Space Farms: Zoo & Museum — Attraction in Wantage

I loved coming to space farms years ago ( i wanna say about 10-12 years).

Visited today and boy have things declined. This felt one step above what i pictured Joe Exotics zoo experience must’ve felt like. The cages are all old, rusty and slapped together looking. Everything is chain link or steel cages. Everything is covered in filth. The enclosures seem like they haven’t been maintained since the decade between my last visit.

Now, let me just silence the “you expect too much from such a small place” crowd. I do not come expecting a “state run zoo” as someone mentioned before me. To be honest, idk what that has to do with conditions being humane, cleaned, maintained and properly sized. It’s 2024. Gone are the days of thinking shamu was a happy whale living in a bathtub with windows. We know how being in these conditions affects the animals well being. Sadly, most of the animals either appear depressed, under stimulated or extremely defensive/skittish. One foxes tail was chewed down to the bone. Not sure if thats fear chewing or mange, but either way, it’s not a good look.

The frustrating part is they have ample room to expand the enclosures. Like, every enclosure i thought looked too small (about 70% of the zoo) had plenty of room for expansion. At a certain point, keeping a lion isolated in a cage with a footprint that is at most 3 times its body length is a decision of cruelty. The same kind the world shunned joe exotic over.

I have to imagine if space farms rang the alarm for help, they likely have a community of people that would gladly help….i being one of them. The enclosures need expanding. The grounds needs updating. I mean, a few dust rags in the car museums alone wouldn’t hurt!

There is history….A TON OF IT….just rotting away in those garages. There’s so much filth. I get it. There will never not be. Again, though, addressing these at least seasonally or even annually would present a much better guest experience.

Something needs to be done. The name attached is a state senator. This is a long standing business, cemented in the fabric of the community. I only hope they start siphoning money into enhancing the space farm conditions. I can still hear the “old world charm” jingle from the 90’s commercials stuck in my head. This place holds a place in my heart. I only want to see it thrive. Today was disheartening for the future, if something doesn’t improve.

Please, Space family. Do the right thing. Make the conditions more than ideal for your animals. You have friendly staff. You have a beautiful property. You have SUCH COOL animals! Make their home a palace, not a prison.

I truly truly hope something reignites the flame to make space farms great again! Until then, i hope people continue to support the business and voice their concerns. It’s not the staffs fault, but the staff can relay...

Only reason I gave Space Farm one star is because this site would not let me post without doing so.

After visiting Space Farms with my nephew and his daughters on Monday I feel that the place should be closed down because of the deplorable conditions ! I can't believe the environment that these animals live in. Many of the animals are squeezed into very tiny cages with limited space for exercise or movement. We saw animals just pace in circles, showing agitation and anxiety. At one point we heard a distressful whining from some animals. (Not sure what that was about). Most of the fenced in animals live in dirt fields with absolutely no grass or vegetation in their areas to graze. Lots of space for the herds of deer in their pen but nothing for them to graze, only dirt. I wonder if they raise so many deer in order to feed the tigers, coyotes, wolves, etc. If this is the case the deer should still be treated well. The living space for the animals could be improved by simply limiting the population in each area.

It was terribly depressing for us. I keep wondering how they can still be operating and am disgusted just thinking how this is a profitable business for them. We were there for about 2 hours and did not see any zoo keepers or employees feeding or checking on the animals. The only employees seen were working in the entrance building. Hope this place gets shut down.  I read the reviews and took a chance but I am upset with myself for supporting this place. I am sure the owner can afford to provide a better environment for these animals. Based upon these conditions it appears as if the owners have no concern for the well being of animals.

My nieces were so excited to visit Space Farms. Unfortunately they will most likely remember their visit as the zoo that provided animals with despicable living conditions. I intended to have an enjoyable day with them, instead we left in a somber mood with a negative memory and empathy for these animals.

Plus times have changed- it is no longer acceptable to keep animals in cages without any enrichment. Although "animal rights" are a big issue, it seems like this family's political connections protect them from any fines/ charges. Sad, especially since they most likely profit from the suffering of...

Disclaimer- This review isn’t meant to shut down the zoo. It’s only written to give suggestions to better the zoo.

I recently visited the zoo. The museum aspect of the zoo was very interesting. A lot of artifacts that could cost over a million dollars. However, the animal enclosures were very small. Some of the enclosures were in the sun and a lot of the animals were panting because they had no shade. Also they had a very poor source of water in their cages. They should have at least a small pond or trough to dip their body into to cool off. Some of the water sources were in the sunlight or in a small metal bowl. For example, the prairie dogs had a small metal bowl of water, no shade, and the water was in the direct sunlight. The sheep’s were groomed very poorly and were dying from the heat. I ended up pouring water on one of the sheep to help it out. There were a few bear exhibits where there would be multiple bears in a tiny cage with not much space to move around. They seemed miserable and overheated. The bird exhibit was really tiny, they weren’t able to fly around. It seems like a type of zoo that would be around in the 70s and the 80s. This type of stuff doesn’t really fly now so they should really extend their enclosures and find a better way to supply water before it might get shut down. Being able to feed some of the animals corn was a cool up close experience. So if you’re looking for an up close encounter this is a place to go.Who reads these things anyways...

I’d like to offer more suggestions for the animals to live a longer, happier and healthier life. They should plant more trees or have a volunteer program in which they can support the zoo with their needs. For example they can have Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts and teens who need service hours to help out the zoo. Even prisoners should help out. If the zoo is low on funds they should auction off some of the antiques or even start a donations basket. They should find sponsors or start fund raisers. There was a lot of unused land in which they could’ve used to...