and what a difference. There was a ton of animals. Their areas were clean, the animals were clean, they all had visible food and water. There was staff in different areas of the zoo. None of the animals were slamming into things or pacing. The animals were actually even interactive with us or active in general. The food place was open but we had snacks/lunchboxes in the car so we skipped it. We skipped the gift shop (our kids have one to many stuffed animals as it is! But had some in the car from home to ease the tantrum). We skipped the splash pad. But we did stop and let the kids play in the play areas and sat in a quiet space for a bit. From start to finish we stayed for about 2 hours. Paid about $50 for 2 adults and 2 kids. Waited no more than 5 minutes in line to go in (we didn’t purchase tickets in advance). There were a lot of visitors today and for a small space we still had more than enough space to see the animals/walk around at...