While Charlotte lacks a major, accredited zoo, there is no shortage of privately owned and operated zoos / wildlife parks in the Charlotte area. We’ve been to Lazy 5 (multiple times), Zootastic Park, and Tiger World and enjoyed them all. When JB turned 9, we decided to celebrate with a unique experience instead of with a party. I know a few people who have done one of the Animal Encounters at Zootastic and raved about it. It sounded perfect for our animal lover.
I will admit to having mixed feelings about private wildlife attractions. In most cases, the owners started their park because they are passionate about animals, and they do love and care for their animals. But with no federal or state funding, the facilities always seem to maintain that “backyard” feel and do not have the same quality enclosures that you would see at accredited zoos. Stories of escaped animals or citations for violating the US Animal Welfare Act are commonplace at privately owned facilities so you have to be careful which ones you support.
We first went to Zootastic in 2012 and it was little more than a petting zoo. At the time, they had two tigers as their primary attraction, and the rest of the park was dominated by barnyard animals. My kids were only 2 and 4 at the time and they absolutely loved it. It was cute and fun for little kids but nothing to write home about.
Fast forward to 2019 and Zootastic is a completely different place in size and scope. Seven years ago it was a tiger cage, a barn, and one out and back dirt path with domesticated animals behind chicken wire fencing on either side. Today there are dozens of animals, ranging from domesticated (like goats and llamas) to exotic animals (including giraffes, leopards, and lemurs). While still not up to the level of an accredited zoo, I was blown away by the improvements that have been made. The park was completely unrecognizable once we got inside. (It has changed almost as much as those two little boys in the first picture!)
The Zootastic entrance is a replica of a town from an old western movie. There is one long strip of buildings, with the facades built to look like barns, saloons, and general stores from the wild west. You enter and exit the park through the gift shop. After you pay your admission fees, you exit out the back of the store and into the park. (Since we were doing an Animal Encounter, we had paid in advance so we simply needed to check in. As a bonus birthday gift, they gave JB some free treats to feed the giraffes.)
When you exit the gift shop and enter the park, you are immediately greeted by the giraffes. The boys took off running and couldn’t wait to feed them their special treats. And the giraffes couldn’t wait to eat them! They stuck their long necks through a window from the barn and tried to snatch the crackers right out of JB’s hand. (There was also an adorable baby giraffe who was housed in a separate enclosure.)
We had a good amount of time before our Animal Encounter so after the boys were done feeding and playing with the giraffes (which entertained them for a good long while!), they ran around exploring the park. They checked out the tigers, wallabies, and barn animals. But some of the most impressive creatures were the birds roaming around the property!
We arrived early enough to have plenty of time to wander around but we were thrilled when it was finally time for our Animal Encounter. They offer several different options – 15 minute encounters with specific animals, the basic Safari Encounter (5 animals over 60 minutes), or a variety of other increasingly expensive options with more exotic animals. We went for the basic Safari Encounter, listed on their website as 60 minutes with ring tailed lemurs, black and white ruffed lemurs, a kangaroo, a kinkajou, and a tamandua. The cost was $300 for up to 5 people and included admission to the zoo.
A staff member met us outside the main building and walked us to another building where she said we would start. She was carrying two bags over her shoulder as she escorted us to the classroom building. I thought to myself, “wouldn’t it be crazy if she has animals in those sacs?” Sure enough, we sat down in the classroom and two tiny kangaroo heads popped out of the sacs. Check out the picture to the right – tell me that isn’t the most excited kid you’ve ever seen?
There were two baby kangaroos in homemade kangaroo sacs. The boys got to hold them like babies. The kangaroos didn’t do very much but they were absolutely adorable.
While still cuddling the baby kangaroos, the keeper brought out the next animal. This one was a surprise. It was supposed to be a tamandua, which is a type of anteater, but instead she brought out an armadillo. Honestly, we had never heard of a tamandua so I wasn’t overly upset by the switch, but I did feel like they should have told us ahead of time that we were not getting the 5 advertised animals. The armadillo was super cool so it worked out fine but I can see how other people would have been upset if they had booked specifically for a certain animal that was changed out at the last minute. (I know I would have complained something fierce if the lemurs had been cut out since that is all JB talked about for weeks beforehand.)
The armadillo waddled around the room, its little toe nails click click clicking along the floor. It was amazing how it fit perfectly into a little ball when it curled up, all its armor matching up perfectly to protect its entire body. It was a little squirmy and liked to pop out of its ball suddenly, so you had to be careful while you were holding it. I had definitely never had a close encounter with one of these so it was a very unique experience.
From there we walked back to the main building to go into their other encounter room. This was the part my son was most looking forward to – the lemurs! He was so excited. But he would have to hold out just a little while longer because next up was the kinkajou. Also known as a honey bear, kinkajous are rainforest mammals from Central and South America. It was super cute but not especially playful, although it did go to great lengths to get Fruit Loops. But mostly it just wanted to cuddle and explore the room.
And finally… the main event! Words cannot describe the moment the keeper opened up the door and the black and white ruffed lemurs bounded their way into the room. After the laid back baby kangaroos, armadillo, and kinkajou, we were completely unprepared for the amount of energy that came bursting out of that door. They literally burst through the door and bounced off the walls and went flying all around the room. My husband had specifically said he would not hold or touch any of the lemurs. I was trying to capture the moment on video but they bounced around too quickly for my camera to keep up. When the third one had made its way out, I spun the video around to see where the others were in the room, and sure enough, the first lemur was sitting on my husband’s shoulder! As you can see, this was highly entertaining to everyone.
The black and white ruffed lemurs were so much fun. They literally jumped from shoulder to shoulder of everyone in the room. They were fun and cute and fluffy and super duper soft. If we had brought a big bag with us, I’m certain one of my boys would have tried to smuggle one home. They were worth every penny of that encounter.
And as if the day wasn’t already fun enough, two ring tailed lemurs joined us as well. They weren’t quite as energetic and not quite as interested in climbing all over us, but they were still fun to watch and interact with. And they loved their Fruit Loops too!
I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate a birthday for an animal lover. JB was over the moon for the entire 60 minutes. I had waffled a little about booking it because of the price, but it was absolutely worth it. The keeper was great – she was well informed, answered all our questions, and fostered great interactions between the boys and the animals. And the animals themselves were wonderful. It was a great sampling of different animals, each unique, fun and interesting in its own way. We may just find ourselves back again there in the future. That two-toed sloth is calling our name!
