Safari North Wildlife Park

Most Recent Comments

• October 2023 by Barbara Wersal
  This is a wonderful animal experience!! It’s much more than a Zoo. Kelly, Kevin,Zach,and Cheyenne have come a long way from their mobile petting zoo. They have a grand variety of animals that are very well cared for and seem to like where they live. If you’re ever in the area during their open season be sure and stop in for a great day.
• October 2023 by Renee Harlson
  Loved this zoo. Love the openness. Able to see all the animals super cool. Only complaint is I would of liked seeing enhancements/toys. Many enclosures bare to empty. Animals need toys,/enhancements. Overall a very nice zoo. We traveled there from the twin cities. We will be back. I definitely recommend this place.
• October 2023 by RayReptile
  We visited on a promotional weekend, so our entry was free. This was our first time visited this specific zoo.Safari North had a LOT of animals packed into a small area. There are many different types of animals but many of the animals are in enclosures that are too small. There are also a decent amount of enclosures that seem to not have enough items for the animals. Whether it be playing areas/toys or cooling off watering holes, may animals seemed uncomfortable. Mind you, I'm not a zoo expert, but there needs to be more care for the animals. Much of this zoo seems to be "stick the animal in there" and forget about them. The only employees we seen outside the gift shop were at the bird cage and giraffe encounter, where they were selling additional items. They were not there for the animals.The entire family agreed that we would donate to a better zoo in the future.
• October 2023 by Tj
  Nice Zoo. The layout is great; transitioning each exhibit doesn't leave you feeling like you missed something, without losing the "natural" setting.
• September 2023 by Amy Messner
  What a great variety of animals, well maintained, and a great experience for my four kids. They were entertained the entire time. It was amazing! I was so happy to finally get to come and enjoy the opportunity! The only bummer was not being able to see the lion without going on the train. Otherwise everything was great! Also, loved that feeding the giraffes wasn’t just one leaf, but a little cup of multiple carrot pieces. Great idea!
• September 2023 by 267dianer
  We were very surprised with all the out of country animals we saw. We missed the train ride which we have heard from several people was very worthwhile. We were there a couple of hours. You can feed the animals though you need to purchase the food. We highly recommend stopping, well worth it! We will be back. Make sure you plan for the train ride, they only go out every few hours.
• August 2023 by sarahcM1532XU
  I hope they treat their animals better than their customers. We had been here once before and it was okay. Such a fun experience, although treatment of the animals is horrendous. Unfortunately, we came back a second time and were very excited for our 2 year old to see the animals. We drove 2 hours to experience this place and talked to our son the entire drive about how awesome this place was. We Googled how late they were open and it said 6pm. Go to their website, and it says the same thing. We arrived at 4:58pm and took our time in the parking lot, changing our son's clothes. We get to the door and find out the last ticket is sold at 5pm. It should be no big deal, right? It was 5:03. I tried to ask a staff member, who I found out later was actually the owner, if there was any way we could still buy our tickets since we still had an entire hour before they closed to walk the park. She was horribly rude, refused us entry, even after I had explained to her we had just drove 2 hours and had arrived on time but just reached the door 3 minutes late not knowing the last ticket is sold at 5. She was absolutely awful and we are disgusted in her behavior and how we were treated. I understand we were 3 minutes late. But any decent business establishment would have allowed some wiggle room, or at least some compassion instead of being so incredibly rude. I feel bad for the miserable woman that felt she had to be so strict in that situation to turn away our family and horribly dissapointed child over 3 minutes. Read some other reviews on here and you'll find we aren't the only family that experienced horrible treatment from this exact woman. Hope she feels proud of herself.
• August 2023 by A6325VVsarahm
  1. Very small cages EVERYWHERE 2. Animals showing psychotic breaks (e.g. pacing back and forth nonstop which worn out the ground) 3. Monkeys freaking out, trying to get out of the small cages 4. Turkey cage full of feces to the point where its caked on their feet because the cage is too small. 5. Stagnated green water everywhere 6. One rain deer showing ribs 7. Parrots pulling out their own feathers 8. A sign saying that cheetahs can go 20 feet per stride and the cage looks like only 3 to 4 strides worth 9. Some cages looks like it was tacked together and now falling apart. 10. Some cages (e.g. the black squirrel) were all wires which caused harm to the animals paws/claws/etc. 11. Some animals had noticeable sores on their bottoms from sitting around unable to move much. 12. All the big animals (cats, bears, etc.) had no toys/balls to play with. 13. All of the big birds (eagles, parrots, etc) had their wings clipped which allows the ZOO to keep the cage roof-free. 14. Lemur family was kept on a small concrete island with a single roof, surrounded by mucky green water moat. They just held each other and stared at us. 15. One species of tiny monkeys had a sign saying that there is only 6,000 left in the wild and there they are, 3 of the small monkey inside cage smaller than a typical kitchen cabinet surrounded by fake forest wallpaper. They kept freaking out and trying to get out via the ceiling (where there were no wallpaper there). Worst of all, all of the ZOO workers looked very disheartened and pessimistic. If you want to go to a ZOO and witness what NOT to do do as a zoo and/or teach your kids how stupid human beings can be with animals, go to this place. Otherwise, avoid this place. I wish I never went to celebrate my daughter's 6 months on Earth.
• August 2023 by PartyTheNightAway
  Good trip. We arrived at approximately 9 am and made our way towards the entrance to the zoo. Tickets were pricey and cost almost 20 dollars for an adult ticket. After paying our admission fee, we took a map of the zoo and started walking towards the path. There were informational plaques, scattered throughout each animal exhibit, that provided information on the various animals and their living environment, along with a fun fact. The path along the zoo took us around a loop to the various exhibits. The zoo was medium in size and contained a wide variety of animals. There was a lot of open space that could have been filled with other animal exhibits, especially towards the back of the zoo. There was a petting section to the zoo with various animals to touch and feed. Tip: I recommend spending 3 hours here if you truly want to see everything.
• July 2023 by William Knopke
  Safari North Wildlife Park was a wonderful surprise on our family’s 4th of July weekend holiday vacation. Excellent walkable path along all the animal exhibits which were well spaced out, so as not to feel too crowded with all the other visitors. Many types and varieties of animals to view for both kids & adults. The giraffes are extremely friendly when feeding them carrots, but just be careful that you don’t lose your wedding ring as their tongues are extremely powerful! Ha ha! I would say that the main bathroom in the visitor center could use some more attention for cleaning, but otherwise a great experience for our family. Thumbs up and would recommend if in the area!
• July 2023 by Anthony Nereson
  What an unexpected gem. The diversity of animals blew me away. I think the concept of a zoo is kinda gross but I love looking at animals and these dudes didn't look to be treated any differently than their counterparts in a big zoo. The Snack Shack was predictably over-priced, but not shamefully so. We had a soft pretzel (adequate), a pulled pork sandwich (dry but tasty) and French fries (way good!).
• June 2023 by Mustafa Tongur
  Never thought small town got that huge zoo. Many different animals all around the world from wild cats to camels and crocs. You can get a camel ride even. Wild animals paradise. Highly recommend. I am impressed with what they got there.There is a train tour that I definitely recommend it. Like 20 minutes, you are seeing wild animals without cage and cute ostrich is following you and it seems really interesting and so fun.
• June 2023 by L A
  The containments here are sooo soo soo small, it was heartbreaking. It really was devastating to see how miserably small areas the majority of these creatures live in some barely get any shade even.Have less animals and give more space so they can have a better quality of life. More animals doesn’t mean better.We will not be back here.. I won’t give them my money again.My kids had a blast with the rides and the giraffe feeding. It gets very expensive fast. Makes sure you bring cash if you want to do the camel ride and feedings. We skipped the little train to save 25 bucks for our family. Also the bracelet for unlimited rides is the more cost effective. 20 bucks per wrist band.They need to be visited by some animal rights. Lots of violations here, you can see how stressed and sad they are.
• June 2023 by Ethics M.
  Spent over $100. No staff. Rude management. The animals are not taken care of. Dirty facilities and bathrooms. There is no shade, food or water for the animals. Do not support this establishment. This is animal abuse. The rides were broken and there was no staff to assist. Save your money and go somewhere else. There is no shade for the visitors too. No shade for the animals. No stimulation. No engagement. Good at marketing bad at execution.
• June 2023 by 713maurissap
  Sharing my family’s experience at Safari North - Brainerd today, as we left almost an hour ago and my family and I are still shaken up…. Please share if you feel so inclined, as I’m genuinely sick to my stomach over it!! We tried visiting here today after this recommendation and after three hours of walking around and spending well over $150 on all of the added “exhibits”, we were kicked out of buildings early and followed at arms-length by employees 45 minutes before closing. I politely and calmly attempted to share my feedback with the owner as we were leaving, and she continually screamed in my face, while I was holding my ten month old. I asked her for an email address so I could provide feedback without being screamed at, and she refused to provide me any contact information. For a third time, I calmly explained that I was also a business owner, and that I wasn’t seeking any sort of refund or compensation, that I was simply sharing feedback - she SCREAMED, in front of 10+ people, that I was not a business owner and that I needed to shut up and leave. I told her that I would be leaving feedback publicly based on the way she spoke to me, and she followed me out into the parking lot, screaming at me, my children, and my husband, calling us “f-ing losers” and telling us “we sucked”. As we were leaving, I took out my cell phone to take a photo of the front of the building (so I wouldn’t forget the name, as we aren’t from in town), and she ran back out the door with her cell phone in hand, yelling that she was recording me and that “she had been recording me for the last half hour”. My 12 year old ended up in the car crying. I am APPALLED and genuinely hope this comment saves someone else from such an awful experience. Unfortunately most of the animals also look quite unwell and are kept in some pretty sketchy enclosures - many are limping and have blatant growths and injuries. I would highly recommend avoiding this place at all costs, as every staff interaction we had was awful. Actually, the young man who drove the train on our (added cost) train ride, was phenomenal and by far our favorite part of the visit.