York's Wild Kingdom — Attraction in York

Just visited here last month, saw on reddit people were talking about how this is a bad place so came to look at the reviews.

Someone complained how the animals were all sleeping and looked sad or bored. I've been to zoos in Massachusetts and Florida, and this was the first time I've ever seen a tiger awake! Also most of the animals were awake when I went, besides the lions, otters, and a bobcat from what I remember. I'm not sure why a lot of bad reviews are about the animals being asleep. A simple Google search will tell you all you need to know.

Tigers sleep from 18-20 hours a day.

Lions sleep from 16-20 hours a day.

Otters sleep around 11 hours a day.

Zoos have animals living and residing there, meaning they.. live and reside there. They sleep and laze about in the wild, too.

I do hope more people come with an open mind, understanding just because an animal isn't hyperactive it's abused. A quick online research will tell you more about little known daily habits of animals.

Another complaint I saw a few times was about a lion stumbling around. The lion is 19, lions live on average 8-16 years in the wild. It's old.

Someone else complained about the parking lot looking like a car junk yard. Aroostook county's prized Nothern Maine Fair has a grass field that turns to thick mud when it's been rainy for a parking lot. This is Maine, lots of places are small town-y. I like it that way, personally.

For the people who complained about the size, it complies with state laws according to the owners. So, take that up with the state. I've been to other zoos and I've seen some have the same sizes as well.

And, for people who seem to care so much about how depressed the animals look, I'm not sure that's a valid point. Aren't we all gawking and staring at animals in cages anyway? I'm on middle grounds with zoos, I think animals should be free, sometimes people can mistreat animals, but lots of zoos help animals properly while caring for them, donate to organizations that help animals, some even breed endangered animals, etc. We've got to give some credit. A place where wild animals meant to be wild are kept is always going to seem sad, but from what I saw in my visit they seemed fine. I do think some cages should be better, but that's really up to the state to fix.

Someone complained the camel rides for $7 for a one minute ride was too much. What! Bigger zoos charge way more for animal interactions. Also, for humors sake, all the people saying the animals aren't cared for, why would we want the camels to have to ride people around longer! Kept the line time short, which with a 3 year old I really appreciate we got a turn without her getting impatient.

I feel like this place could get bigger and make better enclosures for the animals, but it needs income to do so! Bad reviews aren't helping, especially ones that don't understand animals aren't going to be some kind of show, zoos aren't circuses. Lots of animals take frequent rests and naps, and live out their lives.

I saw a cute cat all curled up sleeping. A tiger played with a butterfly for a second, adorable. My daughter fed ducks, goats and some deer too. We got a giant snake plushie for only $15, I've always wanted them as a kid but I remember they were around $30 at other places. We had fun, I like the small town feeling. Didn't get to go on the rides, we were short on time & a long drive ahead. Overall we really...

Had higher expectations for this “zoo” since visiting as a kid. First comments made of the park before we even parked was: “Nothing more exciting than seeing abandoned rusty vehicles along the road while driving into the zoo!”

We realized after the fact that this park is not an accredited zoo, which explains the minimal conditions most of these animals are kept in. There’s clearly little to no motivation by the owners to enhance the quality of the animal enclosures or maintain the grounds to appear more attractive to guests who spend literally $18 per adult to see empty enclosures, weeds and overgrowth everywhere, and closed food stalls and rides. Additionally, the park is severely run down that it feels like you’re walking through abandoned areas at times and are confused if you’re even going the right way since it seems closed or so unmaintained that it’s questionable whether you should continue through the path or not. So many abandoned and empty enclosures and lack of guest education on animals in the park makes for a rather lackluster experience and quick in-and-out trip. We kept walking down a questionable path that looked like a dead end to then be surprised by a decrepit chicken cage at the end of it with literally zero signage.

The paths by the duck pond are in disrepair, which make for tripping hazards every two feet since the asphalt is being torn up by tree roots. I was becoming concerned for several elderly people I saw there who were walking along these uneven paths, which also were COVERED in smushed duck and geese poop (I understand it is natural for animals to defecate in/near their enclosures, but at least sweep up the feces on walkable guest paths?!).

Don’t even mention how sad we felt for the animals upon leaving the park. We were excited to see the bigger animals like the lion and tiger. Poor tiger kept pacing back and forth by the gate and seemed very bored. The vibe became even more dismal as our sentiments were echoed by surrounding families who were also depressed by the lack of environment quality for the tiger. If you want to see a better and more ethical tiger exhibit, make the drive down to Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon MA.

Also, there’s a severe lack of staff monitoring the guests and animals in the park. We saw an unfortunate scene where all the monkeys were eating a napkin or something in their enclosure (I don’t know if someone had thrown a napkin near them or what). No one seemed to mind or care that they were eating a paper napkin.

Last thing that set us off about the ethical issues with this “zoo” was the alligator exhibit. Two full sized adult American alligators should not be crammed into 10 inches of water in a cage that small. Sure, the owner may claim the enclosure is up to whatever code of MINIMUM enclosure size, but the amount of area in the enclosure that was actually accessible for the alligators was not enough. This was upsetting to see and needless to say, we will not be...

The good: Staff was very friendly, store was cute and reasonably priced for a gift shop, price to get in wasn't that bad, interaction with the ducks, goats and deer was fun, animals seem in good physical condition The meh: If coming in from Short Sands side, there is a long walk on broken pavement through the ruins of the broken down rides and other things just to get to the entrance for the zoo (or rides). The signage is limited from that side and it's easy to feel like you walked into a junkyard instead of the throughway to get to the zoo. When coming in from the other side (I moved so I didn't have to pay for parking), the road in is rough and doesn't have great signage. The parking lot is pretty rough, unpaved gravel and grass, unmarked and it was hard to know where to park. Zoo seems like it could use some sprucing up, paths are horribly uneven with potholes and cracks, there is overgrowth and some of the wood elements seemed to be falling apart or at the very least not well made. Seeing the animals was hard due to the double fencing with no great viewing areas. The bad: No zoo maps. Got confused a few times not knowing where to go and where I'd already been. Don't even know if I saw all the habitats. Habitats for most animals were far too small and some animals seemed more distressed than typical for captive animals in a zoo. The gator has a tiny pen not even double as long as it is with a tiny pool that is not big enough for it to swim in, and otherwise does not have any area other than a small shelter to be in. Peacocks, when displaying their feathers, the feathers nearly filled the pen, there was barely any room for it. Plants and grass were overgrown which made it even more difficult to see animals. Ponies and Camels for rides were standing out in the hot sun, no shelter or shade, on a really short lead and likely would be standing there for hours waiting for people to come - Camels can handle the heat, ponies should never stand out like that without option of shade, and camels shouldn't have such a short leash, animals are made to move, a lot!

Just because a zoo adheres to meeting the bare minimum of guidelines doesn't mean they're a good zoo. Bare minimum isn't awesome and these guys are cutting it pretty close. I do think they love the animals and that they have fallen on hard times which has made it harder to maintain and update. But if it is really that bad, don't make the animals suffer for it. They deserve bigger and better. It is no kingdom. It is a place they live but they certainly don't live like kings. They did seem to be in good health and good physical condition, and to be well cared for in that regard. But I will not return, on the basis that the animals don't have enough space and the signage is pathetic, at best. The least you could do is put up a sign saying "x, x and x animals this way" and to mark the doors that you can go through. Please give the...