Henson Robinson Zoo — Attraction in Springfield

I have been deciding how I want to word this review. I went to the Henson Robinson Zoo a couple weeks ago on a Sunday and was absolutely mortified by the conditions. It truly broke my heart to see the animals living in the conditions they are in. Most exhibits had very little, if any, shade, drinking water in several exhibits was green and some of the animals seemed to be in distress. The areas for these animals was smaller than an area I'd feel comfortable keeping my dog (he's a Pomeranian). There was nothing for the animals to do but lay and bake in the hot sun. There were no "toys" or anything for the animals to do but lay around and pant. The day I went was mid May and not very hot at all but with all the fur these animals have plus no shade some seemed to be in distress. I did see a couple workers riding around on golf carts without a care in the world. I did not approach any of them because it seemed obvious they were OK with the living conditions of the animals. The exhibit with two large cats was smaller than my living and dining rooms combined. The vulture enclosure did not allow the animal to do anything more than stretch its wings. Something needs to be done at this zoo. I am seriously considering contacting an official agency/society to report this. I took many pictures but am not going to include them here as I don't feel it would make a difference to any Zoo staff. I certainly will not return and would discourage anyone else from going here. Please, Please Zoo Staff DO SOMETHING POSITIVE FOR THESE ANIMALS!! Even if that means sending them to a zoo that will properly...

I enjoyed seeing the differing species as I do in any zoo (menagerie), however what I did not appreciate were the rather small enclosures of some of the animals. I read in the inviting discription of this zoo that ALL of their enclosures features "naturalistic" environments but I would like to disagree to some; the coati for instance. When I saw the coati that lives at this zoo I found "him" pacing on a plank attached to the fence. The pen hosted several logs strung up and interlaced eith each other and the actual ground was little better than sparse grass and weed patches. The coati is a rainforest/jungle - dweller, not a "logs and North American - native vegetation" dweller; this would be more accurate to the Virginia opossum (also a zoo resident ). What really disturbed me the most however was the grouping or lack-there - of of species, for example the red wolf. A HIGHLY social animal whose stability and health actually depend on a strict hiarchy, alpha male and female, beta, omega etc. Like this animal and the coati before it, I believe that they are displaying isolation - based actions and reactions to their surroundings and lack of same species association. Also, what was wrong with many of the Canadian...

The Zoo hosted an event for the West Central Illinois breastfeeding task force that my wife and I and our 5 month old daughter came to enjoy on a beautiful Saturday morning.

You could speed run this zoo if you’d like, but I would HIGHLY SUGGEST to you that when walking around you and if you spot a staff member, you speak with them and ask about their favorite animals and the zoo processes!

We were enjoying the facility when we saw a staff member (Meagan - Cockatoo Handler) maintaining one of the enclosures and I was curious about a few things so I asked a few quick questions! She was not only extremely informative but ended up walking with us to multiple different enclosures explaining different animals requirements and their personalities! It really made us see how important enclosures for some of these animals are and it also highlighted how much the staff cares about the animals mental and physical well-being!

We will be longtime supporters of this zoo because of this experience.

Thanks Meagan and additional staff for making our daughters first zoo experience an...