Buttonwood Park Zoo

425 Hawthorn St, New Bedford, MA 02740, USA

Related:	stoneham zoo
Address:	425 Hawthorn St, New Bedford, MA 02740, USA
Phone:	+1 508-991-6178
Site:	bpzoo.org
Rating:	4.1
Working:	9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 14

To start, there is an excellent walking path all the way around the zoo, that is wide open & well walked by many people, at all times (I feel very safe walking here in daylight hours). Also a pretty large playground and play area outside the zoo as well (free). Plenty of parking inside the lot, however, if there is a special event, get there EARLY, as the lot fills FAST, & that when parking becomes an absolute nightmare horror show (I did minus a star for that reason). Large entrance, & admittance fee is very small (and even better if your a member, which is also very reasonable). They have a cute gift shop at the entrance, & cafeteria across the way. Exhibits are clean, and animals well cared for. It is a small zoo, but a wonderful place to go and watxh animals you otherwise may never see. And, its obvious the staff care for these animals very much and will answer questions from the kids easily & with patience & in a way the children understand. Highly recommended, esp if your looking to get out doors, and do something entertaining, educational and very inexpensive!

maureen idehen

Cafeteria tables were disgustingly sticky around the edges. They need some Clorox bleach for those tables and chairs. Teenagers huddled behind the counter could comes out and do a better job. They were noisy and unprofessional. They just seemed unruly. Need times for when the little train leaves. Desperately need signs with arrows pointing the way. It was really confusing finding the sites! Frankly it cant cost too much to give visitors a paper map. Just dont care for that stationary map thing. It just wasnt convenient. Thank goodness for Tyler the train driver. He saved the day by perpetually pointing us in the right direction & telling us about the exhibits. Great attitude and so clearly loves his job. Pity the zoo didnt give him a mic to make good sense of the train ride. Great young man. Luckily the elephants Emily & Ruth saved it all. My son loved them. That was why we came! He was very happy. .

Dorothy

I really enjoyed my time here I love walking around and sing the different animals they have the different reptiles and fish and insects and spiders exedra I also enjoy being able to feed a few of the animals also on grabbing a small bite to eat shopping and meeting a few different people its a great place for your family its a great place for a good date someone like me to take your grandchild or just to get away for a little bit after you visit the inside of the zoo you can walk around on the outside this is a great place to go jogging walking theres a area for baseball football basketball huge pot just to walk around across the lake watch the Ducks feed the Ducks nice things to do here Pleasant to visit makes a wonderful great day to get out grab some ice cream grab a sandwich or something and just spend the day with your family and friends

Aysha Lee

This zoo is good for the area that its in. It is a small zoo so I would say its probably best for children ages 2-6 maybe 2-8.. I believe it took me 30 minutes MAX to walk through the whole entire zoo. They do have a puppet show for kids 5 & ^ . Its called the toe jam puppet show, which is cute. The best animals there are: an elephant, lynx, river otters & two bears. I believe theres one more large cat. When I went a lot of the zoo was under construction so I wasnt able to really even see the elephants. They say they have monkeys.. I didnt see any.. and I walked every square inch of the park. ONE of the good things is there is a beautiful park for children outside of the zoo which is on a great piece of land!

Travis A

Very friendly staff. Lots of variety (rides, animals, environments). Some open entertainment and increased interaction with people in the walkways would make this place a 5 for sure! I went on a cold misty day, quite early in the year (which could be why there wasnt extra stuff going on). -Despite unfavorable conditions, the staff were lively and pleasant and I had a great time making great memories there [@ Buttonwood Park]! :)

Wendy Ysasi

If you approve of the abuse of elephants, this is the place for you. Ruth and Emily suffering frostbite left out in a blizzard. Lose of tissue and horrible pain. Zoos are the worst place for elephants - they should be sent to a sanctuary for the remainder of their lives. New Bedford council members, do the right thing, do the humanitarian thing, send these suffering elephants to a sanctuary.

Fabio Mendes

This is a very bad zoo , animals have really small areas and they look like they are dying there , how come humans can treat animals like this for their own pleasure , the worst zoo ever Btw the eclipse sun glasses was a joke how they gave more than one per family and left other guests without any. They did have watching stations though.

Janna Ipswich

This is a small zoo for the average tourist, however its close if you are visiting the whaling museum. We were directed by the folks to try the "ZOO". I has been about 20 years since I visited one and it was a nice relaxing pace. It doesnt take long to walk it all, its just about a few city blocks. Its clean and has attractive cages :-(

Chris Maciel

This zoo is didnt get 5 stars only because of its size. My friends and i were able to see all the exhibits in about 45 min. That being said the price was fair considering the size. Also they are planing on expanding and in the spring of 2017 a new exhibit will be opening. Overall not bad, a good experience for kids, and maybe a cheap date.

Andreya Daubman

For a $10/ticket zoo, this is a very good deal. It will be even better late in summer 2017 when their newly-renovated exhibits are open. Check out the park while youre here too, but use the zoo bathrooms before you leave! There doesnt seem to be more than one port-a-potty in the whole rest of the park as far as restrooms are concerned!

Steve LaVoie

Its a fun place especially if you have little kids. Even enjoyable for adults and worth the money. Many of the cats seemed agitated and did nothing but pacing. I would advise to come before 4pm as many things were shut down for the day when we got there. The elephant was also MIA but it was close to closing so maybe it was being fed?

Shari Bradstream

RETIRE RUTH NOW!! For the sake of the animal, DO the right thing...even if its hard City Council! Your lack of care and true environment is killing Ruth and even Emily. Change the zoo into real-time webcams from certified and qualified sanctuaries! Set up an educational center. If you wont make these changes, CLOSE THE PARK!

Dennis Migneault

Buttonwood Park Zoo is high on the list of the 10 worst zoos for elephants. These animals have suffered frostbite on many parts of their bodies and one elephant has had to have removed part of her tail. Keeping beautiful sentient animals under conditions like this is absolutely intolerable.

Julie English

Shame on your staff for leaving Ruth the Elephant out in the freezing cold causing her to get frostbite and hypothermia! Unacceptable! --Buttonwood Park Zoo made the 2013 list of Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants. Time to make some HUGE changes or close the zoo down!