Tulsa Zoo

Reviews 3

CH

Chelle J.

I dont normally write negative reviews, but I just had to comment on the Tulsa Zoo with the hope that someone will see this and address the concerns. First, getting to the Zoo was an experience. The roads were horrible (narrow, no shoulders, tall grass obscuring any signs - if there were any, potholes, etc.) and we didnt see any signs pointing the way until we got to the Zoo entrance. My impression was the city or county doesnt care about the Zoo and they werent interested in investing any time or money into the infrastructure to get there. Secondly, the Zoo seems to lack adequate parking and people were driving way too fast through the parking lot; especially with the number of excited little kids around. There are lots of beautiful open areas within the parking areas and I understand if they dont want to turn a few of these areas into parking spaces, but something needs to be done. Third, I had never been to the Tulsa Zoo before and as we entered I was struck by how rundown it was. The restrooms at the park entrance were woefully inadequate, old and filthy. There were only three stalls, two of which were so tiny that children were having trouble getting in and shutting the doors. (The doors when fully opened, touched the front of the toilet.) Also, there were only two sinks in the womens restroom and one paper towel dispenser that didnt work. Fourth, and most importantly to me, the animals enclosures where outdated and very small. Most of the animals looked sad, bored and had very little room to move around and very little stimulation. I know this Zoo is only 80 acres, but most of the animals need much more space than what they have and they need toys or distractions and much more natural habitats. The buildings were a great thought, but poorly designed. Again, the animals enclosures were way too small and unimaginative. There were people going both ways through the buildings and it was a very loud, confusing mess with several people getting upset (and inappropriately verbalizing it even though small children were present) that they couldnt get into the buildings because people were trying to get out of the same doors. At the "Desert" building, there was a vendors cart about 10 feet from the door and people were backed up in line for cotton candy and sno-cones while others were trying to get in or out of the doors. This was a good idea, but not very well thought out. The cart could have been moved further away from the entrance/exit. Aside from the negative aspects, the Zoo is adding new exhibits which will hopefully be nice when they are completed. The information cards where interesting and colorful. The placards with the names and ages of the elephants and tortoises were a sweet touch that endeared the animals to you even more. All of the Zoo employees we encountered were professional and friendly. I think the Tulsa Zoo has good intentions, which is awareness of animals and conservation. I also think the Zoo could be much better if the city supported the Zoo more - perhaps the city does, but that was not the impression I got. Tulsa Zoo would benefit from observing other zoos in the midwest, particularly the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, KS. The Sedgwick County Zoo is very thoughtfully and carefully laid out with great consideration for the animals and visitors and has great support from the city of Wichita. I hope the Tulsa Zoo continues to improve and provide education and awareness to its visitors for many years to come. I also hope they can improve on the size of the enclosures and provide more stimulation and comfort for the animals.

EL

Elizabeth Carson

So for about a year now the zoo has been hyping up The Lost Kingdom. I went during spring break and was extremely excited. The exhibit promised tigers, Komodo dragons, red pandas, snow leopards and more. I visited the zoo today and I was thrilled that I was going to be able to see some red pandas for the 2nd time in my life, the first being at the Sioux Falls zoo. So Im walking around and the Lost Kingdom looks amazing. The exhibits are nice and big for all the animals. After Ive taken that all in, I begin to look for the red panda and I see the small cute face on a sign. I rush over and what I see is definitely not a red panda. It was a Binturong. A warm weather animal. Opposite of the red panda. I read the the sign with my favorite animals face on it saying the the red panda and binturong shared an exhibit, the binturong staying in the Lost Kingdom exhibit for the warm months and the red panda in that exhibit during the cold months. Basically the red panda was inside where people cannot view it. In my opinion that is false advertising saying that there would be a red panda but then not letting the people view him like many people have been. The tiger exhibit was large and spacious. Only 1 tiger who looked very stressed out and was pacing along the glass window where the people stood to view him. Felt bad for him. He had nothing to do. I understand that they are solitary creatures but give him some toys or a friend or something. Also I thought snow leopards were solitary creatures. There were 4 in one enclosure which was smaller than the tigers exhibit. One was very curious. But I dont understand why the snow leopards were outside when they live in the same or even colder habitat but got to be outside but the re panda was not. Ok so when reading the info sign for the African Wild Dogs (painted dogs), it states "these dogs live in groups of 6-20 dogs." Last time I went there were 4. Now there were 3. When they let them outside, there were 3 bones with meat on them. They each ran to one and began to eat. I dont know if Im right or anything, but I think there should be 3 more of them and that the zookeepers should do something to increase prey drive such as putting a piece of meat on a rope and have the rope begin to drag as the dogs hunt it, having them work together and keep them fit. But hey, Im no expert. The lions werent outside either. Neither were the bears. The tortoise were probably the most active animals I saw today. The gardens are stunning. Very beautiful and well kept. Lots of butterflies. I understand that the animals need their quiet time but it would be nice to see the animals, even if they are inside. What happened to the zebras? Why are they keeping the elephants inside? We like to see elephants in action other than shows. Side note: it was 75 degrees, a very mild day for an Oklahoma August. I went at 9:30, when the day is cool, and I thought all the animals would be out to enjoy the weather. But no. The jaguar cub has gotten very big. They were activeish. Still needs lots of improvement! But it is getting better

A

A Private User

I love the Tulsa Zoo, very much. I grew up going there, and my kids love going there now themselves. But do not use the Tulsa Zoo as somewhere you plan to book a party. This would have been the daughters first BIG birthday party with friends and such, and it was HORRIBLE. The weather ruined the original party so we had to re-schedule, which is not an issue considering Oklahoma weather, BUT it was close to impossible to get someone on the phone or to call me back..EVER..then when I did speak to someone my options were re-schedule or cancel. Because obviously they could care less to have my business? So when I finally went up there on my lunch break and someone was forced to help me, I got the party re-scheduled...Then when they party day came, I just got to deal with rude and un-happy people. Was driven around the ENTIRE park on a golf cart -hitting every bump-and going as fast as it could go-while I was trying to keep myself, and my 50 lb cake from falling off-just to go to a building that was a 2 minute walk from the front. And no, that is not a complaint about being driven to my location..because that was offered to me..that is a complaint that the person driving couldnt slow down when going over train tracks, or hitting bumps....even after telling me how difficult it was to move her wedding cake to her location at the zoo. We put a sign up on the door so people would stop walking in on our party and quit peeking in and staring at us -only to have that ripped down by some person at the zoo, as she stormed off? And obviously the door was not locked by this "sign" we hung, since people were still walking in and out of our party and the staff continued to come in and out to see how we were doing. Most of the staff I dealt with, IN THE BEGINNING, was fabulous...the women in the office, they lady who put my daughters basket together when we "adopted" an animal there-amazing....even staff just walking around the zoo was nice...but i guess sometimes you just get that bad seed...who didnt wanna be at work that day. With the money I spent at the zoo, they should have made that much more enjoyable for my guests and chilren..There is nothing better than guests at your party asking you why some staff arent a little more helpful. But instead we had to deal with rude people. Needless to say-this is simply my review, everyone else can see for themselves what they think. And hopfully they have a better experience than I did...And i will still to this day take my children to the zoo, because they love it there...But unless there is improvment, I will not be booking any more parties with them. **UPDATE** Ill just make it short and sweet for all you readers.....when you pay money for an event....you usually intend on having it the way you want... I cannot inform you how your party will go now that they have a new person in charge....But Im sure it will go much better than my party did. Its always nice to have people treat you with respect and care about what you are needing from them as a business.

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