Natural Bridge Zoo

I went to the zoo to ride the elephant and after I did so I regretted spending my money there. All of the animals looked stressed and unhappy, many just sat or slept and looked miserable. The conditions are awful for these animals. The Bears are in a concrete cage with no grass or anything. I saw two different types of animals sleeping in cardboard boxes. The fox was sleeping in a postage box and had a litter box. There were two different species of animals that looked in such terrible conditions that I legitimately thought that they were dead. Don’t spend your money here and help keep this terrible place open. I went because I heard they opened back up after being shut down and I hoped they had changed their conditions and this was not at all the case.

Absolutely the most horrific, disgusting display of animal abuse in our state. Don’t believe me?! It has been declared the worst zoo in America for elephants. Still don’t believe me? Go here:
It’s a terrible place. Even worse if you are one of the poor mistreated abused animals that is stuck in that desolate pit.
*and yes I’ve been here. I grew up very close to this zoo and spent years watching exotic animals stuck in hot aluminum trailers for months in the summer, baby tigers half starved for greedy tourists to take photos with, as well as the poor animals that managed to escape being hunted down and killed.

Please spend your money elsewhere. The animals here are not given the love and care they deserve.

I am not a PETA person however it is really difficult to see the animals in this place The negative reviews I’ve read are spot on

I am a southern Virginia native and visited this zoo as a child and now as an adult. I have traveled all over the country and visited many zoos along the way, and I have never felt about zoos the way this place made me feel. The enclosures are cages and the living conditions are something that no living thing should be subjected to. Many of the animals here were showing very clear signs of stress at the time of my visit and it broke my heart. I urge anyone who feels that these animals deserve better to file an animal welfare complaint with the USDA here:

Asha was plucked from the wild in Africa at the age of 1 and sold to Natural Bridge Zoo in Virginia in 1985, where she has suffered from abhorrent living conditions. She spends frigid winter nights chained to a concrete floor in a rusty and barren barn, and she swelters in summertime in a rodent infested space too small for her with no shade, no pool, no option to graze, inadequate fencing, poor care of her feet, and contaminated food.
She has been subjected to unthinkable abuse, including the use of bullhooks to control her, being forced to give rides to zoo patrons in extreme heat, and being isolated to the point of showing signs of severe psychological stress. Though elephants are naturally very social animals, Asha has been kept in utter isolation for the last 19 years.
With your help, we can give her a home she deserves. We are asking for the Virginia Attorney General to step in and require that the owners transfer Asha to an elephant sanctuary.
The owners of Natural Bridge Zoo have refused to do the right thing. Despite citations for animal abuse, pressure from the public, and even pleas by acclaimed scientist Dr. Jane Goodall, Natural Bridge Zoo has so far refused to do what is best for Asha’s mental and physical health. It is time Virginia officials take action.

I was on the highway and saw ad for the zoo, I decided to stop. Very upsetting, elephants do not belong a zoo. I didn’t see anyone ride an elephant but the picture below makes me ill… It’s like any road side zoo.

They take terrible care of their poor elephants. Please do not support such awful conditions.

This place was amazing we found it after getting lost. The staff was very friendly and informative. This 8^th definitely worth checking out the little ones would go bananas… The cubs were the icing on the cake. We will definitely be revisiting.

Great little zoo tucked away in the mountains. There is enough walking and animals for young kids to have fun without getting super wore out and bored from looking at the same animals. You can also purchase feed to be able to feed some of the animals. My son has a peanut allergy so we opted not to buy it and I pulled grass up for him to feed the deer. That worked great. We packed a picnic and had lunch under a pavilion. There is a snack truck located on the property. We spent several hours there and were able to see all of the animals. A good way for our youngster to see some animals.

Over priced, hot and smelly. There was no shade nor were there hand washing stations after feeding the animals. It was just a large open farm with exotic animals. The areas around the exhibits were unkept and not well planned. Feeding the giraffes was next to impossible as there is a very tall fence and no way to for the guest to get close enough unless they are very tall.

The Natural Bridge Zoo is a small zoo near Natural Bridge Park. It has a collection of different animals, from large cats to llamas, and many things in-​between. The monkeys do their monkey thing, the cats relax and lounge in the sun. The llamas, camels, donkeys, and giraffes eat food straight out of your hand.
It was nice seeing the animals and they all seem well cared for. I was a bit disappointed that this isn’t a sanctioned zoo in any way but I still enjoyed it here, as did our daughter and our friend’s daughters.
The lack of volunteers or workers to answer questions or watch the treatment of the animals was a little disappointing but mostly we just came here to look at animals we couldn’t have seen elsewhere (outside of other zoos) and that was a success.

I’m not sure if I’m reviewing the same Zoo that other Unilocalers are, but the Natural Bridge Zoo that we visited (on our way home from NC to Philadelphia) resembled more a motley collection of animals behind wire cages than an actual zoo. Maybe the zoos that I’m used to are bonafide, legitimate zoos that are members of national organizations that sanction zoos. When I asked the salesclerk if the zoo had any reciprocity with other zoos, he said no, they don’t belong to anything like that, which was a red flag.
After paying our entrance fee, we made our way into the zoo and I felt like I was in someone’s backyard, someone who collects farm and zoo animals and puts up a sign and calls it a «zoo.» The enclosures looked too small for the bears and tigers, and the enclosures for the giraffes were nothing more than wire fences. My dog’s fence looked stronger than theirs.
Except for the 2 people who worked in the gift shop where you bought zoo tickets (and apparently tickets to take a picture with a tiger cub??), there was not one zoo employee who was walking around making sure people didn’t mistreat the animals or who could answer questions or talk about the animals. I saw one person far off in the distance cleaning a cage, but that was it.
I don’t even want to write more about this zoo because it’s pointless. To the zoo’s credit, the animals looked healthy, but that’s about it. I would never take my children (or any children) to a zoo like this one because it’s only one step up from an animal collector. Maybe there’s some conservation and education going on, maybe they really are a sanctioned zoo and participate in zoo organizations that the salesclerk doesn’t know about, but you’d never know.
Don’t waste your time or money and instead support real zoos that belong to organizations like the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Just got here and already disappointed. Need to get more realistic on the process for taking photos with baby tiger cubs. A mother of 3 little girls either has to leave one out of photo or not get photo at all… major disappointment for all. REALLY? What is the difference between 3 well behaved little girls with their mother in a photo and 2?

We had a really great time even though the zoo is small and some of the exhibits aren’t that great. If it’s a hot day, make sure you have water. It was a great experience to ride an elephant & to hold and feed a baby tiger for a few seconds [although if you want the real deal – go to Zootastic Park in Troutman, NC].
I’d recommend this park!

This place is GREAT! Me & my Wife visited this Zoo while on vacation in Natural Bridge. Every animal is up close & you can feed most of them. They also had a baby Bengal Tiger that you can hold & take a picture with. $ 60 for the picture though. Very fun place to visit.

Looks really small from the road but it expands back quite far. Elephant, giraffes, tigers, cougars, multiple monkeys and lemurs. Could buy feed at entrance for multiple little critters. Ran into two zookeepers during feeding time at the giraffes and tortoises (my kids LOVE turtles) and got an impromptu lesson on the animals which was nice. Lovely staff, too!
Highlight was getting a family picture taken with a five-​month old baby tiger. Random but cool. And rest assured, only a few pictures a day of one of three baby tigers. They also don’t offer the pictures a week or two each month to totally give the tigers a break. And yes, the advertisement for the tiger experience was very explicit about the cost -$ 45.

The Natural Bridge Zoo has been around for almost 40 years now. I have had the joy of living a mile or so away growing up. There aren’t too many things like coming home and having giraffes staring as you drive by everyday.
I have heard several different opinions on the zoo. It is not the largest zoo facility, but it is a great place to get up close to animals you wouldn’t typically get to interact with at large metropolitan area zoos. The habitats are basic, but functional for the animals. You aren’t going to see staged environments to draw a crowd, the animals are the focal point at each area. You aren’t going to see rare species or one time only exhibitions. So if you are looking for that, you need to go to Cincinnati, San Diego, etc.
If you want to feed a giraffe out of your hand, ride an elephant with your kids, or just sit and let them chase chickens, turkeys, and the like, you come here. No frills, but a great experience that will satisfy most people’s taste for seeing animals they wouldn’t get to in most cases. Be sure to stop by to see the pygmy goats.
Plan for around 3 – 4 hours to see most everything to your satisfaction. Plenty of places for a picnic, but pack your lunch. There are very few options (if any some days) for buying food once you’re there. The price of admission gets you in for the whole day even if you need to leave and come back later.
You will have several memories once you leave. Definitely worth the admission and the time especially if you have kids. You will want to come back.

This is a nice zoo to visit and see the animals up close and personal. Tickets are about $ 12 per person and a little less for children. If you look around town for brochures you may find a coupon like we did.
I would have given this 5 stars except for the fact this place (to me) has a false advertisement. Their brochures and sign say «Pet baby tigers and have your picture taken», but they neglect to tell you that this will cost you an additional $ 40! We were expecting to pay for a picture, but not to pay for petting the tigers.

Stopped there with my son and wife on the way to Austin from DC and we were pleasantly surprised at how cool this zoo was. It was much bigger that I expected and they had a lot of interesting animals. My little boy had a blast petting all the farm animals and feeding them in the petting section, which is huge. I like how they had all the llamas running free in that area and you can get real close to them. We took lots of pictures and had a lot of fun.
If you have kids and want to stop somewhere interesting heading South from DC on I-​81 or anywhere in that neck of the woods, I highly recommend this zoo especially with the natural bridge right down the road.