Franklin Park Zoo

1 Franklin Park Rd, Boston, MA 02121, USA

Related:	cherry republic ann arbor
Address:	1 Franklin Park Rd, Boston, MA 02121, USA
Phone:	+1 617-541-5466
Site:	franklinparkzoo.org
Rating:	4.1
Working:	10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–6PM 10AM–6PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

Jeff Doughty

Positives: More exhibits than expected. Large area, with up close viewing. Lots of birds. Free (albeit scattered) parking. Negatives: Expensive for what you get. Terrible food. Saw zero interaction between zoo keepers and animals. Animal living conditions look to be very low quality. Many of the exhibits have signs that read "This animal is receiving veterinary care" which is depressing. Either too many or too few animals in each exhibit. Worst of all comes to the Gorilla and other primate exhibits... These animals are caged in far too little room with essentially no stimulation. When we came to this part of the zoo I was interested to see how the animals were acting. We found one adult Gorilla sleeping by the window. Upon waking and seeing about 10 people watching her she immediately grunted, pounded the glass and ran off. A few minutes later she returned, sat down, put her face into her hand and sat looking at the people out of the corner of her eye. It was incredibly depressing to see the undeniable look of frustration, boredom, and sadness in her eyes. We had a similar experience a few feet over with the Lemurs... a lemur pounded off the glass when a girl was making faces at him. The only zoo keeper/ workers to be found were doing some repair to the condor exhibit. No animal interaction took place while we were there. Overall: Its a zoo with potential to be good. It reminds me of the show Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon Ramsey needs to come and talk some sense into the complacent apathetic staff. Think about the needs of the animals. If you are going to bring your children here, they will probably enjoy themselves for a couple hours, if they can handle the walking or are in a stroller. If you are like me (a 30 year old) with a fondness for animals, you will probably walk away feeling bummed out for the animals and wishing there was something you could do to help.

Rated by Hanna

Ill never pass up a chance to visit a Zoo and hang out with some animals. Ive visited so many throughout my childhood and still love adding zoos to the list of places to visit. (Aquariums too!) My friends mother somehow managed to get a promotional voucher for tickets before the 2016 season closed and but it was too cold for some of the animals to be out. This zoo in particular may not be as big as the Bronx Zoo, so you can easily finish exploring in a few hours. I think its priced reasonably for $20/adult. Strangely enough living in the Boston area for a decade, this was my FIRST time coming by and they even have their own FREE parking lot! That never happens in Boston of all places... The zoo has several entrances and we parked near the Hyenas exhibit. When we visited it was not too busy since many of the exhibits were unavailable (i.e. Giraffes) due to the colder temperature, despite it being a perfect fall day for me. Ironically the playground area the tall giraffe slide was also closed! Coincidence?! My friends and I had a blast hanging out with the animals. There were only a few instances of bumping elbows with other zoo goers for the most popular exhibits (Lions and Tigers). All of the exhibits have very informative signs and facts about the animals on display. I loved the new exhibit that they had opened up in the Childrens Zoo section and saw the cute red pandas along with the gophers. Theres also another playground/slide section here as well. The only part I wasnt crazy about was the Giddy Up Grill food area and gift shop, but what do you expect when you are a captive audience in an amusement type area. Everything is overpriced and not great quality. Besides that I am looking forward to coming back another time when they have the other exhibits open!

Lauren Tyler

I had briefly looked at the overall rating on google before bringing my children here. I regularly take my children (2yr, 1yr) to zoos and aquariums while traveling and this has to be the worst zoo we have been to yet. The price was reasonable, and Im not sure why other reviewers are so pumped that the parking is free. It is a terrible arrangement for parking. Far from the actual zoo, tiny dirt lots, fast traffic to cross and when we returned to our car, another zoo-goers window had been smashed out. We visited on a sunny, 70* day in April and there were no animals. Understandably, there is variation on which animals are out for health, maintenance, etc, but as we traversed the expansive park, +50% of the exhibits seemed to be closed or empty. The petting zoo was also closed. Our experience at the concessions was less than desirable with a soggy wrap and a lack of shaded seating. The overall layout of the zoo was not the most effective use of the acreage and lead to a lot of walking on a main drag that didnt offer much to look at other than pasture. The indoor exhibit had narrow walkways which made for nearly impassable traffic with buggies and onlookers. The first 4 of the windows were filthy and my son couldnt even see through them! I was shocked. The majority of the children here seemed to be amusing themselves on carousels and jungle gyms or feeding ducks, which I hate to point out, but you can do this for free on almost any corner in Boston. I was incredibly disappointed in our experience here and will not be returning. A world class city deserves a world class zoo and I hope that they make an attempt at fixing this.

Tony Pesos

where should i begin? so great, the parking is free, thats the only positive...unfortunately you pay for it when you get to the entrance and have to pay the admission price. it wouldnt be a bad deal if there were actually animals on display. we went July, thinking its summer so all the exhibits should be open, but we were wrong. about 10 displays were closed. Then as you walk around you see a bunch of sections that are fenced off but no animals in them! really? just empty patches of land with overgrown grass everywhere. seems like the grass is unkept. all of the food stands were closed except for the one near the entrance. the glass to see the animals thru were absolutely dirty with hand prints and smudges everywhere, mind you we went when the park opened so we thought the park should of been clean. the farm section was a joke, they had 2 goats you could pet. and that was it. the kids werent even allowed allowed to feed them. the "flight cage" had not even one bird in it. we couldnt believe it. it was a disgrace and waste of money. not to mention that the "new" Zoorassic Park is a complete waste of money that they have the nerve to actually charge a separate fee for. its a shame this zoo is so bad, with so much land they could have a really great zoo. even Yorks Zoo in Maine, which is smaller is 100 times better in which you can feed the ducks, they have a real petting zoo with many goats the kids can feed, as well as feed deers, ride camels and ponys, take pictures with a snake and all the displays are always open! i will never waste my money here again. mind as well drive to Maine or Rhode Island for much better zoos.