Zoological Wildlife Foundation

Reviews 4

ST

Steven Kiel

I came here with a conference, so the group rate may make my experience a better value than others. I also often forget that many people havent had the same hands on, face to face, tiger crawling over you experiences. For all the normies out there... TL;DR- ZWF is a smaller, more intimate, zoological area (its not really a "zoo" but I dont know what they DO) that offers tours of the animals in their care as well as hands on engagement with their animals. Their team is very knowledgable about their animals, and they show a clear care for their well being. I advise getting an early morning tour, along with a one on one meeting with your preferred animal they have available. I do advise bringing bug spray, I found the shade to be plenty, but it is almost entirely outdoors. My personal experience . . . (The long one) Our large group was supposed to be split into two, and we had one group go one way, the other group go the other. I couldnt say if this happened, rather I saw the zoo keepers moving, and started following. I enjoy taking photos, and I prefer not to record what peoples heads look like- so I get in first and get out first. We saw several animals, an anteater, monkeys, and some more usual guys as we made our way to the camels. Here, we got to really get up close, which includes feeding them, by hand or mouth. Yepp, smooching was encouraged when done properly! Follow their instructions, please! Here we got to see a better glimpse of the zoo keepers. Number one, they are all knockouts. These girls are all gorgeous. But its not just the ladies. Yes, they are clearly fit, dress well, and either have perfect skin or wear make up well- but even the dudes (none of them ZKs) were fit! Im comfortable enough with myself to be able to say, they had some fit and handsome guys here. It was like a zoo version of Baywatch. Number two, they fall on a tight rope, and balance there. Working with living creatures, there are two paths when hiccups occur. Being a push over, and being too easily influenced by emotions. The camels were giving our ZKs a bit of a hard time. It wasnt a big deal, but putting myself in their shoes, they have almost 80 people watching them. Expecting full control, and execution. The precision of carving a turkey with the action like riding an ostrich. Its high stress to perform well, and give a great experience. It was clear (to me) the individuals were frustrated that they werent getting proper cooperation, but at no point did they break and show frustration or anger towards the animals, nor did they get pushed over and back down from the challenge. Without going into much further detail on their micro expressions, they were in the comfort zone of not being weak, and controlling themselves in a higher stress situation. Thats the right place for someone who works with animals. Moving forward, we saw the big cats, as well as some smaller, less "interesting" animals. Sorry sloths, but the lions have you beat. I personally wasnt interested in these spaces. It is very up close (safe), but I like to photograph. The fences made this a non starter. My normal habitat is 20-80 feet from my target, moving or stationary, and thats the way I shoot best. 8 feet from a cat with a 55-300mm lens isnt my cup of tea, and of course no way for a macro with the fencing. This led us to the high point. High point like the plane Im riding in, not like that the starbucks person pronounced your name right for an $8 coffee. In the gazebo, we got to engage with an emu, lizard, owl, alligators, armadillo, boa, and others. -The owl is my favorite order of animal. They are more solitary, have specialized hunting skills, and the actual physics that has honed from evolution (necks, eyes, face & ears, feathers, how they fly, I can ramble on and on). This little guy was perched and able for gentle petting as well as selfies and photos. He was very interested in getting to know some of the local birds. As in, what they taste like. My review gets cut off here :( Youll enjoy it! :)

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John Shin

I researched ZWF Miami months in advance to make sure that they were more than just a business. My girlfriend and I flew from Virginia just for this occasion. Our tour guide was amazing, I literally asked dozens of questions about the animals, she didnt get annoyed or gave me attitude, instead she answered them thoroughly. The facility treats the animals really well, far better than anything Ive seen at other zoos/facilities. We got to play and meet with the baby animals and yes some of them were super energetic and some werent but no ones to blame, animals have personalities like us and no one can really force them to act the way they want them to...because that would be abuse. In addition to the baby animals, we met a variety of mature animals and also learned a lot of cool facts about them. It was worth every single penny, honestly made me reevaluate where I want to take my career. I give this place an 11/10. Hope to be back here soon. p.s anyone complaining about the prices being too high or whatever. Like I said its worth every penny and I never write reviews for anything so that should tell you how cool this place is.

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Melissa Wells

Ive actually been to zwf 3 times. I think its pretty affordable. If you just want to the general tour its under a hundred and you basically get to see all of their animals and interact with a few including an otter, a lemur, feeding camels, monkeys, etc. The big cat encounter or other animal encounter can be a little expensive but you do get to learn a lot and roll around with some real cute babies. You cant expect the experience to last all day; these are babies and get tired or unpredictable at times. Remember that they are also wild animals. As for the price, you can tell this place is extremely expensive to maintain and my guess is theyre really not making any profit at all on these encounters nor are they breaking even. Its just something they can use to inform the public on these animals and hopefully change people to help make a difference in these animals wild counterparts. If I lived anywhere near here (Im from NYC) I would literally be here every month if not more. This place is so awesome.

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PA

Paul Reuter

What an INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE. From the time we arrived as a family, we were treated with exemplary customer service. Our tour guide ( ALI) was a ball of energy and so knowledgeable on all of the animals on the property as well as animals in general. For my youngest, this provided a great learning experience and inspired him and his friend in so many ways. From the smallest of animals to the largest of creatures, this up close look at some of the most incredible animals on the planet was breathtaking. You can tell that the animals are well loved and cared for by the parks director Mario. What an incredible man! He and Ali provided a one of a kind " Bucket list" experience that we have been happy to share with our friends and family. We would rank this experience as one that YOU MUST SEE and be a part of. THANK YOU for a memorable day that we will cherish for the rest of our lives.

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