Claws 'N' Paws Wild Animal Park — Attraction in Salem Township

Claws N Paws has been a family favorite attraction for many, many years. I remember some of my best childhood memories being here- taking feild trips from school with friends, visiting the snackbar to refresh on a hot day, and of course running around and seeing the animals!

The staff are kind and friendly and seem to really love their jobs and the animals they care for. They are all super knowledgeable and will answer any questions you have- they LOVE talking about the animals! (Before we left, one kind staff member let us know the lion was awake and we ran over to hear him sing the song of his people lol!)

The gift shop is decently priced, and there's a gift for everyone! Whether you bring $10 or $100, you can still take home a little treat for yourself/your child. There's lots to explore and we spent over an hour walking around, though we could have easily spent 2 hours or more if we didn't have a toddler running animal to animal lol!

The negatives: Claws N Paws tickets are overpriced in my opinion. It was over $70 for Myself, my partner, and our two year old just to enter the park. If you want to feed the Giraffe or other animals, you'll need to pay extra.

The animals. The majority of them are depressed and in enclosures too small for them. Yes, they have the space they NEED to survive, but that's what they're doing. They're not living- they're surviving. They need more enrichment in their enclosures as some of the animals (the wolves especially) are suck pacing continuously going 'mad'(zoochosis?). This is not a meer "just patrolling my territory" pace- Some of these dogs and cats are genuinely depressed. Some of them seem like they're on medication. I can't say if they are, but their body languange is not normal, even if these animals were raised bottle fed in a cage.

Lake Tobias is half the price and more than tripple the size, and they take AMAZING care of their animals.

Claws N Paws needs new, bigger enclosures with more enrichment (toys, things to climb on, treats that you need to solve a puzzle to open, etc) to keep their animals in better spirits. It's still a lovely place to visit, especially for small children- but it's losing it's charm year after year and...

Update 2025: Purchased tickets for my wife and kids to go for a fun adventure with hope since our last visit 10 years ago they have upgraded the place. Ticket prices were ok but when my wife told me about the place and how it's worse that it was 10 years ago I was amazed. How do they keep a certification as a zoo with the poor quality enclosures and overall facility? My wife said the bathrooms were horrible, walking paths were barely walkable. If you have a stroller or an ADA person be prepared to battle the paths all day. Prices listed on website for feeding are different than the prices at the zoo. My daughter who is now 11 said she felt the prices on things were too high. My 3 year old son loved the giraffe and turtle but had a very hard time seeing the animals due to the dirty windows and obstructions. Be prepared to wait in line for 10-15 minutes to feed Jethro the giraffe.

2016: This is our second time there. Last year with our daughter when she was 1 and this year as a 2 year old. Lol. Our experience was horrible. Paths are horrible. You need an all terrain stroller to maneuver through them. The enclosures seem too small so animals sleep in depression or pace in their enclosure. Its very hard for children to see exhibits due to over grown weeds and dirty windows. There are no bathrooms except all the way down by entrance (we're potty training so we had to rush down the steep rocky path to get to bathroom on time). The best part of the entire zoo was the bird feeding and turtle town. The petting zoo area looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a long time and you need change to get feed but we were unaware of that prior so we only had bills, no change. All the enclosures seemed very rough and dirty. Lastly the staff wasn't very customer service oriented. Very few say hi or even acknowledged customers. We had hoped for some new exhibits from last year but nothing was different if anything it looked more run down. I think we're going to try Lake Tobias as a replacement. If claws and paws decides to change it up we'll come back but today was a...

It's taken me a few days to process our experience at Claws N Paws and try and find some words. The thing i think is most important to say is, this is animal abuse. The enclosings are almost all the same. Some rocks, sticks and janky fencing. Nothing to remotely replicate their natural habitat. The landscape on the entire property is unkept. The animals are agitated and miserable. I was fearful to stand and look too long at any animal because it felt like we were upsetting them. The camel appears to be in so much distress. There are signs reassuring patrons that the animals have access to fresh water. But why wouldn't they? The female lion was limping and when i asked an employee what was wrong with her, the answer i got was "oh she's always got something going on..." I have an extreme fear of alligators and i even felt bad for them. I can't put this clearly into words but the whole experience felt wrong, scary and very uncomfortable. Upon our arrival we paid to do the giraffe feeding (poor giraffe in the tiniest enclosure) and i took my kids and left long before our scheduled time. There was no way i was hanging around for that. I am embarrassed i spent money here. This place needs to be looked into. The more time i have to process this, the more appalled i am at what i witnessed. My photos don't do it justice but i tried. I wish i had taken more but i was honestly trying to get out of there asap. I am heartbroken for the animals. I have been to so many zoo's and animal experiences, this is unlike anything i have seen. None of the animals were calm or relaxing/sleeping in any kind of protective or safe space. They were all pacing, agitated and wide awake, looking around for food or some kind of attention. I cannot recommend this...