Two Tails Ranch: All About Elephants — Attraction in Newberry

Two Tails Ranch is an interesting place to say the least, and that's putting things nicely. I'm not sure when my mother and I visited this place, but I think it was back in 2019 or 2020 if I remember correctly. We took a drive up to Williston when I saw this place on YouTube and made a phone call in advance to reserve our spots, it was our first time up in the Williston area to see what they had to offer with this "attraction" being one of the top destinations to visit at the time, not sure if it still is now, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not considering there's better places to check out such as Kirby Family Farm alongside Cedar Lakes Woods and Gardens.

Anyways, staying on topic, this review gets 2-2.5 stars. The reason why I rate it this way is due to the concept being fun on paper, but the execution is just poor overall. Let's start with the positives first, the Elephants and the other animals they have on the property were pretty well taken care of for the most part and the tour was somewhat unique in its own ways which did make it somewhat memorable, the feedings were also a nice touch.

Unfortunately, this is where the positives end as we now dive into the negatives of our visit. The owner named Patricia was very weird to put things politely, she didn't look like she was the kind of person who wanted to give us an enjoyable experience as she looked like she was in rather rough shape just smoking cigars and ranting about things that didn't even need to be heard in the middle of a tour, her tone was very mellow indicating she was just not a very good public speaker. On top of that, the information she was narrating was very questionable, mainly for the Elephants as proper research would debunk what she otherwise claimed was the correct source of knowledge, she would even shut those down who tried to either correct her or help her out on things which was just downright disrespectful in my eyes, some of the families alongside us even agreed.

Another complaint I have is the prices, they were ridiculously outrageous, especially additional fees for photos and paintings by one of the Elephants, the cheapest thing they had was the feeding which was only $5 and that was about it, everything else was roughly $50 to even as high as $200 whether it'd be for solo or group travellers. Normally I'd say the money you spend goes to a good cause when it comes to visiting tourist attractions, but frankly, I'm not even sure if this is even the case. Maybe for the food for the animals, but that's just about all I could think of in this case. Whether the money goes into helping to maintain this place and to continue providing the necessary care for these animals remains to be seen.

What really pissed me and my mother off the most alongside some of the families we met were the Elephant rides. Elephant rides? Yep, you heard me and read this review correctly. We were absolutely disgusted by the fact that this was even a thing over there, as a kid, I used to ride Elephants back in Asia thinking it was a fun activity to do, but after visiting multiple Elephant sanctuaries and zoos that exposed the dark truth behind the Elephant riding industry, I vowed to never ever ride again. I'm aware people have different opinions regarding this subject and it is ultimately their choice on what they want to do at the end of the day which is perfectly fine, but sooner or later, it'll be very important to learn the truth.

In conclusion, as I stated before, the concept of this place is fun on paper, but it's just poorly executed overall when it comes to management, guest experiences and researching animals. Would I say this is the worst experience on Earth? No, not exactly, I have seen way worse than this, this place can definitely improve with better management, upgraded experiences, proper care for the Elephants amongst many other things. Whether or not they will make changes or not has yet to be seen, one thing's for certain though, we will not be returning anytime soon. In my opinion, this was just barely ok, terrible...

If you follow us, you know that we enjoy going to small obscure activities all over the world. Today was no different. We selected a small elephant sanctuary in Central Florida. The sanctuary had been featured on the news so we were excited to check it out. After a short drive outside of Ocala, we turned onto a half gravel half sand road that led to closed iron gates. When arriving at the gate, we noticed that they do not open until 5 minutes before your appointment time. So we sat in a line of cars with other people who had the same appointment day and time. When the gates opened we were directed by a young man on where to park in the grass along a pen that housed two ostriches. A woman began barking orders at the crowd to follow her to check in. Lacking any people skills she hollered at everyone to just give their name. Once checking in she pointed in a general direction and said sit over there. We were unaware of where to be seated and it wasn't until getting up and walking to the elephant pen that we realized she wanted us to sit in a dirty dingy hot bleachers underneath a tin roof that had a hodgepodge of chairs which we were told we were not allowed to sit in because the front row is reserved. After waiting more than 20 minutes, the woman came to the front of the crowd in front of an elephant enclosure with one elephant in it and began to give information on elephants. She lacked any speaking skills and sound as if she was reading off of cue cards. She then started taking questions. To every question she had a political rant. She made it very clear her political affiliation. Each rant took several minutes. All in all, we listened to her political hatred spew for 30 minutes. In that time we could see the one elephant behind her and barely two more in pins next to that one. After her 30 minute political rant, she said that she was walking us over to another elephant. However, the only people who could get near that elephant or even see the elephant were the people who had paid for feeding or rides everyone else was told to stand underneath a tree and not move. We walked to a pen that had a camel in it and looked at the camel and small zebra in the same pin. After a few moments, my son, 10 years old walked to the other side where there were some lemurs in a small habitat. When he got to the fence, the lemurs popped their heads through the fence to look at him. The woman giving the "tour" began yelling at he and I that we were to go back and sit under the tree. After another 15 minutes of standing around while she allowed the people who paid to feed the elephant or ride the elephant, she finally got back over to the group where she talked a few moments about the camel and zebra and continued her political rant. She then told everyone to turn around, where in a small shelter, a turtle was living. She discussed the age of the turtle and again began to rant about poor pet ownership. After that she had everyone walk a few feet over to the lemur cage. She then stated "that normally they would come out and greet everyone but we had a few people who couldn't follow directions and they are no longer out." Moments later, the rest of the lemurs ran into the habitat. After that she pointed out the ostriches and said no one is to get within 50 ft. away from the fence. "But if you'd like on your way out you can look at them." Minus the time she took to complain about politics and minus the time she made people wait for other people to check in, feed the elephant or ride the elephant. The total time spent would have been approximately 15 minutes. The total animals we saw were three elephants, one zebra, one camel, four lemurs one turtle and two ostriches. Although they bill themselves as a zoo or sanctuary, they are in fact simply a boarding facility. We would not recommend anyone taking the time to go unless they make some major changes on how they operate. "We did not like it. The only thing we liked were the animals but besides that no she was very mean," statement by Lee. Follow us for more...

Bare with this review as it will be long but judging from the loads of other reviews, much needed. Who doesn't love elephants? My house is full of them, everyone knows how much I love this majestic creature. Beyond that, how many people educate themselves on animal welfare, or just the animal itself? My boyfriend found this place online and knew it was a once in a lifetime event. He also was a tad reluctant, listening to me spew on about animal activists, animal welfare and just animals in general. We booked via email and of course booked the extreme encounter. Its located about 3 hours from where I live, though, I would have traveled out of state. Upon arrival, we were behind a few cars waiting for the gate to open. You could see two elephants off in the massive area to your left. Once the gates were open, you immediately notice that the owner lives on grounds. Nothing fancy, but her love for elephants, shown immediately. We walked up to where the tour would start. To the right you could see a few more elephants. Each with their own space. Not a lot of research needs to be done to know why. The first ele you see is Luke. Her male Asian elephant. His tusks on full display, crossing perfectly. She starts the tour as you're sitting across from Luke in his spot. She starts throwing out information on Asian elephants, how the ranch began, ect. You can tell she's rough around the edges but you can also see the warmth in her eyes. Fitting for the lady that cares for these animals. When she spoke about the difference between animal rights groups and animal welfare, I wanted to jump out of my seat and give her a giant hug. Those who don't know, there's a big difference.. simply put, PETA and other animal rights groups are not for the animals and push their agenda through legislation and regulation. Do some research and you'd be surprised. My fears for how this tour would be, quickly and abruptly halted there. While she was speaking, you could tell how happy Luke was, how well taken care of he is. She then did a Q and A where everyone could ask questions until their hearts were content. She cannot afford to advertise, relying on donations and word of mouth. Again, this says a lot. For those spouting off about how she makes money off her animals and tours, stop.. you look silly. I'll bet that most people did not know that Asian Elephants are endangered. Or why. The information she shares is not only informative but personal too. This woman is among very few trying to save this species. During the tour, you'll see a few different animals, focus is on the elephants. You can take pictures of all animals and with the elephants. You can purchase tickets to take a picture, feed and ride. Or with the extreme encounter do all including bathing the elephants and getting your fill with as many photos as you choose. The biggest thing for me was riding the elephants... we elected to NOT ride, though our encounter included that. However, how people were mounted and how they rode, was in no way, detrimental to the elephants. The elephants were not made to do this. You could tell they were used to it and believe me, if they didn't want that to happen, it wouldn't. They aren't forced to do anything. The training sticks are there for your protection. That being said, this is where she charges forty dollars if you don't do the encounter. A small fee to keep these animals safe and happy. Everything she does, is for them. We were able to bathe Patty after her rides, where she lied content, getting rubbed down. Her ear would flap and she would straighten out a leg when we hit a sweet spot. That right there is worth a lifetime. We then got some of the most breathtaking photos with her. I can't tell you how much she loves her mama.That woman is living the dream but works harder than most could ever imagine. No question about these elephants happiness and wellbeing. I left with my heart full, fulfilling a dream I thought I'd never have. Memories to...