Binder Park Zoo — Attraction in Newton Township

This is a different kind of zoo then you have visited before. Instead of a sprawling parking lot with hundreds of manufactured enclosures and buildings, Binder Zoo is much more forrested and open. It is built into the natural Michigan landscape, which has not been cleared and paved. There are squirrels and chipmonks everywhere for example.

There are less total types and quantities of animals here than at larger city zoos. To make up for that, each animal enclosure is, I would estimate, five to ten times larger than you have seen before. These are massive animal homes, and you will notice the difference. The animals are more relaxed and behave less like caged beasts on display and more like they would in their original habitats. Even the large predators seem happier and healthier than I have seen at most industrial/commercial style modern mall zoos.

The animals they do have are more rare than at other zoos. Some we were seeing for the first time. Mexican red wolves (which are grey). Interesting and strange birds. Tiny African deer like things. Some animals with impossible to remember names :)

The highlight of our trip was the Lion Training Experience. Two days a week, if you arrive on time, you can go behind the enclosure and get a real show right up close to the lions. Watch him eat, and get trained, and a fun talk by the trainer with questions afterward. All while the lions howl at each other, it was amazing.

Note for the Lion Experience: It says it starts at 10:50am, but if you want to see it, or bought Lion tickets in advance (only $10 WELL worth it!), I recommend you arrive much earlier around 10 am. It takes a While to get across the east side and African sides of the park to where the lions are. You also have to catch the tram, or walk an extra 10 to 20 minutes to the African side (tram is every 15 minutes). Either way, get there early for the lions. There isn't good signage for the lions- follow the route to the giraffe overlook, and keep walking a couple minutes. Oh and the male is a real Michigan Lion, born and raised :)

The second best part was the giraffes. For $10 we got 5 big pieces of lettuce to feed them by hand. Or $2 for one piece. Absolutely worth ten bucks, they are very careful eaters! They take it right out of your hand with their mile long tongues and are Very friendly about it. I would go back just to feed the giraffes again.

There are 2 okay places to eat. Expect full on zoo pricing, but not as bad as some zoos. Wear comfortable shoes, its a big park with a lot of nice forested walkways. Plenty of bathrooms, quite clean apart from the portables, which are normal but unnecessary since there's nicer places inside the park to use.

There is a neat train ride, different from the big connecting tram. There is also an Easy to miss House of Reptiles. Again, some of the signage is missing or confusing for that one. We almost couldn't find it but persisted. (It's the door on the left when you get to the big black carnivore bird and the big green parrot). I'm glad we didn't miss it because wow, there's a few Gems in there. A frog the size of a softball, sloths, and a gigantic snake, among others.

I can't stress enough how great this zoo was. We arrived at 10am, did the lion training, fed the giraffes and saw all of the Africa side by noon. Then the other side until about 1pm and left by 130pm. A quick trip all things considered, but very relaxing walking through the actual wooded areas and seeing the animals so chill.

The giant tortoise was a sight to behold. Something like 500 lbs and 3 or 4 feet Tall. The black bears were pretty huge too but they were sleepy. The monkey area is a fun setup with treehouses and they all seemed right at home even with people right there. The kangaroos and wallabies were very animated.

Plenty of parking, no huge crowds even on a Saturday, and a great price for tickets.

My favorite zoo in Michigan now. Go feed the happy giraffes or you'll...

One of the BEST zoos in the MidWest! We went 7/13/2020. Free parking and the price to get in is not crazy. The tram to the African section is also free, but there is also an option to walk half a mile there if you wanted. We arrived when they opened to try and avoid crowds and lines. It did get busy towards the end of our trip, but people were maintaining distance. Probably their best exhibit is the over 17acre enclosure for their giraffes, zebras, ostriches and a few type of deer. THAT is what every zoo should have for giraffes (not a small, less then half an acre of dirt to walk on and live in). The opportunity to feed the giraffes is amazing. Some complain that the prices for the lettuce to feed is "high", but I feel that is to be expected. I wish some of the other exhibits were a bit larger, they seem to have the space to expand them. They all were informative about the animals, and had multiple view points to best see the animals. The huts, decorations and signs in the Zuri (African part) were a great touch. It made us feel more immersed The wandering peacocks were nice to see. One peahen even had three young babies with her. Took about two hours to go through the zoo, and we took our time with many of the animals. I did not visit the children's part of the zoo, but from what I saw, it seemed nice. There were swings and a jungle set for kids to play on.

COVID-19 procedures: Most people were respectful and waited their turns, no crowding. The new safety measures did make the wait for the Tram slower, as they could not fill the seats. The wait for feeding the Giraffes also was beginning to get long, as they were maintaining distance there as well.

ONE NEGATIVE: the prices of drinks/food are high. And much of their gift shop as well. There are a FEW items for under $15 so maybe you can get something for your child or yourself without breaking the bank. BUT you can always bring food and exit the zoo to eat. Save your receipt to get back in. *Also, parents, please do NOT let your children chase the peacocks. Was very disappointed when I saw a young boy chasing a peacock and the parents did...

We go to this one zoo because of the giraffes. Feeding the giraffes and being able to get close to them it’s very nice. Besides that, it’s a small zoo with not so many animals, and some very hard to spot. but it’s fun and the kids love it. Now that being said… to get in the zoo it’s an ok price, but EVERYTHING else you want to do inside it’s very expensive. The food is expensive and awful, a drink like water and gatorade is outrageous and we are not allowed to bring food from outside. I find it very excluding thing to do because many families around the area don’t have much money and taking the kids to zoo is already expensive enough. Then you will be there half a day and obviously your kids are gonna get hungry, and you will get hungry too and add that to the other costs is just too much. At least let people bring their own snacks and drinks. Then there’s the carousel… the kids absolutely love it. But $3 for going around for 3 minutes? Why?? Also the giraffes that is very fun to interact with will cost you $8 for a few lettuce leaves!! That’s not fair and again, I just think of families trying to bring some fun to their kids and get out of there stressed about all the money. It didn’t have to be so much… So after all of this money spent you would think that you will at least have decent bathrooms to go to, right? WRONG! The restrooms were filthy! In the ladies bathroom 3 out of 5 stalls were working. Out of the 3, 2 didn’t have toilet paper. The accessible stall wasn’t working!!! I saw so many older people and kids on wheelchairs, and you don’t have the accessible restroom functioning? It’s just ridiculous!! Only one soap dispenser had soap and the 2 blow dryers were not working and no paper towels to dry the hands!! It was very disappointing and upsetting specially with all the money they get from everyone. Again, the kids will have fun no matter what, the adults? Not so much!! We visited on...