Eureka Springs Safari Park — Attraction in Missouri

First, I’d like to say we did enjoy the drive through safari part. The “office” animals and petting zoo animals were a different story. I’ve NEVER wrote a review, but something needs to be said. We were blasted in the face with the terrible smell as soon as we opened the door to go pay. I figured out why when we went to look at the inside animals. The guinea pigs had no water and no feed, the shavings were disgusting and it was extremely packed. The poor bearded dragon looked so poor. It’s basking light was a red heat lamp, he wasn’t even using his basking area on a cool day. His bowl was full of fruit covered in flies. No UVB, which they require. If he doesn’t already have MBD, he’s going to. The lemur, fox and sloth cages were also extremely dirty. The hissing roaches had several dead ones in the tank. All of the bird cages were gross and overcrowded. The goats had bucks in with does, so I’m sure they are continuing to breed over and over, small breeds come into heat almost monthly so I’m sure everyone of the does in there are bred…including the babies and the does that are in no shape to be carrying and feeding babies. Maybe some of the animals are rescues and that explains why some look so bad, but that doesn’t excuse the gross conditions, overcrowding and improper diets.

When we were there, there was only 2 women working. I really hope there’s usually more help, because there’s no way 2 people can maintain all of those inside animals and deal with all of the customers. I really wanted to love this place, but seeing the conditions of the inside/petting zoo animals just really broke my heart. Hopefully...

We had a mixed experience at Eureka Springs Safari Park. When we first walked into the lobby, we were hit with an overpowering smell of animal urine—it was so strong it actually burned our noses. This was surprising, as the animal habitats themselves looked reasonably clean, but the odor made for an unpleasant first impression.

The drive-through safari offered a unique and up-close experience. In some areas, animals like deer and lamas could even poke their heads into the car, which was both exciting and a bit wild! The black emus looked almost prehistoric—intimidating but fascinating. That said, the variety of animals in the drive-through was limited. It felt like there were mostly deer and similar species, which made the experience underwhelming and not quite as diverse as the marketing suggested.

The walk-through petting zoo near the front office was a highlight. The lemurs and kangaroos were our favorites, and we were lucky enough to spot a baby kangaroo! As always, the goats brought a lot of laughs with their goofy antics. Be sure to visit the serval cat near the restrooms—such a beautiful animal!

While the admission felt a bit overpriced for the overall experience, we considered it reasonable when factoring in the support for the care and upkeep of the animals. The staff was friendly and helpful, and overall, the animals appeared well cared for and content, which was...

My family had so much fun here! My mom, my brother, my sister, and myself, all made a trip from Texas to Eureka Springs, and one morning, upon looking for something to do, we choose this safari park, and were all so pleased we did. Upon arriving, you go in a small building to pay for your tickets. It had some animals in it. It did have a very strong order, but I guess it’s understandable since some creatures can be very stinky, or cause stinky orders I will say. But it wasn’t that the cages looked unkept or weren’t cleaned. We did ask a couple of questions to the young ladies in there, and they couldn’t answer them, and I found that to be a little strange, only for the fact that at a place like this, I would assume they get a lot of questions. We did the safari drive and returned to said building because there were more animals outside of it. I’d advice you to save some of the animal food, if you purchase it, so you’ll have some for these animals too. We did not, and wished we had. You could purchase more, but we’d maxed out our budget for this excursion. And some bought souvenirs too. I think all of us enjoyed the safari drive the most. All the animals were not shy to come to your car, to eat of course. And none were aggressive in any way. I would definitely recommend this to anyone. We would all say it was well worth the...