It's A Zoo Life — Attraction in Princeville

This place is AMAZING! I haven't stopped talking about it! The tour is guided and the amount of animal interaction is absolutely incredible. Cody was our tour guide and he was AWESOME - so patient with the kids (and grown ups), incredibly knowledgeable, and super friendly. If... no, WHEN I do the tour again, I'll be asking for him!

There were TONS of animals and you can interact in some way with almost all of them - either going into their enclosure with them or petting/feeding them from just outside their enclosure. The website suggests some snacks you may want to share with the animals and describes which they prefer. The kangaroos LOVED the bananas we brought as did the camel and the pigs. The apples were a big hit with a lot of the animals too. And, you know who likes grapes? THE SLOTH!! My mind is still reeling from the experience. It was just. so. cool.

The owner was so incredibly sweet as well - it was super hot out and she rode up on a golf cart and passed out cold water bottles to everyone on the tour. She also let us see the new babies she has separated from the regular enclosures and my 5 year old fed a bottle to what I think was a baby Mara. She hasn't stopped talking about it!

You also really can't beat the price - especially for such a hands on and private experience. There were about 15 people on our tour and everyone had plenty of time to interact as much as they wanted. $20 for adults and $10 for kids 5 and under is pretty much a steal.

Last, but certainly not least, I love supporting places like this that participate in rescuing and rehabilitating animals. What they're doing at It's A Zoo Life is truly necessary and beautiful. I can't wait to...

Super fun place! Lots of animals, SO many you can touch - and it’s super child friendly. We took our 1.5 year old and he absolutely loved it. Definitely one of the better “petting” zoo experiences in NC. A few things I noticed… There’s not much information on how big the area is online…like if we needed our wagon for walking since it’s a walking tour; we didn’t at all but we hauled it around anyway. The entire place is actually quite small. Bathrooms are outside of the “zoo” like in the parking lot so you should get there a tad early. There’s no information on feed for the animals (online), but you can buy small bags in the check-in shack outside near the restrooms for $2 a bag BUT you have to spend $4 minimum for the credit card machine, or you have to have cash. And there were lots of people who brought carrots and stuff with them from home and were able to feed the animals with that but we didn’t know. The walking tour is guided and lasted 1 hour, but they tell you to stay as long as you want and roam around to all the exhibits after it was over. We didn’t prepare to stay that long since it wasn’t posted online, but will definitely do that next time as there is a cute playground and concession-like shack thing with popsicles and such. This place is literally in the middle of no where (LOL), and my family grew up in Edgecombe county… so make sure you pack everything you need, as it was a 30 min drive to Rocky Mount / Nashville area. I only mention this as my son is a horrrrrible car rider! There isn’t much shade on the inside, so pack sunscreen and prepare to be hot! We came when it was 90 degrees and I’m 30 weeks pregnant so not the best call on my end - but we...

My son loves capybaras, so for a Christmas present, I wanted to take him to a Zoo that has one. I was prepared to travel out of state. That's how I discovered It's a Zoo Life. It has a capybara!! And not only does it have one, I was able to purchase an encounter where we were able to go into his habitat and touch and feed him! The experience was priceless. But so was the regular 90 min. guided tour of the rest of the zoo! First stop: kangaroos and wallabes. Never in my life (and I'm 64) have I ever petted a kangaroo & wallabe! This is not your typical zoo or even petting zoo. My son and I enjoyed our experience at It's a Zoo Life partly because it's so different, and in many ways better than a normal zoo where you don't get to go inside the animal's habitat. The entire staff was super friendly and they all acted as if they love their jobs! Even the animals showed no signs of stress. I dare say they were as welcoming as the staff! We only had to travel a little over an hour from Raleigh, but would have found it worthwhile even if we had to travel much further. I mean, they have a capybara! You have to travel out of state to find another. North Carolina has many gems, and It's a Zoo Life is certainly one of them. If a 64 year old and his 30 year old son had a 5 star experience, imagine those of you with even...