Timbavati Wildlife Park Reviews

An absolute must for any family trip to the Dells. This is the Best animal attraction I have ever been to. The park is well kept, the animals are close and the best part is that you get to feed them. There is a kangaroo petting area and you can pet and feed giraffes. So much to see and do. I was with my teenage kids and they loved it. There s a nursery with all the baby animals and my girls enjoyed holding the baby kangaroo. I am so glad we came to the park and will come back every time we visit the Dells.

We had such a special time visiting Timbavati this weekend! The zoo is closed for the season but still offers the animal encounters which was incredible for a private experience. My husband and I met the red panda, Puck and he even sat on our lap. 🥲🥲🥲 We also did the sloth encounter, where we got to feed 5 sloths. Lulu was definitely the star of the show, but we absolutely loved them all. Thank you Sarah who took time to tell us about our animals friends and all their neighbors along the way while we walked through. It was such a special experience and I would highly recommend! We will be back!

they charge an arm and a leg ($20/adult $12/child over 2), besides the expensive train ride and expensive animal treats, both of which we did not do. the layout is unimpressive and feels desolate. there were hardly any visitors when we went, around 10 am.
there were some things we DID enjoy. the nursery with all the baby animals, feeding the giraffe and camels. they were also offering camel rides at $8/person (parent and child pay separately if you ride with your child), for a few circles around an enclosure.
it's like they're out to squeeze every penny possible from every visitor.

We did the Sloth and Red Panda Encounters, along with visiting the park, and taking the train. First of all, if you are paying for the Encounters or the VIP tour, you are expected to purchase general admission tickets to get into the park, so just a heads up, might as well enjoy the park after. We were not allowed to hold the sloths, so that was fairly disappointing, especially after seeing my husband have the Red Panda in his lap, lol, but it was still cool learning more about the sloth's and getting to hand feed them. We passed on the VIP tour (which broke my heart honestly), because the cost of the encounters, general admission, food to feed the animals, and train were already expensive enough, but maybe next time! I did not think the train was worth the cost personally, it was cool, but it was a fairly short train ride, doesn't go through the whole park, and we were charged 3 adults instead of 2 adults and a child, so it ended up being expensive. I wouldn't do it again. Feeding the animals was very cool, the bird cage was dangerous lol, many birds were biting, one broke the skin on my knuckle, but it was still fun and I'd still do it again lol. Feeding the Kangaroo's was AWESOME. Overall, a VERY fun, interactive wildlife park.

This zoo is a perfect family outing for old and young alike. The animals are well cared for and were active. We really enjoyed the train ride and interacting with the animal by feeding them. A real highlight was seeing a joey come out of his mother's pouch. Amazing.

A fun place for young children. The camel rides were a hit with our children. The house of birds was by far the most fun. You were be covered in literal swarms of birds if you have any food.

We went in the morning and with the sun hitting us it became hot very quickly. Our children enjoyed being able to feed some animals and there was a good variety. We just felt sorry for such large animals being captive in such small pens.

I've been wanting to visit here as I have a kid who loves animals (and giraffes in particular) and we had tickets with our stay at Natura. We really enjoyed it. The lunchbox (full of carrots, grain and seed sticks) was definitely worth it, and we also bought train tickets.

The park in general has a fair number of exhibits - birds, primates, reptiles, a feline center with several types of wild cats (including lions and tigers), and an African grasslands/woodlands area with various antelopes, a rhino, camels and a giraffe. My son LOVED the chance to feed the giraffe and camels, and the other animals (antelopes, lllams, etc). The goats were also very cute and eager to be fed the grain. The seed sticks were for the parakeet encounter which was fun - the birds absolutely swarmed us!

The train ride was a little pricey and we might not do it again. But it did take you through the grasslands and into an enclosure with antelopes and llamas who came right up to the train for feeding and sometimes nuzzling.

Overall it was a nice place to spend several hours and a break from the water parks. There's also some other encounters for an extra price that the kids mentioned wanting to do if we came back (red panda, sloth, etc.).

So my hubby and I took a last minute trip to the dells and didn’t really have high expectations for anything because of Covid 19 pretty much ruining everything this year.
However this place blew us away...
At first you walk in and there’s a few exotic birds and some kinds of monkeys, we were like okay, where are all of the other animals?
Well, just keep walking!!! They have a giraffe that you can walk right up to and feed and pet, they have a baby animal building with a lot of baby animals and they had two baby kangaroos that you could pay $10 and hold one and take all the pics you want!! Kangaroos are my favorite!!!! Totally worth it!! They also have a kangaroo walk about you can walk in and the kangaroos are all walking or laying around and you can walk right up to them and pet them and take pics!! They have a few tigers, and you can get really close for pictures and viewing! The have a parakeet house you can walk into and they are all freely flying around! They have Caribou, penguins, and did I mention kangaroos?!?! There was some new buildings going up, so it looks like they will be adding more attractions... either way this place is great!! Don’t mind me, it was very hot and humid this day and I was drenched with sweat!!

We visited with our 2 year old. She loved being able to pet, feed and interact with the animals. It was spread out well. You receive free tickets when staying at the Kalahari. We visited before our check in at the Kalahari, so we paid the entrance fee.

This was one of our favorite places to visit in the Dells. We weren't sure what to expect, but had a great time. We did everything from riding a camel and feeding parakeets to petting kangaroos. The exotic birds were also fun to discover and watch. Our kids are 2 and 5, and loved it!

We were able to visit Timbavati Wildlife Park for free as part of our stay at the Kalahari Resort. I highly recommend picking up some animal feed as you come in, as there are many animals you are able to feed and interact with in the park.

There is quite a variety of different animals throughout the park. My absolute favorites were the parakeets, which would sit on your hand and eat from their treat sticks. Though they are a bit skittish around loud children. They also have a neat goat enclosure where they can climb around a spiral staircase.

Many people really engaged a lot with the Giraffes who have a feeding deck, but don't skip out on the Camels who are also nearby! They deserve treats, too! Definitely worth a visit.

This place is nice when the weather isn't too hot or too cold, would love to see the animals have bigger enclosures but it's understandable that they are limited on space. We enjoyed watching the pig races and feeding the birds along with the safari and feeding the girafes. Lots of smiles for the kids getting that close to the animals for sure.

We were underwhelmed by Timbavati. It was really over-priced for a short lived visit. We went there first upon arriving into town and asked if there were coupons out there for the park. The cashier told me there were none, only to find quite a few coupons at the coupon center right outside. My kids are serious animal lovers, we've visited dozens of zoos and wildlife centers in the midwest. This one was really underwhelming to us. We spent well over $100 for an hour visit.

Just visited the Dells for the weekend. Took a break from the waterparks to spend time outdoors. Our 2 year old grandson loved the Wildlife park. A little pricey but fun to see the animals close up. Would have been nice if the train was working.

My husband and I took advantage of the $300 special VIP tour they offer and we had an incredible time! It was just the two of us on the tour and our guides led us through the park where we not only saw the animals but learned about them and their interaction with the guides which was very interesting to hear about. On our tour we got to spend time in the nursery and pet an aardvark, sloth, a baby kangaroo, and much more. We also went into the parakeet house (I didn't realize feeding birds seed on sticks could be so much fun!), rode the train into the wildlife area, and got to feed giraffes. While the VIP tour really made our day special, even just visiting the park and seeing all of the animals, participating in the shows, and watching the interactions is so much fun! I highly recommend spending at least half a day here!

We had free tickets & decided not to purchase the train tickets, which I’m glad. The train didn’t really seem to cover more than you could see on foot other than an area where an animal came up to the train and you could feed it. There were tons of animals throughout the park you could feed, so would not have been worth the $50 it would have cost for my family to ride the train. My 2 year old enjoyed it tons as well as my 13 & 15 year old and myself! Make sure you buy a cup of carrots or 2 😊

We did a private tour just after New Years. Very cold, but a very cool experience. Lexi and Steph are very knowledgeable and great zookeepers/guides.
Our personal favorites were the Giraffes (loved Ernie), Diva the White Tiger, sloths, baby goats, Black and White Ruffed Lemur and the birdies. Oh! The Monitor Lizard was pretty cool too. I’d highly suggest, and will be returning this summer.

Lots of different types of animals and birds make this an interesting place to visit while in the area. The staff is friendly and willing to answer questions and offer suggestions. It is a big open park with no shade, so wear a hat and sunscreen! You can buy food to feed the animals, and go on a train ride as well. The pig race is a must see!

My kids were really excited about the zoo. They found it disappointing to compared to others. There were no penguins and only one rhino. They did enjoy feeding the giraffes and camels.

We did the zoo and the train ride, great experience with our daughter and granddaughter. Loved feeding the animals and petting some of them.

We visited because we had a pass from staying at the Kalahari. Park appears in the process of building or remodeling with many of the habitats needing improvements. The best part was being able to pet the kangaroos. They were extremely docile.
The family enjoyed feeding the animals.

It wasn't very big but being able touch animals kinda makes up for it. Kinda pricey but something to do.

Small zoo or wildlife park. Lots of animals to see. Pig races were fun. Small enough area that the walking was not too much. Opportunity to feed and pet many of the animals.

This was a great stop for the four-year old in our group! Kid friendly, well kept for an animal attraction. The animals all appeared active and healthy and those that were meant to be accessible to the public were very active and engaging with the kids. One suggestion is that if you want to take the zoo train you do it at the start of the visit as when we took it later on we went past many areas we had already visited. Taking it first would have let us know which areas of the park the train did not visit and we would have missed a lot less due to our limited time there (we had a boat trip booked). There were improvement underway apparent in a couple areas of thee park, which is always a great sign of always trying to improve the lives of the animals as well as the visitors experience. All the staff I interacted with were extremely friendly and helpful!

We spent atleast 4 hours here and love it from the get to. We had a family ranging from 3-36 and everyone had a wonderful time. The birds were a hit along with the train. Def worth a visit!!

We spent about 2 hours strolling through this wildlife area. It was a nice relaxing break from the waterparks.
Many of the animals are very accessible and love to be petted and fed. They offer food for sale to feed the animals. They are great at indicating which animals are safe to feed.
There were also many baby animals to see.
This was the closest I've ever been to a giraffe which made my day
Honestly, when we first entered the area, it looked run down.. but keep moving in and you can see they are working hard to make it great

I really wanted to feed a giraffe and that was awesome. The 20 admission soon became 78 for 2 of us. Told you could only see several animals from the train, so bought the ticket, not tru. We saw the rhino, which we would have missed , but saw everything else without the train. Feed was 10 for a large box, tons of carrots, a couple parakeet sticks and grain. Some enclosures seemed small. Lots of think fences, so not great pictures.

We just did the train ride. It was fun be able to feed the animals. It was worth the $10 a person for it. The staff was very friendly also.

Wondrous experience. Much better than we expected. Great value for the fee. Animal enclosures were high standard, walkways and landscaping were great, and the animals seem well cared for. A great way to spend a half-day.

We visited Timbavati a few years ago and we had free tickets with our hotel stay again this year so we chose to visit again. It's interesting how they have taken a former attraction (Story Book Village and maybe one of the smaller, now shut down water parks) and have created this new attraction. It has improved since our last visit, although it's a bummer on how little space the big cats have compared to other zoos we have visited. You have to buy the "lunch box" to feed the animals at Timbavati. The kids (and the adults) had a ton of fun feeding the animals. I hope they keep making improvements and it will be interesting to see what it looks like in a couple more years!

Very fun to do. Quite a few animals to see and interact with. Grandkids rode horses and camels. We fed Giraff's and the grand kids got to have birds land on them. Not too awful big, so not too far to walk . We were told the only thing extra you can see on the train that you can't see walking is the hippo. So we didn't do the train.

We visited on a Saturday and although it was a bit pricy, I was pleasantly surprised by this animal park. The area was much larger than it looked from the outside, there were a variety of animals, the habitats appeared very clean and well kept, and the opportunity to feed the animals was great. We spent a couple of hours there but I could have easily stayed longer.

I'm an animal lover and thoroughly enjoyed the Deer Park - so a friend recommended that we visit the Wildlife Park. I should have known better and avoided it - but we went. The park is essentially a zoo. Animals are caged - and with the exception of maybe the camels and alpacas - I hurried past most because seeing tigers, giraffes, monkeys, and others depressed and restricted is not my idea of an "attraction". Some of the pens are so small that I would call them stalls. If you love animals - and have empathy for their quality of life - I would go to the Deer Park for a more natural and uplifting experience.

suprised we had never been here..its a nice little"zoo" alot of walking but you get to feed some animals, alot of info on them, there is a train you can pay extra for if you cant walk the whole place. great lookout towers for breathtaking views..and we paid extra for the red panda encounter and let me just say OMGEEE it was amazing!!
we had fun and spent at least a few hours so worth the price

I found this to be one of the nicest zoos we’ve been to You can get up real close to the animals behind the fences
Very clean went on a good day wasn’t too busy next weekend it was packed

We love coming here to feed the giraffes. The staff is excited to teach you about the animals. They truly love there job. Small zoo but well worth the stop.

This was a great way to spend an afternoon. There were several areas that allowed you to feed and interact with the animals. We started with the train ride. The train stopped in two locations where we could feed animals such as giraffes. Then we walked around to see the rest and of the zoo. We petted and fed kangaroos, birds, turtles, goats, etc. You do have to pay extra for the feed. We purchased the lunchbox for $10, but there are several price ranges.

First off, it was over $100 for our family of four to get in. They only do tours on the off season, so that's what we did. When we started the tour, they conveniently told us that some of the animals weren't at the park and had to be transported in. This would've been nice to know before we bought tickets because we literally only got to see lions, tigers, and goats in their cages, pet a few animals, and feed the parakeets. My husband and I felt so completely ripped off! The train wasn't running, we only walked a little of the park because we were on a "tour", and it was only an hour for $100! I just wished they told us before hand that there wouldn't be many animals to see!

As a long time customer and a season pass holder to the park. Took the kids for a train ride had time to kill. They have now changed the entrance to the train no sign don’t tell you when get tickets, then have to deal with the rude diver that expects you know where to enter. Second he couldn’t get the animals to the train and didn’t care. Don’t waste your time or money, frankly I wish I had my money back. Between tickets food and gifts for kids a true waste of $100. Again season pass holder also very unhappy. When told staff of train drivers attitude the store could have cared less as well. Don’t go here

I have two children brought them, brought my parents and myself and we had an absolute blast! You get so close to the animals! We even rode a camel! You can hold all kinds of animals, the bird habitat was a favorite for all of us, no cages and they are so friendly!

I can honestly say it was the best zoo we've ever been to. It is very interactive and you get to feed almost every animal in there. The giraffes and the parakeets were my kids favorite!! Super friendly animals and staff.

Animals that we could even find were stressed. Routes were poorly marked, overpriced and hidden charges. Everything is extra, and the staff Is complacent and rude. I firmly suggest reporting this place for animal abuse. And avoiding it like the plague. This is one of the single most poorly run zoos I’ve been to in a long time, and the manager should be fired for incompetence

My husband and I went to the during Memorial Day weekend and it was 95 degrees so many of the animals took some time to come outside but when they did it was amazing.. We did the train ride we’re you could feed the animals up close amazing experience but make sure you buy the carrots cause it’s supposed to be included in your package but we weren’t given anything to feed the animals. We got the feeling that it was understaffed cause the information booth was closed and when looking for someone to ask a question no one to be found. But the animals were worth the while we enjoyed it

Finally our first outing to the dells in several years without the kids and grand kids - JUST THE TWO OF US!. We decided to get to the park right when they opened. We figured the animals would really be hungry at that time. We took the train ride first. I was a little disappointed because there were only 2 animals that were behind the closed gate that wanted to be fed, however before boarding the train we got to get up close to the ostrich. First time ever! While on the train, you stop at the camel/giraffe exhibit (which you can also see while walking thru the park). First time ever to be close up to these animals and I was even able to pet the camels. We spent about 2 hours at the park. We didn't wait around to see the wildlife presentation or the pig races because it was starting to get really crowded and hot. I do suggest that if you are able to walk thru the park you can save the $9.95 on the train ride and just walk to the back of the park for the camels/giraffe, however, if you are unable to walk that far the train ride is worth it.

Roadside zoo all for profit! Non of the animals are Adequately cared for. The Giraffe is so MALNOURISHED! A lunchbox to feed specific animals was 10 bucks for a small cup of grains carrot sticks and two popsicle sticks with seeds on them! Got the ticket for free from the Kalahari waterpark please save yourself the heartache and don’t go!

First of all, I did not know the safari park and train were separate, so it is pretty expensive for what it is. The zoo part is pretty small and not a lot of animals. We really enjoyed the train part of feeding the giraffes and camels. We would probably just do the train part again if we did it.

Very interesting experience. Lots of animals to see close up. Even a nursery. Ability to feed many of the animals. Easy walking. Train (extra charge) with the ability to get off and feed animals. Great way to spend a few hours.

We had free tickets from the motel we stayed at. We went thinking it was a cheesy tourist attraction but we were very pleased! We really enjoyed the zoo and feeding the animals. The place is bigger than I thought and they are expanding to add more!

It cost almost $100 for our family to get into the zoo. Lots of "coming soon" exhibits. And lack of animals. I will say the animals were kept in very clean conditions but overall I feel this was a huge waste of money.

We received free passes from our hotel and it was very nice. It was way to expensive to take a kiddie train ride at over $11.00 per person including children over 12. It was crazy for $4.75 for not even a whole carrot to feed the girraffe and camels. But still a beautiful experience.

what a fun experience! You can hand feed many different types of animals. It was honestly so cool! Would go everyday to pet the animals!

Well maintained place and family loved seeing and feeding all the animals... Especially loved petting the kangaroos... Great family time and memories

Fun place to spend time feeding various wild animals. Favorite time is feeding the giraffes! Very relaxing walking around and the grounds are very clean.

This was better than I thought it would be. My two year old grandson really enjoyed it. Weather started out to be good but turned into a cold rainy afternoon. Fortunately we did the new animals first and then took the train. Yes it was cold but better than I thought it would be.

We loved our time at Timbavati! The kids loved feeding all the animals! We got free tickets through our resort and I was glad. Not sure I would've paid the $20/person fee to get in! Yikes! Worth it if you can get discount tickets, though!

We got free tickets with our stay at the kalahari resort, paid $10 for the “lunch box” which gives you a good size portion of carrots and grain to feed the animals. Was neat feeding the giraffe and the parakeets. You can feed the normal petting zoo type animals as well like goats, sheep, cow, etc. the camels were also neat to feed but my kids said they were a bit aggressive to feed them and didn’t care to keep feeding them. This was a cool place and we’d definitely do it again!

What an amazing experience. We took a 1pm Private Tour. Everything from the booking to the tour was great. We were able to tour the big cat enclosures, then a trip to feed carrots to giraffes, which was an amazing experience. From there to the nursery and some interaction with a baby kangaroo, now a favorite all time experience. Finally to the aviary to feed the parakeets, also incredible. The private 90 min tour may feel a little expensive when you go to book it, but it is well worth it. The tour feels intimate and the staff are really informative, friendly and focused on their animals. Everyone, from the 7yr old to the 50yr old had a great time.

I loved this park. I will be back with friends. I have no idea why anyone would write a bad review on this. The park was well kept. It had a good variety of animals. Its a place where you can pretty much feed most of the animals. They offer a cup of carrots for 4$ or a variety box of food for 11$ at the door. We fed donkeys, goats, camels, deer and a giraffe the carrots. There were a variety of monkeys, penguins, a lion, a lioness, a white tiger, a bengal tiger, parakeets, kangaroos, tortiouses, some sloths, and flamingos. All well fed and well kept. My favorite part was the giraffes, you can spend all the time you want with them feeding them and petting them. Thats almost an emotional experience for me. It was the best gift ever. The tickets are free if you stay at natura treescape resort so you don’t mind spending 4$ 3x for carrots. All in all it was very amazing to me.

We love Timbavati! They continue to improve and get better and better each time we visit. They have a great assortment of animals and cool animal encounters. The train is fun and a must do with or without kids. It even stops in the middle of a very large enclosure and they let animals come up to get pet and feed them! Overall a great zoo and a must do in the Dells!

It's a great little zoo that the whole family can enjoy.Feed the giraffe or get a camel ride while checking out the various animals around the park.

What a fun place to spend a few hours. The 9 of us went on a Wednesday and had a blast. Train ride was fun and informative, rhino was very cool and looked to be having a ball. Fed the giraffes as well as the dozens of other animals. Oh, did I mention you can pet kangaroos while inside their pen? Penguins were having their own party providing entertainment for all the park visitors. On top of all this, the employees were all genuinely friendly and knowledgeable. Would return in a minute.

This was mine and my husband's first time here, it was awesome!! You can get pretty upclose to the animals. The outside enclosures only have a fence ,a railing and about 2 -3 ft of grass between you and the animals. It was well worth the 2 1/2 hr. Drive one way.

Taking the train first will help you navigate your visit. Very nice little zoo. Pleasantly surprised!

For children this may be worth for one hour visit. Lions and tigers can be seen very closely. The bird section is not maintained well.

We left feeling terrible for these poor animals that are in tiny enclosures. The animals looked starved and so sick. I've been to many zoos and this place is the only one that made me feel bad for going there. The 2 tigers were in a very very small fenced in tiny area without any water in sight. One camel was inside a rough looking barn and looked like it was sick. I’m not sure how this place is legal in the USA.

It can be a little pricey but overall it was well worth it for the kids and even the adults. We loved being able to feed certain animals and to touch them was an awesome experience. Definitely recommend a visit with the kiddos. My children all enjoyed 4 year old, 7 year old and a 16 year old.

This was an awesome experience. The park is clean and well laid out. I especially enjoyed feeding the giraffe. Will definitely visit again.

We arrived right when the park opened. The parking was ample and easy, as was our entrance. I would highly suggest buying the lunch box with treats such as carrots, biscuits, bird seed and grain for the animals. The front of the park is a bit empty and underwhelming, but keep going to encounter all sorts of animals up close. My kids got to see lions and tigers eating meat, and feed a giraffe, camels, kudus and more. The nursery with babies was neat to see. My five-year-old's favorite part was feeding the parakeets (there were so many in so many colors). We spent just under two hours at the park and enjoyed our time.

If we didn't get passes we wouldn't have gone. Price is steep per person for the size of the place. It not very large and sections are constantly under construction as my wife and I have gave for a couple of years now. Each year it seems to have less to do. One year you could pet kangaroos or baby tigers. The next they would only have animal demonstrations and talk about the animals. This year none of that.

Might be fun for kids if this was there first time to a zoo. I'm not sure if we'll go again unless we hear there done with construction (doubtful) and bring back animal encounters.

Our young family went to the petting zoo upon recommendation from our hotel. It was free for Kalahari guests.

It was better than I ever expected. First, the variety of animals was huge. They had some great stuff - giraffes, goats, birds, bobcats, camels, etc. Some of the gentle animals could be fed and petted. Second, the park was clean and very easy to walk around. The exhibits were great and weren’t too far apart.

The zoo’s location surprised me. So convenient. On the main drag near Mt Olympus.

We’d be back again and might take the train ride next time, which we didn’t get around to. Seems like a great start to a visit to see a little bit of everything before you concentrate on your interests.

Definitely worth the price! No matter what, buy a “lunchbox” feed pack for feeding the animals. Getting up close and personal with the animals to feed them is what makes the experience! A great breath of fresh air while still being close by the activities downtown in the Dells. There are waterfalls and garden walkways to enjoy here, as well as a food stand in the main area. Lots of exotic animals to see- you will not be bored!

unfortunately a lot of the cages seemed to small for the animals. The show was informative. the bird barn was very fun and feeding the giraffe and camels we also fun. pig races were cute with all the puns.

We stopped by the off season because the sign said they were open. I wasn't thrilled about the price at first but I realized that if I took the family to the Minnesota Zoo, I would have paid about the same, but I wouldn't have been able to get as close to the animals as we did. It was a lot of fun and a great experience. We were able to interact and put many animals including a couple of young kangaroos.

Traveled from illinois to wisconsin Bucket list trip to see a sloth encounter. Called jean a month ahead of time. Was told pet n feed no hold $49.99. Was told call a few days b4 we left illinois. I did n was told message would get to jean. Got to park on Friday told no sloth encounter. Was not told why at the time. Park was filthy, bathrooms were a mess n half of the animals were missing. Was not happy. Called today n was told there were not enough employees for a sloth encounter. I got no phone call explaining that, jean never got my message and I'd have never wasted time on this place. It's really went downhill since the last time we were there 2 years ago. Wont b back.

Good variety of indoor/outdoor attractions and layout is not difficult to walk-plenty of seating and shade if it's hot! Don't forget to go see "Luke Sandwalker"!

The animals they have are amazing. My granddaughter thoroughly enjoyed it. There were so many different types of beautiful well taken care of animals. The giraffes were beautiful. They had a white tiger...beautiful. Just so many different critters. It was worth it.

We visited this wildlife park while staying at the dells and bought the park/train combo. It was very quiet as it was off season and there were no pig races or other activities going on but the exhibits were very nice and the cages and surroundings were kept clean. The train was a little dorky and more for young children but it was also a learning experience as the taped recording gave the history of the park.

Really enjoyed the train ride and the stop where you can get off and feed the giraffe and camels. I think it was an additional $10 to ride the train, so spent around $30 each to get in park and ride train. If you want to feed the animals, there is an additional cost for that. Animal exhibits in the park were spaced out quite a bit, so it may be an issue for people that can’t walk a long distance. I think you can just ride the train without purchasing admission to entire park, didn’t know that till later, probably would have enjoyed that more.

We recently visited the park with our 15 month old who LOVES all animals. He had a great time and loved feeding all the animals (that you were allowed to feed). I would highly recommend buying the $10 lunch box and also spending the extra money to do the train. By doing the train you do see some animals you would not see just by walking through.

We enjoyed the parakeets, goats, and giraffes the most. The camels are also eager to eat. But the one large camel is kind of a meanie so hold on to your food cups well...he will try to get them away from you.

Great day had by all. We will be back as our little man gets older.

We had free tickets from the American Resort so we checked it out. I wouldn't pay their rates at all, but for free it was fun. Could feed the animals, and that was funny. I really enjoyed their bird sanctuary. There was tons of birds in this room - just really neat. Overall it was pretty good.

Timbatavi is a very intriguing zoo. When you first walk in, you look at it as if it was all a waste of money, especially at the $20 ticket price. But it’s amazing just how immersive the experience is the further you get. It’s quite huge and worth the money. The unique assortment of animals is also very fun. Props to you as well if you remember Riverview Park (the former location) and recognized some pieces left there. This can be a bit distracting because you can tell it used to be a water park, but don’t be discouraged, it’s worth at least 45 minutes.

All in all, I’d say that this was a fairly small and average zoo. We had gree passes from our hotel and it was worth a stop. Parking is free and abundant.

We shelled out $10 for a “lunch box” of carrot sticks, goat, and bird feed but only ended up using about half of it.

We watched a pig race...unique and enjoyable with many hog themed jokes. Three races lasted about 6 minutes total so not a huge time commitment.

Favorite part for our teen daughter was feeding and petting the kangaroos. They let you in to their enclosure and it was quite cool.

Very nice up and coming facility. There are lots of fun things to see and do but it looks like there is a lot to come. The giraffe was a big hit with our group. We received our tickets free from our resort, Natura.

Feeding the giraffe, camels, and parakeets were the highlights of the park. It is a small park, so the train ride is definitely not necessary, and if you walk you can time your visit to each site for when it is not crowded by those riding the train.

Everything was great. Animals are kept very clean. Lots of walking.
They have a train that you can ride on.

I absolutely love this little zoo. We go every time we go to the Dells! It is absolutely beautiful, the staff is so sweet (if you get the chance to Geegee at the giraffe feeding, she is amazing with the animals). You can buy a “lunchbox” to feed the animals (do it, totally worth it) and use a coupon to get a couple bucks off admission. The landscaping is amazing, the park is big, and the animals look happy and healthy! Seriously go at least once... or like me, go every time. It is my toddler’s favorite part of the trip EVERY YEAR! And for anyone complaining about the price, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A ZOO?! Price is very reasonable for what it is. Go feed some giraffes!

We had a great visit to the park. We purchased 2 “lunch boxes” for 5 people and had plenty to feed all of the animals that we were allowed to feed. We fed the giraffe, kudu, emu, ostrich, parakeets, goats, donkey, kangaroo, and an alpaca. My niece and I did the sloth encounter and it was great! We met the 5 sloths, Flash, Fern, Lulu, River, and Honey. There was a good amount of shade and the park was easy to navigate. We did not do the train ride and don’t feel like we missed anything.

Not really worth the money. We only did the train ride so I can't speak about the whole park. Ride was very short - not many animals to see.

My husband loves zoos and when we drove by he immediately wanted to go. I was somewhat reluctant as parts of the outside seemed old and tired. My lesson to not judge a book by its cover! Excellent park and while it is older it only adds to its appeal. Grounds are well maintains with plenty of large shade trees and plants. Had an abundance of different animals and all seems well taken care of. All the exhibits were well marked with information on the animals. They offer a very nice military discount, which we greatly appreciated.

You get to get up close and personal with the animals! The kids LOVED it! It is better then most zoo's for sure! Buy the carrots, most of the animals can eat them and you can had feed them. Word of advice, don't put your hand in the crane enclosure...they will bite!!!!!

Very nice place. Very clean and the staff were so very friendly, helpful and genuine. My wife and I took my 84 year old mother on the train ride and we all had a great time, especially feeding the giraffes!

This was included with our hotel stay so we didn't pay however for what is here it is pretty pricey. Than you pay extra to ride train. Kids liked the animals but bored in no time.

Our tickets were included in our stay at American Resorts (literally across the street). The location was clean and staff was very welcoming to interact with the animals. We purchased the food grab-bag to feed the animals and the kids and a great time doing so. I think the only slightly downside was the train ride. We did the walking part of the wildlife park and then the train afterwards. The train (a fairly higher ticket and separate purchase) was fun for the little kids, but did cover a bulk of the animal selection that was available on the walking paths. Would have been fun to see a few other varieties or different train options.

Our stay at the Kalahari included tickets to the Timbavati. This was such a fun place for the kids and my husband and I. The parakeet feeding is a must although, they will sometimes bite your toes (if you have sandals on!)!! We thought it was a hoot! It was so fun to be engulfed in these cute little birds eating seeds from the sticks you're holding! We also fed the giraffes which was a fun experience. My boys took a camel ride for an additional cost. There is a train ride (that seemed really expensive for a family) that goes around the park. We opted out of this and walked instead. You can watch pig races and they also will have little animal education time. I would recommend making this a stop!

The only positive thing I can say is you are able to get up close to the animals. The train ride was very short. It cost us, a family of five around $200 for entrance and train ride. Wouldn't have been worth it for half the price. Two of my kids, aged 6 and 9 were bored and wanted to leave. Would not recommend and definitely will not return.

My girlfriend and I went here in a whim. We had a blast. Spent about 3 hours here in the morning and when we cans back from hiking they were still open for another hour. We had been told our wristbands were good all day. So glad we did. We had missed a couple exhibits in the morning. Plus the other giraffes were out. Total one of a kind experience. Will definitely be back. Would love to take my mother.

We took our grandkids and had a great time feeding the animals. We didn't get to feed the giraffe though as he just wouldn't come close enough. The parakeet experience was a blast. We had them all over us. The kids freaked out a little at first then began to enjoy it. I would do this again for sure. We didn't do the train and I don't think it's necessary.

My mom and I got to feed giraffes, something I never did before. NOT only that but we were able to pet baby foxes, due to them being taken out of their cage for some reason, likely cage cleaning. The price was not bad to get in, but to feed the giraffes you either need to be by the giraffes when the train comes or be on the train, which is expensive. We were on the train, which cost us about 50 dollars for 2 people. The 10 dollar or so entrance fee (20 for two people) and 10 dollars for 2 cups of carrots and everything equaled about 75-85 dollars. It isn't cheap, but if you have the money to spend I highly recommend it! They also have baby (pigmy?) zebras that can be fed. If you have kids from ages 5-12, then this is a place you have to see. Okay, maybe don't bring children who are really young. The turtles like getting frisky with each other. An employee has said to me that them doing that is nothing out of the ordinary, so a warning may be needed. It may be funny for adults and older teens, but it is traumatizing for a 3 year old.

As with many others on here, we received complimentary tickets as part of our stay at Kalahari. Since it was free, I guess it was worth it. I would not pay the regular admission prices they charge. Of course, once you get in, there are additional charges (ride a camel, ride the train, feed the animals, etc). We were there about an hour, and then even my 9 year-old granddaughter wanted to leave. Of course you conveniently exit thru the gift shop. As with any zoo, there were some animals that didn't want to make an appearance that day. Some of the enclosures seemed good size, but others a bit small. She did enjoy the baby animal area. If you don't receive free or discounted tickets, I don't think it warrants a stop.

Clean and well laid out, Timbavati exhibits primarily African and Asian fauna in an attractive setting. Though wooded in some areas, the central part is wide open and could be quite hot on a steamy summer day. Our June visit was nicely cool.

The big attraction of Timbavati is that you are allowed to feed many of the animals, including the Bactrian camels, giraffe, tortoises, and many more. The box of food sold at the entrance is not inexpensive but makes the zoo experience so much more fulfilling. The box is nicely divided by which food to feed to which animal. Carrots are a big hit.

The train is not inexpensive either, but it affords a very up-close feeding experience with several of herbivores like the hillgai, alpacas, and llamas.

Human food is available in the snack bar with a pleasant outdoor seating area nearby. If children need to blow off steam, a challenging playground may be found in the center. Camel and pony rides are available for an additional charge. Opt for the camel for a unique experience.

We spent three hours at Timbavati with our granddaughters, 9 and 6. They were particularly captivated by the feline exhibit that included a strikingly impressive white tiger.

Timbavati is an accredited zoo and worth a visit. However, being located in the Wisconsin Dells, all in, it is quite pricey.

My husband and I along with our two children (2 and 5) visited with free tickets from the hotel we stayed in. We did purchase the lunch box to feed the animals with. We had a blast feeding the giraffe, camels, parakeets, and kangaroo. We enjoyed watching the lively monkeys who appeared to be playing with our by running back and forth with them. I was thrilled to be able to per the kangaroos, and we even got to see a momma kangaroo nursing her baby and a baby kangaroo in its momma's pouch! We visited during the week which we highly recommend because there was very few people there. We loved this place and highly recommend it!

I hadn’t been to the park for about a year or so. My son and his family were visiting from CO and we were looking for something little kid friendly. Timbavati was beyond what we expected!!! So many hands on experiences to do. All of the animals are clean and very healthy looking. The train ride was very cool! Animals come right up to the train and you can feed them. You could spend an entire afternoon/day. My grandsons’ favorite was the parakeets! He had one sitting on his head. I would HIGHLY recommend a visit to Timbavati! Feeding giraffes and camels was also a huge highlight.

We decided to check this place out because our hotel was offering free passes. It doesn't look like much from outside, but it's great inside! The animals appear to be well taken care of. There's a lot to see without it being too much walking if you have little kids. You're able to feed some of the animals throughout the park, 2hich is always fun. Would definitely recommend!

Expensive! Expected to see more animals and just poorly setup of the zoo. Wouldn’t go again unless they add more wildlife to it.

This is the best animal park we have been to by far! We live in st Louis and we have a great zoo, but Timbavati blows our zoo away! It's so interactive and fun for all ages. Our teenagers even loved it!

We really enjoyed visiting this place. You can feed a giraffe, tortoises, goats, parakeets, and a number of other creatures. THEY HAVE AN ADORABLE BABY CAMEL!!! Guests can also pet a number of kangaroos. They have lions, tigers, but no bears...oh my! They also have sloths, spider monkeys, prairie dogs, a badger, bongo, and some other creatures, as well. This is a very pleasant place to visit. The scenery and landscaping is very pleasant.

Very nice place to wind down before wrapping up your Wis.Dells tour.
Pros:
- large collection of animals
- Parakeet and baby lamb feeding areas
- Camel rides
- Best part was interacting with the Giraffe (very friendly)
- Mini train that gives you tour of the entire facility.

Cons:
- Food for the animals is about $10
- refreshments are pricey
- no handicap accesibility options, no cart service instead of walking.
- it will take approx 2 hours on foot to see entire game reserve.
- Not a safari, animals are behind walls and fences and not open in the area.

The marketing makes this sound larger and somewhat different than it is. It's a zoo with opportunities to feed some animals. The map and the name "wildlife park" made it seem like there were more nature trails you could walk on to see animals. Also, don't waste your money on the train unless you or someone you're with has mobility issues. You don't get to see many of the animals they say you will see and you can see all of them by walking. It was so misleading that I actually asked for (and received) a refund for the train.

The park is an oasis in the Dells. The number of animals available is tremendous. Out nieces and nephews had a blast. We enjoyed the babies too. It is a must stop for families.

Most of the workers were great except for Debbie who was training someone in the gift shop. Told us last minute they weren’t accepting card and we waited about 10 minutes at the counter to buy one pop. Got to feed lots of animals though, really good deal for a $10 box full of different feed. It was cool to pet the kangaroos too. Penguin exhibit was under construction unfortunately. Spent about 2 hours here. Afterwards I researched the guy that owned it (before he died in 2017) and he trafficked animals. Like bears for their gallbladders. Pleaded guilty to it in court too. Now his son and wife own the zoo, makes me wonder where they get the animals and how they’re treated. But I suppose that’s for every zoo.

I will point out first of all that my kids and I have been to a LOT of zoos (probably 20+), and have an annual membership at our "local" Binder Park Zoo. Timbavati would rank in the bottom 1/3rd for sure. However, for what it was, a "wildlife park" in the middle of downtown Wisconsin Dells, it was alright I guess. The animals appeared mostly well-taken care of, though some of the aviary (the ostriches especially) had patches of missing feathers due to plucking. The kids did enjoy that they were able to get closer to some of the animals than they could at some of the other zoos, notably the big cats and the herd animals on the train ride. The train ride is honestly the only reason we gave the park a 3 and not a 2. It runs pretty slowly with pre-recorded narration, but we were able to feed the animals from the train (they were all over us, though the kids liked it) and get off and hand-feed the giraffe and the camels, which was fun. The cost was pretty steep; if we were to visit Wisconsin Dells again we would likely just do the train ride at most.

My daughters and I had a really nice time here. The admission tickets were included with our stay at the Aloha resort. We have been to the Dells so many times and did not even know this place existed. Very clean. Lovely enclosures for the animals, and you are able to get so close to them. I would highly recommend a visit.

Love this Zoo easy to walk around and see the animals we have gone each time we go up to the Dells. Well worth it for families to go see!

This was by far the coolest zoo I’ve been too! We took the train ride and were able to have our own private feeding of animals and then stopped to feed the giraffes and camels. We then stopped to see the baby animals and were able to take a picture and hold a baby kangaroo. The zoo is spread out, which I personally loved. The landscaping along the way was beautiful. Definitely an experience my family and I will never forget!

this park had way more to offer than expected. lots of animals in nice exhibits.
clean, spacious, unique animals to see.
15,14, 10 yr old loved it

We got there late in the day. Like 2 hours or so before closing. Walked right up and went in on the tickets that Kalahari gave us for staying with them. It’s a nice park. My family enjoyed petting and feeding the kangaroos! Kyle I believe that was his name was great! He told us all about kangaroos and was just really knowledgeable about the whole park. We walked over to feed giraffe, but he was ready to go in, but a nice young lady that was driving the train stopped and called the giraffe over and we got to feed him also! They have all kinds of food to but and feed different animals. It was a nice time and a good little getaway from the water parks.

It was a little over price for a zoo itself but we loved it. Wish it could've been a lot longer but for an off season price, it was too over budget. But definitely love all the feedings, especially the parakeets and the nursery was great. Would Definitely recommend for everyone who's in town but definitely would be worth for the bigger package for off season.

Family Owned and Operated, Timbavati is a MUST if you have kids. Great for a cloudy day or to get away from the parks. Take the train ride, it's worth the money. Tons of stuff for the little ones to do. Lots of interaction with the animals. The park is still expanding and currently only utilizing half the acreage they own. Spend the money on the animal food, your kids will thank you!!

We enjoyed our visit. We spent a good hour in the parakeet exhibit feeding the birds. We got combination train/zoo tickets from our hotel. The train ride was fun for my four year old but very short. It was rainy and the animals didn't want to come up to the train but it was still fun. Lots of opportunity to feed different animals through the zoo. We will stop again!

Great for younger kids; but our 12 year old got bored quickly. I agree that some of the habitats were way to small for the animals living in them. Specifically the "big cats" and birds. Also, the grounds were a little dirty and not well kept.

We visited the park in June 2021. While there were some great interactive exhibits that our kids enjoyed, where the animals had adequate space in their habitat, I was dismayed at several exhibits where there was obvious inadequate room for the animals! The big cats' habitats including the lions and cougars were way too small. The lions were pacing and acting agitated, and the cougar was just sleeping, probably because its enclosure had nowhere to go. Over in the night animals habitats, they were dark and small. There were also three cages in a row with a macaw/parrot in each, and one macaw was just laying on the bottom of its cage. I can't imagine how these birds just have to sit in these cages day in and day out. This park needs to provide WAY more spacious habitats for ALL of its animals. It is neglectful and very poor for the animals' well-being. Is there anything that can be done here?

Don't waster you time or Money Spent $250.00 for 4 adults and 1 child given a lunch box with carrots and grain to feed the animals and choice of 3 things to do camel ride, train or pony ride camel and pony ride lasted all of 2 min 2 times around a small circle ,. Employees acted if the were doing us a favor for being there . Animals looked drugged , kangaroos , lions, tigers , cougar. The only good thing was the guide on the train very inviting and friendly. Stay away from the gift shop was set to purchase items the tags said one thing and they rang up another , manager stated she would not honor the price on the tag and said it wasn't her fault that someone missed marked the items . Poor attitude all around , . would not recommend reminds me of the Tiger King , Felt bad for the animals . Better experience at the Zoo and a lot better attitude.

This is a really great place to visit. It is more like a zoo with wildlife areas. No, it's not as big as Memphis zoo, San Diego zoo or others but there are lots of well cared for animals. Please don't complain about the admission fees. Remember the summer months are when most people visit a tourist town in the upper Midwest but animals need to be fed and cared for year round and that takes money.

It was a very hot and humid day when I visited and water was $3 a bottle from the vending machines. I found that all people working there were very friendly! There were penguins in a water habitat, big cats like Lions and Leopards, goats, camels, giraffes that you can feed, small and large animals. I especially likes the parakeet house where you can buy a seed stick to hold out and some will land on your hand or the stick to eat it. I didn't buy one but a blue parakeet flew over and landed on my shoulder nuzzling my face.

There is a train ride that you have to pay separate for and probably worth it because it takes you to areas of the park you can't access by walking. They do have a couple shows, one being pig races where you sit in a bleachers and they have 3 to 4 pigs race around a track to see who can get to the Oreo cookies first.

There is quite a bit of walking and on a hot humid day you will need to be aware of your limitations and pace yourself, especially if you are older and overweight like I am. I spent about 3 hours here and enjoyed it. Would have been nice had it not been so hot and humid though.

We went here to spend some family time together and the tickets came with our hotel in the area. What a fantastic surprise! Loved the exhibits, couldn't believe how close we were and how fun it was to feed a giraffe! Had four parakeets land on my shoulder in the parakeet experience house-- such a fun place!

The highlight of this attraction is the ability to feed and Interact with the animals. Many people said they spent they spent 2 to 3 hours. I'm not sure how you could truly enjoy the park without spending at least 4 hours here. The animal feeding experience is 5 stars.
In brief my recommendations:
1. Arrive early; the animals get full by 11 AM, especially on a busy weekend.
2. If you come with a family, you may want to buy the feeding lunch box. We did not. We bought a cup of carrots and then bought special food as we went along. I observed others with the lunch boxes, and they seemed awkward to handle and carry. If you think you want to buy a box, I would bring 1 or more small empty cups to hold the carrots.
3. Go to the Parakeet encounter early. Before buying one or more feeding sticks, go inside and see how many parakeets are feeding. if they are eating, the Kiosk that sells the sticks is close by.
4. Go to Woodlands area which includes the train ride early. We did not pay the almost $10 a piece for the train ride. But we enjoyed feeding the giraffes, camels, and kudus. Again, come early, as the giraffes seem to get full. The Kudus, when out, always seemed hungry.
5. Skip the pig races. (See below)
6. Do go to the Wildlife encounter, underrated in my opinion. As a former teacher, I would think this would be excellent for children 4 and up (younger if they are a little a patient). They present young animals - we saw 4- and you get to touch the animals backs. The animal handler made sure each person got to touch the animal. The touching begins at the far end of the bleachers. They present an informative, but somewhat lengthy fact talk about each animal.
7. The snack shack, located between the feline center and Pig Race bleachers, was a friendly place to visit. We went in 2 different times. It was not crowded even though the park seemed fairly full, and service was reasonably fast.
8. The nicest restrooms are in the gift shop which is at the exit.
About our visit:
My husband and I (age 66 and 71) went today (06/16/18) because our local electric coop (Adams Columbia) provided free entrance as a customer appreciation. ACRC gets 5 stars for providing us this opportunity. Today was one of the hottest for this time of year and it was extremely humid. Knowing it would be hot, we arrived shortly after 9 AM and waited about 15 minutes in line before we were told that coop visitors had to enter at the back. There was no sign indicating a separate entrance. We entered at the North end near the parakeet encounter. We did not buy a lunch box at the entrance because we could earn a free food cup by visiting ACRC special booths, but we quickly doubled back at bought a $4 carrot cup so we could feed the animals as we earned our free food cup. We skipped the parakeet encounter because we thought our free food would include the parakeet sticks, it didn't. By the time we returned to the parakeet encounter, most of the birds were full and weren't interested in the sticks.
We went to the Pig Races at 11 am and were truly disappointed. We would have skipped this, except for the reviews on this site. I wish we wouldn't have wasted our time. The music they played before the races was very loud and the cheap sound equipment made it sound tinny and sharp. The humor consisted of a play on swine-related words. We sat on the front row. We could see the beginning of the race, but no one but the commentator and helper could see the end of the race.
The highlight of this visit is the ability to feed the animals.

The Timbavati Wildlife Park is great if you want to feed the animals. If you are an animal lover you will enjoy this. It is a bit pricey. $19.95 entrance and $9.95 for the train. Then you buy a cup of carrots for $4.00 each plus tax. It is fun to feed the animals and they line up for their carrot. Don't know how many cups of carrots we bought! Go in the morning when the animals are hungry.

Not your average zoo. A little pricey for the time you are in the park but overall, a ton of fun. You can go in the pen with Kangaroos, feed the giraffe and camels and parakeets. Otherwise you can view the other animals through the cages. I recommend only buying the carrot sticks and seeds for birds. The grain is only a 1/4 of a cup of not worth the cost. The train takes you to see the llamas but we enjoyed the visit without the additional cost of the train. My kids teens and elementary age, loved the experience.

Not as big as a regular zoo, but a very good variety of animals. They all seemed very healthy and well taken care of. Great for kids and very interactive. You can purchase food and feed a majority of the animals. A bit pricey for kids. Kids 2 yrs. and older cost an extra $15, but overall it was a good experience.

This is our first time there and it was a great experience. We loved all the animals, the train ride tours of the zoo.

We purchased tickets here a a joint package with Noah’s Ark. We live close and come to the Dells often but never had any interest in this park. Most reviews we saw of the place gave the impression it was still in the building stages. It’s been open a few years and we thought that might have changed by now - still appears that it hasn’t.

The kids loved the feeding of both the parakeets and giraffe/camels - by far the best part oh the three hours. The giraffe area is what this place should look like everywhere but it doesn’t. The first area you enter still has that Waterpark feel (hot and nothing but concrete) honestly felt bad for the animals.

If you are looking for a zoo experience, try the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison - it’s free and a thousand times better. The animals at the zoo at least ALL have habitable conditions, unlike this park.

Also be warned, there are several electrical boxes exposed in walking areas, at a close distance to children’s reach. Live or not, you can’t tell from looking!!

If the park added some better holding units for the animals, shady areas and seats for the visitors, this place could do well, it’s something different to do in the Dells.

This was included with our resort stay and we had such a good time! I’m glad we were able to come. The feed cups were nice and the animals were happy to interact with us. I would love to come back on another trip!

My husband and I brought our almost two year old son. He loved feeding the giraffe and other animals. This was our second time visiting the park, the first was four years ago with complimentary tickets. The park has come a far way and it is apparent that they are continuing to grow and improve the park. We will visit again in the future.

We went to the safari park during the winter season. Which meant that the walking paths were closed and you could only take the safari train. We did still get to feed the giraffe and the alpacas but I would recommend that you wait to visit in the summer months

Beautiful collection of gorgeous animals in a humane environment and wonderful petting access to giraffes and others.

Best if you get admission included in your hotel stay, but there are plenty of discount tickets available at numerous stands around the Dells and on the interstate.

Wow! What a wonderfully warm and gracious experience to have the staff call our hotel to get us the passes out hotel staff neglected to mention or give to us. Felt like royalty! Then the place was totally off the charts with animal and people interactions, cleanliness and we'll maintained facilities. Would highly recommend for all ages for the value and education.

Went to see the camels which are my favorite this is a beautiful place clean and nice great gift shop friendly workers they have a kids show so they can learn about animals and touch them they have a bird house you can go in you can buy food and feed the camels birds goats giraffes you can ride a camel many of the animals can be fed they have bathrooms a food shop with snacks and ice cream they also have a baby animal you can hold when we went it was a kangaroo they change it you never know what it will be I have been here many times and always enjoy it kids seem to really love this place as well as adults do to I’m glad they have a place like this to be able to pet and feed animals is great fun

We traveled here on May 26th, 2019. It's the Dells, so of course it was busy (extra busy due to the holiday weekend) and cost more than it should; $57.48 just to walk in - that was for two adults and a toddler with NO train ride, and NO food for the animals.

A significant portion of the park was "under construction, new exhibit coming soon" which was rather disappointing for the cost to get in. There were also a handful of exhibits that were just empty, with no explanation. There were no real "interactions" available during our visit. There was a staff member holding a baby kangaroo in the nursery, but it was $10/person to take a photo with it, so...I wouldn't really consider that interactive.

The website FAQs state it takes most people 3-5 hours to get through the park (which is why we were willing to pay that much to go). We felt like we stretched it, and it only took us about an hour and a half. They also state there is a picnic area outside of the park - this is misleading. It was not accessible from the parking lot area as it appears to be on the map (there was a chain-link fence up with a no trespassing sign attached), and we were never able to find a place to actually sit and enjoy a picnic lunch. There was some covered seating available within the park, but since you can't carry-in food, you're limited to whatever their concession stand offers.

Some of the good points were that the animals seemed well-cared for, the park was overall clean in appearance, and you could get quite close to the animals. The highlight of the trip for us was feeding the giraffe; it was amazing how close we were able to get to him. A cup of carrots in the giraffe area costs an additional $4 and they were able to take a debit card, which was convenient. Overall, the toddler loved it, and the adults thought it was just okay.

Such a surprise! We received free tickets with our stay at the Blackhawk Motel (also highly recommend! ) So we thought for free how good can it be? Well it was great! The kids loved feeding all the animals. The adults loved the variety of animals. Definitely go!

I am an animal lover and try not to support any operations that do not properly care for the animals. Everything here seemed pretty clean and updated and I did not see “miserable animals” like others mentioned. Going in with the kangaroos was worth the admission price to me. It wasn’t very busy so we got to just sit in there and hang out for a while. The kangaroos seemed relaxed and in good health. If I had noticed any neglect or abuse I would not recommend at all.

WAS VERY DISAPPOINTED in the prerecorded train ride. His descriptions did not match up with the animals we were seeing so quite ridiculous. Was wondering why the rhino had no mud or outside water to be in. The giraffes were fun to feed. Pig races were cute and kids "squealed" with delight.

IT IS A SHAME THAT PARENTS DO NOT CONTROL THEIR KIDS OR OBEY SIGNS...only in America. Signs clearly posted what animals can have carrots and what cannot and you look in the prairie dog enclosure and carrots everywhere. People threw their cups on the ground instead of in the garbage.

YOU ARE AT AN ANIMAL REFUGE AND YOU FIND IT NECESSARY TO LITTER??

The bridge going over the ravine into the park had garbage thrown there. I just do not understand why people have to do that.

They are building more attractions there, but it was quite interesting and having animals you could actually walk up to and feed was amazing.

A great place to take your kids. A great place to relax from the hectic pace of visiting Wisconsin dells.

The zoo was extremely overpriced. The animals were spread out and it was difficult to navigate. Not impressed with the staff or set up. Also my daughter had to use the restroom and it was an absolute bio hazard!!! So disgusting. Not worth the money.

This place was an unexpected treat. I always enjoy animal parks but this was a little bit more. For one thing it had a large number of critters one doesn't normally see at even the biggest zoos. They had a sloth, a white rhino, and a white tiger. They even had a prairie dog village. They had lions and bats and kangaroos. They had a feeding area for camels and a giraffe. Ten bucks gets you a bag of feed. For a small fee you could even ride a camel. But my review does come with a warning. Be careful in the parakeet enclosure. At first everything was cool. I held out my stick of seed and a bird or two would land on my hand to feed. But after awhile other people started to point at me. At least a dozen of the birds had swarmed my shoes and were pecking away like at a picnic. I couldn't move my feet for fear of hurting them underfoot. One actually put a hole in the top of my sneaker. I started to panic when a good citizen came to gently bat them away so I could extract myself. Lesson learned ? Hitchcock was right.

There were some great things about this place and some not so good. The price is a bit high to get in as there are not that many animals plus a package to feed animals is another 10.00. The train fee on top of that is outrageous and not worth it. There are some great animals to feed and pet though. Giraffe, Camel and Parakeets were our favorite. The building with the baby's was a lot of fun. The park seems like a work in progress is very spread out and needs some work and more animals for the cost.

Awesome family-owned wildlife park (zoo). We highly recommend the VIP tour if you can get it. Private tour once per day before the zoo is open. Get to interact with the animals. Even without that tour you can still feed a giraffe, feed parakeets who land on your stick, and pet and feed kangaroos in the new kangaroo enclosure. Food to buy in the park is readily available. Also go to the pig races and the animal show. Come here rain or shine.

This place is amazing! The animals and exhibits are very, very well kept and cared for. The landscaping around the entire park is spectacular. You will never find a place where you can be so hands on with such a huge variety of species, and they're not just your typical petting zoo animals (though they had those too, much to the joy of this goat lover). Buy the animal feed, it's SO worth it to get to feed the giraffe, camels, different types of antelope, and goats! The staff was super friendly, and even our very busy 16 month old was enthralled with everything there was to see. Our 5 year old was in heaven. She is obsessed with big cats, and the variety of cats they have was the highlight of her year! If you are going to be in or near Wisconsin Dells do not miss this beautiful gem of a zoo!

We really enjoyed our time here . Fun feeding all the different animals. Buy the lunch box for $10 and you can feed all sorts of animals and the parakeets. Would definitely recommend this attraction. Watch the pig races and make sure to do the wildlife talk and demonstration and get to pet some of the animals.

We went in the morning and it was great. We saw a monkey that was not very old because the umbilical cord was still attached to it. The staff were very friendly

It’s a nice, well-kept park with interesting animals who seem healthy and content. My 2nd grader and preschooler had a lot of fun. We really enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the different animals.

This place gets 3 stars instead of 5 because I didn’t interact with a single employee who was even marginally pleasant. Buying tickets to get in? Teenager who doesn’t give a crap. Snack bar? Cranky dude who just wants you to go away. Train conductor? Animal lover for sure, people person not so much. Buying carrots to feed the animals? Lady who resents your very existence. Yeah, I know we are tourists, and I know working with the public is hard, but since I’m paying to be here, could you maybe hate us a little less obviously?

To be fair, we only rode the train which only covers a small part of the park. Got to see a rhino and various exotic "deer". Train stops at feed station where you can hand feed a giraffe and a couple camels. Grandkids and daughter LOVED this. Price was fair at $5 a person.

It was not all what it’s Hyped up to be. The entrance where you pay needs to be more organized and to much money for what you see there. Yes there is a wide variety of animals but you can only feed so many.

We had a marvelous experience at the Timbavati Wildlife Park today. This is a clean, well-kept zoo. The staff is very friendly and helpful. My husband had scheduled me to do the sloth and red panda encounters. Both of these were phenomenal! A young man by the name of Trevor was my guide for both of these events. He was excellent because he was very personable and highly knowledgeable about the animals. I very highly recommend this park and the special animal encounters.

We spent a good portion of our day walking around this park, our granddaughter loved it. Especially petting the Kangaroo.

We had a great time! Went midweek in the late afternoon and the place was really quite. Easy to walk around. Feeding the animals was so much fun. We skipped the train and bought the feed kit. Highly recommend this place for animal lovers.

This is a big park and laid out well. We enjoyed all of the animals. Make sure to get food to feed the animals with.

First time coming, Pig race was cool, animals were cute. kids loved feeding the animals and camel ride was great.

So many amazing animals in one place I loved it here had the time of my life fed a giraffe and touched a kangaroo they are so soft and the albino tiger was beautiful

Disgusting place, all you can see is animal abuse here. The rhino has a very large area but only a puddle of water that he just was lying in on a hot day. All the animals looked half dead and miserable. Very sad and will not be returning or supporting them, this place should be shut down

I really wish I read the reviews before going. Also wish I could keep this short but it's impossible with everything they have going on here. I was checking out their website and saw that they had a sloth experience. I've never had an opportunity to do something like this and didn't even care about the ticket price. My husband, toddler and I purchased admission to the park as well as the sloth experience. Upon entrance the girl hosting the experience said that only two people are allowed at a time. She had my husband hold our daughter while telling me some facts about sloths and then my husband and I had to switch halfway through so I could hold my daughter outside while he got some more facts. The entire time I was listening to her talk about sloths, heard my daughter calling for me which was of course very upsetting as I thought we would be able to do this as a family. Very disappointing. We weren't told ahead of time that there was a limit to how many people. Though it truly it does make sense with how tiny their enclosure is. After giving us some facts about sloths, we were able to pet the ones that were on the highest branch which I couldn't reach at all and we each got to take turns giving two of them a piece of corn. Basically we spent $98 to spend 10 minutes each listening to someone talk about sloths. There's absolutely no handling of them. Wish we just spent $4 on a feed cup as you are able to interact a lot more with the giraffes and a few of the other animals. Truthfully, my plan was to ask for my money back but maybe they can spend the money on some cleaning products or something so we could actually see animals through the extremely dirty windows or upgrade some of the enclosures more suitable for the animals needs. For example, keeping the bats and an enclosure that is slightly darkened so they aren't exposed to all the light during the day. They looks extremely uncomfortable from my experience with seeing bats at other zoos. Moving along, we went to check out the goats only to see one in distress. She kept calling out for something and when we saw her turn around there was a mucus like substance that was coming out of her vaginal area. Couldn't tell if she was about to deliver a baby or had some sort of infection, but the last thing this poor goat needed was a bunch of people staring at her. The last thing we experienced before leaving were two giraffes fighting. I completely understand that wild animals get into it But what was upsetting was one of the workers blaming the visitors saying "the giraffes are mad because 15 people are standing up there and none of them have food." It was very frustrating to hear that this was apparently all of our fault. If the giraffes get mad that people are not feeding them then I believe the food should be provided for all the guests. Bottom line is this is a very rundown wildlife experience. It's a wonderful experience for kids, but as an adult who sees tigers and lions in a tiny enclosure, as well as everything I mentioned above, It's a bit depressing

Lions, tigers and sloths, OH MY! I am not normally a fan of animal parks BUT - Timbavati was really interactive and enjoyable. Although ALL of the animals were fascinating, the loveable and docile kangaroos were a highlight, as were the free flying parakeets, cockatiels and lorikeets. We managed to spend the entire afternoon playing with the animals. Highly recommend!

We love this place! We've walked the place during the summer and loved it and this time we got the tour for the winter hours and got to interact with the kangaroos and pet a hedgehog and skunk! We leaned so much on this personal tour!

Love coming to see the animals! Feeding the camels and giraffes is awesome. This year they had a baby rhino... Couldn't tell he/she was a baby lol BIG !!! Fun!

Excellent zoo for a hands on experience. My adult daughter is considered severely autistic. She is not a fan of zoos, but she warmed up to this one because of all the animals she could pet. She was even intrigued by Bengal tigers because they were roaring that day. She does have auditory sensory issues, but for some reason, the tigers roar did not bother her. It actually intrigued her. She even rode the train and fed the giraffe and camels and several other animals the carrots that we purchased at the zoo I write this zoo a five out of 10 because it is beautifully landscaped adequately staffed, and the animals seemed happy. I included an image of my daughter, feeding one of the camels.

This is an over-priced tourist destination. A few exotic animals looking for food that you buy for them at the entrance to the exhibit. Train ride around the park is not worth the extra money as you can walk where the train goes and see the same animals. Park seemed not well kept. All and all, not worth the price.

We decided to pop in with our free passes from the hotel, but took awhile to find the animals as they were outta maps. The animals all seemed sad and unhealthy, and the nursery was heartbreaking. The sloth looked like it was crying & clinging onto a tiny branch. Please, please reduce the animals (or at least not add any more!) and get bigger enclosures. Three tigers and three cougars in super small areas is just cruel. The parakeet house has way too many birds! We did buy a $10 food box to help but kangaroos didn’t even come for it and ones who did had sickly eyes. Just heartbreaking. I’m sure the workers do an amazing job, but this type of zoo is in humane and outdated. Check out the African Lion Safari in Canada where the people stay in their cars (as human cages)!! Much better approach! We don’t want to deter the money coming in tho as it feeds the animals!

A four and a five year old this time, and plenty to look at and do, until they tired.

Especially liked the pig races and parakeet hands on exhibit. Also feeding so many different animals and seeing the giraffes up close to feed them, on the train ride!

Our fourth visit with all different grandkids.

Never disappointed!

My almost 2 year old daughter loved it. Buy the "lunch box" and feed the animals. You could get much closer to the animals than you can at a traditional zoo. Definitely worth the money and could easily take 5 hours to experience.

Had so much fun feeding the animals, learning more about them, chatting with them pretending they can understand us, and just walking around for a cool and pleasant adventure! The parakeet cage, howler monkey, and kangaroo petting area is super memorable, but also just being able to hang out with so many animals is truly special. However, noticed a lot of misbehaving kids that weren't being respectful to the animals. I think the kids should be in the cages instead!!

We went in the morning and after lunch. Kids loved it. Feeding the animals was definitely the highlight for them. Staff is friendly and informative.

The giraffe ate my daughter's hat while we tried taking a selfie with her. My daughter cried, but my wife and I were laughing. It'll be a funny story.

My family rode the train and explored the park for the afternoon. We were able to feed giraffes, camels, goats, lambs and birds! We loved the experience!

This Park allows for so much interaction with the animals! You can buy food and feed many of them, like giraffes, animals in the nursery, kangaroos, and parakeets. We were able to take a VIP behind-the-scenes tour which I highly recommend and then you really get to see what it is like before the zoo opens. They also have 2 nice shows; a pig race and animal spotlight. The landscaping is also lovely and the food is great. I highly recommend this attraction. The train is nice for those who don’t like walking.

Kids unable to climb on rocks-which is appropriate-but flowers have been planted that obscure the vision of those shorter than 4 foot or those in a wheelchair. This does need addressed, either by shorter flowers or mounting platforms where kids and wheelchair bound individuals can see the animals they paid to see

Went with the family. My wife really wanted to go. She loves animals. She enjoyed it. I was indifferent. It’s basically a small zoo. Our kids,11 and 13 liked it. The train ride was nice and you can feed some of the animals. We were there about 3 hours. It’s pricey like everything else in the Dells, but if you like animals/zoos then it’s worth the price.

We received free passes from our resort which was awesome considering we were planning to go there anyway.

It’s a good size without a full day commitment. Overall, we were probably there 2-3 hours.

We got to do some cool things that I can’t do at my zoo back home: hold a baby kangaroo, pet and feed kangaroos and a giraffe, and get closer to other animals that we couldn’t before.

Unfortunately, my daughter didn’t get to see the skunk (we saw it in pictures) there but that didn’t keep her from having a great time!

Pros:
1. Nice and clean area
2. Very friendly staff
3. Interesting animal encounters
4. Lunch box food containers was a great deal to feed the animals.

Cons:
1. Very expensive
2. The train is pointless. You can interact with and see all the animals without taking the train.
3. Additional animal food is expensive. 3 for a stick to feed the parakeets and 4 for some carrots.
4. Absolutely no shade. If it’s a hot day be prepared to roast.
5. The packaging gave a list of animals you could feed but over half of those animals had signs that said not to feed them. Kinda of confusing and annoying when you tell the kids they can feed something and then you can’t.

We received free tickets to the Timbavati Wildlife Park as part of our stay at Kalahari Resort. We've been to the Dells on several occasions and had never gone to this place previously. Our kids, aged 9, 6, and 4 all enjoyed the park, but there isn't a whole lot to see. It's basically a small zoo. The most interesting part was probably the nursery area, where there were several baby animals to see. Our kids also enjoyed feeding the giraffe and parakeets.

I would say it's definitely worth visiting if you have an hour and a half to spare in your trip and you receive free tickets. It is certainly not worth the price of full admission, though.

The park is in beautiful condition, well manicured, the animals look clean and well fed. You can purchase food to feed some of the animals. We enjoyed our time at this zoo.

I enjoy this zoo alot! I love that you can feed so many animals, you can go in a pen to hang with kangaroos and go in an enclosure with birds are free fly and can land on you. I loved feeding the giraffe, camels, small birds and goats. I would give this zoo 5 stars but I wish the animals could be in bigger enclosures, most are rather small and not as natural looking. I also wish there would be a staff member or two in the bird enclosure to protect the birds. There are children that go in the fenced off areas and hurt the birds or mess with their food and water. Children will also grab birds that have landed on them and squeeze them, and the parents do nothing to stop it. I would still go to this zoo again but wish those issues could be fixed.

We came to Wisconsin Dells on our 38th anniversary and went to the Wildlife Park. We love going to animal parks and zoos when we travel. This one was fun with many different types of animals. You could go on a train ride which stopped and gave you a chance to feed the animals, you can also go on a camel ride or the kids can go on a hourse ride. There are restaurants in the park that you can get something to eat and have a picnic

We bought the “lunchbox” pet food and spent 2.5hr walking around the park. There were tons of exotic animals which seemed well cared for and in clean, mostly spacious habitat. We skipped the train...I’d highly recommend the walk. My kids (7,5,4) particularly enjoyed feeding the parakeets & giraffe.

I wouldn't waste the money. I had 3 children of varying ages along who were bored in the first 20 min. Save your $ for a better zoo experience. The train ride is NOT worth it. The camel walking around in a circle to give rides looked miserable. The tigers just paced in front of their gate wanting to go back inside. The ONLY thing that was somewhat decent was the parakeet building. You have to buy birdseed popsicle sticks & the birds are all free-flying. The birds would come land on your stick & eat the birdseed, would land on your hand, walk on your shoulders.
If you bring kids you'll be shelling out more $ for the animal feed & the cups of carrots. Admission price is ridiculous enough but the nickel & diming the whole time will cost you a fortune.
Use your money for a better experience

The Safari train is wonderful, educational and fun. The kids all enjoyed feeding the camels and giraffes.

Me and my friends had lots of fun for being in our 20s! I thought the animals looked well taken care of. Workers driving around feeding and watering the animals.

Layout is weird. The map is necessary to navigate. It's fun for the kids. They loved feeding the animals. Sometimes we were confused about animals and snacks allowed. They have since exotics that I've never heard or seen before. Good way to spend a few hours outside running. Seemed over priced and tourist trap like.

Really almost better than a zoo. Lots of chances to get up and close to various animals. My 3 teens even fed a giraffe and that is one of my favorite pictures of the entire trip. Definitely worth going to even better if you get the free passes some of the resorts include them in your stay.

We went as part of our Kalahari Resort reservation. My youngest son (an animal lover who wants to work with animals) loved the interactive experience with the animals. We got a lunch pack of animal food ($10) that lasted us through the park and various interactions with animals. He also enjoyed the camel ride. The park appeared to be undergoing some renovations and updates. It's not quite like a 'zoo' (much smaller) but most of the walkways were paved and had pretty easy access to the animals. My son did feel bad that the badger didn't have more 'substrate in his enclosure' and seemed to be sad that he was trying to dig in the concrete. This could be pretty easily fixed. He loved the up close visits with all the animals though!

For the most part, the animals seemed to be well cared for and content. I'm not too sure about the penguins or the need to charge $10 to pose with a baby kangaroo. Also, the lions and other big cats had smaller enclosures than seemed right. The grazing animals (giraffes, alpaca, deer, goats,) seemed just fine and it was fun to feed them.

We spent couple hours visiting the entire park. The train ride was disappointing as the audio wasn't working and "conductor" didn't identify anything. We did stop though at Giraffe building to see and feed the one giraffe inside. Masks are required inside any of the buildings. Look for coupons for admission. Food is available to purchase for many of the animals which makes the visit here more special.

We were pleasantly surprised to see how much was there. Our kids loved it! Their favorite were the kangaroos. I definitely recommend the “lunch box”.

We did a private tour that started before the park opened to the public. We were walked around by Lynx who provided so much great information about the animals and their care. We were also able to hand feed the camel and giraffes, as well as the parakeets. The tour lasted about 90 min and we were able to stay as long as we wanted afterward to go back to any areas we wanted.
We were fortunate to have a cool morning, so most animals were out and active.

The park is more like a zoo is small but it was fun, they are not having an of the shows right due to COVID19. Everyone is ask to wear a mask during the visit. The train ride is small but it is fun you get to feed a few animals along the way.

I would not pay for this zoo. However, my son liked it. He fed a giraffe and road a camel. The camel ride is an extra fee. Our local Green Bay zoo has a better layout, nicer exhibits, and about the same number of animals.

We rode on the train. My favorite part was when the animals came right up to the train and you could interact with them. The staff was friendly and helpful.

We enjoyed everything about this park. The biggest enjoyment was in the bird sanctuary the kids kept us buying the honey sticks. They spent a lot of time there and asked to go back before we left . Some animals we had never seen. Feeding the giraffes was fun.

We've been here several times and have never been disappointed. We received complimentary tickets from out hotel, but made sure to buy treats for the animals. There is a good variety of animals to see. The highlight of our visit was when my grandson was to pet and feed the momma kangaroo with the baby in her pocket! I look forward to visiting again in the future.

Admission to this wildlife park was a perk of our room reservation, so the stiff entry fee wasn't a factor. They still got us for the package of foods for the various animals, but I would rather they provide the food so nobody feeds the animals the wrong thing. (there's a list on the box of who can eat what, so that's nice).

The highlight of my visit was feeding the giraffe. It wasn't very hungry, but it did accept my carrot stick with its long purple tongue and I was completely thrilled. There's a giraffe-feeding experience at Milwaukee's zoo, but it costs extra and you have to be there at a certain time and the steps would kill my knees, so having this more casual encounter was great. There were also emus and camels and alpacas eager for our food.

There are many other animals here that you don't get to feed, but you can at least see them up closer than you get to at regular zoos. We didn't even make it to the section where the zebras were, but we'll be going again. I was disproportionately excited to gather a few fluffy little flamingo feathers that had wafted outside their enclosure. Yes, I'm a geek....

A caveat is in order here. I love zoos that are involved in conservation and research, like the Bronx Zoo and Milwaukee's zoo, which is the best one I've ever been to (we have a pass). Timbavati isn't one of these zoos, it's just a wildlife park, so I guess it's a glorified roadside attraction. But that being said, the grounds were nicely maintained with lots of flowers and plantings, and the animals seemed well-cared-for. Within these limits, I recommend a visit.

Visited Timbavati in mid-July with my husband and 2 kids, ages 8 and almost-11. Received tickets free from our resort. We bought the $10 food pack for the kids to have fun feeding the animals.

The entrance and first section could be renovated and spruced up, but the other sections were interesting.

Best part was petting and feeding the giraffe, as we don’t have giraffes back at home! The opportunity to feed the different animals was also a great experience for the kids.

The parakeet exhibit was a lot of fun being able to step in and be among them. We also watched the pig races which was interesting and funny.

The park itself was somewhat small. We didn’t do the steam train so I’m not sure if we would have gotten to see more. The experience is probably not worth it at regular price but if you have free passes, it’s definitely worth the chance to see and feed wildlife.

I just called the police to report animal abuse in this horrible excuse for a zoo!! No water in some of the cages and small cramped cages.

We visited the Dells a few years ago, and loved it so much that we moved to the area. Timbavati is one of our favorite places to go. We get season passes since we go so much. We love walking the grounds and being with the animals to wind down, relax, and get some excercise. If you're thinking about going, don't forget to get a picture with a baby kangaroo! The animals are healthy, and they have a large variety. The park is much larger than it appears to be from the outside. If it's your first time going, getting a lunchbox to feed the animals is worth it. One box was good enough for my wife and I. Kids may want more. They do an educational show several times a day where you can get up close with some of the animals you normally can't, and learn some fun facts about them. There isn't much shade, so if the sun bothers you, you may want to bring an umbrella. I recommend the fresh lemonade at the concession stand, too!

It's so worth the money. We're a family of four with two teen boys and everyone left really pleased with the time we spent here. There was a wide variety of animals. And the best part that made our trip was that we hand fed so many different kinds of animals like baby camels and a giraffe. If we ever ce.back to the Dells we will definitely come back here

We had a great time! We got to feed and touch so many animals. The giraffe and the camels were very entertaining. The Parakeet Experience was amazing. So many large smiles!
My family loved the whole experience.

We absolutely love animals so we had to go see the animals we never get to see up close and personal! We were able to feed the Giraffes, Llama, Alpacas, Yudu, Emus, Goats, Birds and more! We also pet Kangaroos! Such an amazing experience!

My family and I decided to check this out. But we only did the train ride due to The many zoos we have visited. We wanted the opportunity to get up close to the giraffe and a chance to feed animals that we've never been able to do before. The train ride was very nice our group wasn't very big at all. It was such A-blast and so well worth it.

** Just a note, if you do choose to feed the animals you do have to pay extra for the feed we paid $4 for a cup of carrots which all the animals seemed to enjoy

The only thing that would improve this zoo is to have it completely shut down. The animals looked miserable and are in habitats that are far too small for them. The place was filthy even though there were hardly any guests there. The staff were all sitting around on their phones rather than carrying for the animals or their habitats.

We got free tickets from the Black Hawk and it still cost us nearly $100 g or 4. The staff was not overly friendly either. Not one staff member seemed pleasant. You do not need to but train tickets. You get to feed the Giraffe without doing that. Don't buy the box meal either. You can purchase carrots for much cheaper. The parakeet place was a waste of time. They don't even really both with the stick of food they give you for them. You can really walk around and see everything in 1 your. If you get free tickets I would do it. Just get the carrots. I learned my lesson.

Got our tickets for free as part of our hotel stay and was pleasantly surprised at how large and diverse this zoo was. Spent about 2.5 hours there and had a great time. Very clean!!!

This was one of the best zoo experiences I’ve ever had. It was small which is sometimes a red flag for sad animals that seem like they hate it there, but all the animals seemed well taken care of and the facilities were all clean and well maintained. We bought carrots, grain and seeds to feed the animals, which was like medium cool. It wasn’t always clear which animals were ok to feed and which weren’t, which was my only critique. The setting was very low key and we basically had the place to ourselves on a Wednesday afternoon for about 3 hours. My 6 year old son started getting antsy towards the end but I think that had more to do with the candy shop next door than anything else. I was amazed at how many animals we could interact with - we pet kangaroos, scratched the back of a tortoise, pet baby emus, had parakeets eat out of our hands and fed giraffes and camels and all kinds of other animals. My favorite animal was the white tiger (no feeding obviously). The rest of my group were totally enamored by the penguins which were adorable and super active. We got in for free with our stay at Kalahari Resort - if we’d been in town longer I may have pushed to visit again and maybe do one of the extra encounters with sloths because I still can’t believe that’s even a thing you can do here? Highly recommend!

We’ve been here every year for the last few years. Every year it gets better and better. The favorites were petting the kangaroos, the lemurs, and of course the parakeet exhibit. Lots of new things. The park gets better every time we visit.

This was a great zoo! Its so interactive, and interesting! I loved you could interact with the small animals as well. I can't say enough good things!

We've been going to the Dells for decades, but hadn't been there in several years. I couldn't believe such a place existed here.

We did the behind the scenes tour, and it was a once in a lifetime experience. We held a baby kangaroo. We fed giraffes. We pet a sloth. Our guides, Becky and Morgan, answered dozens and dozens of questions from us, and were so knowledgable. You can tell how much they know and love these animals.

We went here several years ago when they first opened and were not fully operational. We were not impressed. Decided to give it another try and were very happy with our visit. The highlight for most of my family (Wife, Daughter and Granddaughter) was the ability to hold a baby Kangaroo (Rose) while I took photos. My highlight was getting to ride a Camel.

Going in the off season makes it all the worth while. We did get free tickets because of where we were staying. Such a great time. For 3 adults this was the highlight. Feeding the kangaroos was the best. Dont spludge and do the train.... not worth it. instead get the Lunch Box so you can feed the animals!

Timbavati allows you to feed Giraffes,Camels,Llamas has a petting area,nursery rooms and outside exhibits with other animals.It is a very friendly and calm experience with the animals.There is a train,pig races and Trainers who bring out and teach about some of the animals.My favorite is the parakeet room where you can buy popsicle sticks with bird seed to feed the birds by hand with many birds sitting on your arm.

While there are some neat animals and feeding experiences here overall I’d say your money would be better spent at another attraction such as the deer park. There was a somewhat deserted/run down vibe here. Buildings/walkways in poor condition, hard to navigate the park and really not that much to see/do. It was $80 for four of us including food to feed the animals. We did not pay the extra $10/person for a train ride. The animals also seemed sad in their mostly concrete environments.

Family of 5 - 2 grandparents, 2 parents, 1 four year old granddaughter. Over $100 for about 1-3/4 hours. Several animals huddled up in indoor enclosures due to cooler temps - to be expected. Indoor enclosures smelled - should have been kept cleaner. Too many animals just pacing so obvious they had been confined for too long a period of time or in too small of an area.

I know the Dells can be very commercialized some times but this place isn’t. 25 minutes train ride with seeing running zebras and feeding giraffe is unheard of in Midwest let alone the Dells. For $10 bucks by far best attraction in Dells and trust me I tried them all. Hats off to this place for giving my family and friends kids the time of there life. Been to zoo as well and is on par with some of the best zoos in Chicago.
A must see.

We had a great time here! My kids loved feeding the animals and riding the camels. Must do in the dells!

Lots of animals to see and can ride a train and feed animals such as llamas and giraffes. But the train ride is extra on top of the entry which isn’t cheap either. We went because our 15m old loves animals. She enjoyed looking at them and that made it worth it for us. The price matches the fact that it’s the Dells but considering bigger cities have cheaper and better zoos, the entry price was a bit disappointing.

The variety of animals and birds was great though. Got to see many that I hadn’t see in other zoos/wildlife reserves.

If we went again I probably wouldn't buy the train ticket, but otherwise it was definitely worth the money. We got there right when it opened which turned out to be great because it was when they started letting all the animals out of there sleeping rooms and they go kind of crazy for a little while. It was really cool that they let you in with the kangaroos to take pictures, feed them, and even pet them. It's nice that you can go up and feed just about any of the animals that they have there except the monkeys and some of the birds. We have a 5 year old and 1 year old and they both seemed to enjoy it as well. My recommendation would be to go early so that all the animals are still hungry and more likely to come up to you for a snack - especially the giraffe.

I was surprised with how many different animals this place has. Several were still in their winter quarters. Also there was a lot of construction going on that is suppose to be completed by Memorial Day. They have the cutest spider monkey baby and mom. We bought the box lunch to use to feed the animals which was totally awesome. I would highly recommend the Timbavati Wildlife Park.

Thought it might be a bit larger with more varieties/attractions. Was fun though. The penguins were great!

This park is the sweetest place ever been. The animals love people. When you approach their habitat they come up to be near you. Lovely up close experience with well loved creatures from around the world. This is what I've always wished zoos could be like. We get a seasons pass and come back everyday when we are in town.

I was looking forward to this after I read the reviews. The pros….lots of animals! Lots of opportunities, unlike a zoo, to actually touch them. Kangaroo’s with their joeys in their pouches, lots of wildlife that came right up to the open air train for “snacks”, and animals that typically are inside sleeping or hiding in a zoo, right out in the open.
The cons…..poor signage and communications. We had to ask where the train stop was, as the signs were too small and not very prevalent. The train boarding and ticket taking was a mess…..after we waited for 30 mins as the previous train was full, we boarded. There was a “discussion” at the station as people didn’t realize the train was a separate charge when we enter the park. It was hot..these families had waited like us, but didn’t have tickets. Poor communication. When they announced boarding it was like cattle streaming to the gate, and some cattle weren’t very polite. Needs tweaking. How about a different wristband for the train, and a sign that says that ?
Not enough shade areas for both people and animals. The llamas were limited to the slivers of shade provided by their buildings. The giraffe the same. The fields had no trees nor shelters for shade. Can’t imagine them in 90+ degree days.
Overall…pretty good. Your kids will like the up close experience with the animals.

One of the best parts of our trip was the zoo. My daughter loves animals and they have many that you can touch, pet, feed - it was great.

My husband and I visited here on Labor Day weekend. This was such a fun and hands on experience. I have never been so close to kangaroos, giraffes and camels. This was so worth the cost of admission and for food for certain animals. Beautiful day and such a relaxing walk around . We even took the train ride. Wonderful.

This is not a very big zoo but it allowed you to feed most of the animals. It is a good place to kill a few hours. They did offer camel rides.

We visited this zoo as our hotel offered tickets with our stay. We purchased a $10 container of food at the entrance to be able to feed many of the animals. The zoo was larger than I thought. It’s not huge, but very nice. You get to encounter many different animals. We enjoyed the pig races and the giraffe along with many other animals. We would recommend a visit here!

The wild life park was a very enjoyable experience make sure you visit the parakeet experience house it is kind if hidden but very cool. Dont waste your money on the train it is very stupid.

This has a good variety of animals, however when taking my 11 year old to go see, she was bored within 20 minutes and ready to go. If you have smaller children they may enjoy this more.

We took our 3 teen grand children who were visiting us from Canada. They loved it! Much different experience than going to the zoo! We paid $20 extra for the 3 of them to each hold the baby kangaroo which they felt was so cool! Well worth it! We paid $10 extra for the lunch box feed for many animals. Again well worth it! They got to feed the giraffe and camels plus many other animals. They fed parakeets which landed on their hands and ate off of a bird seed stick! There were fun pig races! The younger children around us were also having a great time! I highly recommend this park for a great family time getting to actually interact with their animals!

We've been to several wildlife parks across the country (from smaller than this one, to the Safari Park owned by the San Diego Zoo). While there is nothing spectacular or unusual about this one, our five kids (ages 5-18) all enjoyed our time at Timbavati. We stayed longer than we thought we would. The best part was the ability to feed so many animals! Plan on spending extra on food. The "lunchbox" is probably your best value at $10- even though it's just overpriced carrots, grains, 2 giraffe/camel biscuits, and 2 parakeet sticks. The fun you will have is totally worth it. A couple of tips- First, the giraffes don't like the biscuits, they prefer carrots, but the camels do like them. Second, try to visit the parakeets early in the day. The enclosure is less crowded and the birds are eager to eat from the sticks held in your hand. By afternoon, the enclosure was hot & crowded and the birds seemed uninterested in the food. Many other animals (goats, llamas, etc) could be fed grain & carrots as well. We did purchase the additional 25 minute train safari ride. While it was fun (the little ones especially enjoyed riding the little train), I don't think I would spend the extra money if I had it to do over again. There were only a few animals that couldn't be seen from the walking trails (the most notable being the zebra). The train ride was narrated, but most of the information was about the train itself, its history, the construction of the rails and the park. There was some information about the animals, but not enough. The narration was just weird. So save your money on the train ride and buy more food to feed the animals.

Went here a week before they closed for the season. This is a nice, clean zoo. Loved the train, the scenery, the animals. All were great.

Not what it seems. The pictures you seee online r miss leading. But lots of beautiful animals. Would have liked to see more.

Small zoo with a variety of animals. Too expensive for what's being offered. Good space for families who need a little running around space.

We (10 of us) received free tickets as part of our stay at the Kalahari. I was a bit apprehensive about this place due to the reviews, but we ended up spending two hours here, and would have stayed longer if it hadn't been raining.

My favorite part was getting to hold a baby kangaroo in the nursery ($10 per person fee). I also enjoyed feeding the alpacas and the goats. I bought a cup of carrots for $4, which I thought was very reasonable, especially since you get a fair amount of carrots. We planned on feeding the giraffes as well, but they weren't interested while we were there, and would not come over to the feeding area.

Besides the above mentioned animals, there's a decent selection of big cats such as tigers, lions, lynx, and cougars. There's also zebras and a few other hoofed animals, but you can't see them very well unless you do the train ride.

Very affordable family fun! We had a great time and were impressed by the variety of wildlife we saw and interacted with, we even rode "Luke Sandwalker", a flirty camel and fed a giraffe by hand! Great day!

We only went because it was included with our Kalahari deal. It's not bad but we wouldn't pay regular price to go again. Only if already included. Regular price is too high.

We had a good time visiting this park. Passes to the park were included in our package at the resort we stayed at so it was a really good deal to come here. We did end up purchasing tickets for the train as well as food for our child to feed the animals. I noticed there is a pretty good discount if you purchase the park and train ticket together, I would suggest doing that. The train by itself is not worth it but if you do with the park it's a nice package.

There were a lot animals to see and our child enjoyed getting to be up close to many of them. She also enjoyed being able to feed some of them. She thought it was very cool that she could get the birds to land on her when she was feeding them in the bird cage and being able to see the baby kangaroos with their mothers in the petting area was also very unique.

The animals seem well taken care of and had nice habitats. Even if we had not had the free passes, I would have still enjoyed our time here, it's one of the better attractions in the area.

A cross between a zoo, wildlife refuge, and a circus, a nice mix of animals for the kids to view. Be sure to buy their animal feed (we did carrots) as the giraffe and camel you can hand feed is what makes the park!

Needs a lot better (or even some) signage around the park pointing which direction attractions are in. Very nice playground if you can stumble upon it. Early in the morning the lions, tigers and monkey cages were empty but came back around that way in afternoon and they were out. Giraffe feeding was the best!!! Parakeet enclosure was disappointing and kind of weird.

Had a good time at Timbavati - my day probably would've been better if my five year old wasn't so tired and grouchy. The price seemed a little high, but I don't think anyone is getting rich off this park - I'm sure most of the ticket price goes into maintaining the animals and the grounds. We didn't opt for the train ride, since that was an extra expense. I wish it had been a little cheaper, because I'm sure my son would've liked it - especially if the animals come up to the cars to be fed. My teenage daughter really enjoyed feeding the parakeets. At first only a few would come close enough to be fed, but when most of the crowd left the building she said that birds were landing all over her. I bought a lunch box of food to feed all the animals, which my son really enjoyed. He especially loved feeding the goats - which was kinda funny, since we live in a rural area and see goats all the time. I had to beg him to save some food for the other animals. We fed the parakeets, goats, kangaroos, camels, and giraffes. I've worked in both Brookfield Zoo and the St Louis Zoo, and have a lot of animal husbandry experience. Overall, I felt that the animals were well cared for and the enclosures were clean. I wasn't able to see some of the park areas because my son started throwing a tantrum. (You may see a blue shoe in the ravine under the bridge - that's his shoe that he decided to throw off in anger....) The park was low-key and had a relaxed atmosphere. My favorite part was being able to get close up to the kangaroos and to feed the birds. If you enjoy seeing some wildlife and leisurely strolling around, I think you'll have a good time.

We had a wonderful day today at Timbavati Wildlife Park. What we thought would be a couple hours turned into about a five-hour visit because of the amazing experience we had. The wildlife park has something for everyone -- if you simply want to enjoy a day with family, you'll have a ball, and if you have a strong interest in conservation, this place is also for you. We had the opportunity to spend time with one of the owners and learned so much about the mission behind Timbavati. We also had a fascinating experience with the Sloth Encounter. It was an honor to learn more about these gentle animals in an up-close way. And don't miss the train ride! Also, throughout the day, we had the opportunity to interact with numerous animals, all in a supervised situation. Thank you for the great memories.

Hey! The park and the animals were GREAT! And thanx to the workers for keeping all those animals in-line! But this chump has had enough paying that convenience fee for using my debit card. Now that card guarantees the business is going to get their money AND it's a 'come-in' to lure the customers in. Well from now on, if this customer sees that 4% (or whatever it is they charge) surcharge sign, I'm walking right back out the door!

We had a great time at this zoo. It had really cool animals including a zebra, giraffe, camels and a white tiger! It was small enough that you could do it in just a couple of hours. Our kids enjoyed riding a camel and feeding the giraffe. The grounds could have been kept a little nicer but the animals you could tell were well taken care of. We had fun!

This park was very worth the money. So much to see. There are many experiences where you can get up close to the animals. The park is very clean except the bathrooms which were disgusting. This was well worth the money compared to the other tourist traps in the area.

We paid $25 for admission and a short train ride. Since the admission alone was $20, the extra $5 for the train ride was worth it. But I wouldn't pay any more for it. The commentary was informative, but the ride really was quite short. The best part was feeding the animals, but you have to purchase the food. The "Lunch Box" cost $10 and was enough for 2 teens to feed all the animals throughout the park. The park itself & the enclosures seemed in need of sprucing up. It looked a bit dilapidated. Some of the enclosures also seemed too small, especially for the big cats. We were there the first week of Oct, so there were no crowds and most things were shut down...like the pig races & the snack shack. Unlike other zoos we've visited, the animals were up close & active. It was incredible to get right up to a white tiger, with only a pane of "glass" between. Same thing with almost all the other animals. They weren't lying about, lounging somewhere WAY in the back where you could barely see them. They were up & about, right in front of your face. The map stunk though. Nothing was labelled. There also was a lack of informational signs about the animals. Only a few of the parakeets would eat the seed sticks.

I'm very skeptical of small zoos, but we got free tickets with our motel stay at Blackhawk, so we went. It was amazing! Animals are well cared for, the park is extremely clean, and the flowers and plants throughout park are gorgeous! Habitats are clean and spacious. Was able to feed a kangaroo and giraffe! Parakeet house is incredible to walk through. Visit this zoo! Kids will LOVE it!!

We traveled as a group of 3 adults and 3 children ages 9, 5, and 3. Looking at this place from the highway, it is quite deceiving. Smack dab in the middle is a fenced-in Goody Goody’s candy store that Apparently was there first, so Timbavarti just built around it. I had heard some not so good reviews years ago, but nothing prepared me for our adventure. The animals all had nice habitats. We watched pig races (much to the delight of my 5 year old grandson). We attended a short informational show on an assortment of animals that we were allowed to touch if we desired (the ant eater was the best). We rode the train, which took us to parts of the wildlife area where the animals roamed free. We had purchased food at the ticket gate and the kids were delighted to feed the variety of animals that came right up to us. The train also stopped at the the camel and giraffe area, where people were actually putting carrots in their mouths and letting the animals take the carrot from them! They offered camel rides as well. My 9 yr. old granddaughter rode one by herself. The other two rode with my husband. It made quite an impression on them. As I am disabled, I use a mobility scooter to walk any distance. I had no problems navigating the paths as they were nicely blacktopped. The only negative thing I can say is the staff were not very friendly, aside from the camel ride guy and the lady at the gift shop. Those two were very nice. I would definitely recommend this to young families or old, They do rent out strollers. We rented a double stroller for $10 as our little ones were getting tired. Tickets can be purchased at a discount through coupon books or passport sites. It was well worth going!

Great. We got free entrance to the park AND Noah's Ark by staying at the American Resort(pretty much next door). Surprisingly large as I didn't even know it was there until our stay at the hotel.

Before the trip, I saw a few negative reviews about small cages, but there's no difference from any other zoo. Maybe things have changed, but I thought there was plenty of room.

Be sure to go into the Parakeet Encounter exhibit. Little birds flying all around you. Where else can you go in the cage? From the entrance, keep left.

Pretty cool that the kids get to hand feed a lot of the animals. Especially inside the birdcage. Close views of several big cats. Worth it.

Had a fun and exciting time, got to pet baby kangaroo they were so sweet.
Lots of exhibits animals seemed very well cared for

We had free passes to this attraction. Don’t know if would have gone had we not had the passes. It is a small zoo. They had pig races and that was a riot!!
It was OK but I would not be interested in going again.

All of our highlights was feeding the giraffe a carrot from our mouth. This was worth the admission cost for us. Yes, the place is quite expensive. We paid the general admission and the train admission. The train ride (distance) is very short. If it was 2-3 times longer it would be worth it. When the train stopped for the giraffe he never came over, but then when the train was over we walked back there and we all had plenty of time with the giraffe. We paid for the lunch box to feed the animals. We were in the parakeet room probably around 11am and not a single parakeet was hungry for the sticks. The place has kind of an awkward layout, possibly because it was a waterpark just a few years ago. There seems to be a lot of walking. We spent about 2.5 hours here. We would definitely come back.

I do not understand the high marks others have given this place. We received free tickets from our hotel, and since we were looking to kill time we went. I would have been very disappointed had I paid their admission fees as it would have been a terrible value for our money. My kids did have fun feeding the giraffes and camels, but other than that, the animals looked sad and the grounds unkempt. I would skip this attraction if I were you, even if your tickets are free like ours were.

This wildlife Park is like a miniature zoo with a twist. You can interact with some animals. My family really like this place.

Fun for all ages. We had a great time riding the train and feeding the animals. The train bring you on a tour in a small park. The train stops in the middle of the tour to give you a chance to get off and see the camels. You can also pay extra to ride a camel.

It was really cool being able to go into the kangaroo enclosure to pet and feed the kangaroos. The parakeet experience was also really neat, being able to get so close to and feed the birds while many of them flew overhead. I would recommend purchasing the animal lunchbox to feed and interact with the animals. The admissions fee is quite high for the few animals that are there. It is quite obvious all over this park that the zoo is actually a family run business, rather than an actual accredited zoo. There are no zoologists or other employees professionally trained in animal care taking. It is a cool experience but a bit pricy for the lack of professional exhibits.

many animals here are abused and simply used for money. When I went a few days ago I saw so many animals in places way too crowded and in unsanitary habitats, you keep many endangered species, the white tiger is stressed and with 200 left in the world you need to change its habitat for the sake of keeping it alive about 90 percent of the animals were pacing the habitat which is a sign of distress what also showed abuse is how you feed carrots to the animals THIS NEEDS TO BE CHANGED carrots are very high in sugar which is very unhealthy for animals, it should be changed to celery

next, I decided to go to the reptile place, and god this made me mad... first of all the ball python encloser was filthy, and way too small that ball python needs to be in an 80 gallon, secondly it needs a heat mat, with a thermostat for the light and the mat it needs to be cleaned there were feces all over the tank, it needs enough room to fully spread out, it also needs AT LEAST 2 hides for it, for privacy, I don't care you don't want to give it one since then people wont see it, it needs 2, also there was mold on the bedding and ON THE SNAKE which made me the maddest. As a ball python owner, this was very sad

Next, I went to the birdcage or whatever you call it, a bunch of kids were trying to catch the birds and force-feed them and the staff did nothing about it it was too crowded and when the birds tried to hide in the keep-out zone in there houses a staff would harass them with a stick until they flew over again, there was stressed out a lot, and the staff were fine with hurting them

In all zoos in general take endangered and normal species and abuse them including this one, in particular, some of the stuff I saw was horrendous and needs to be fixed ASAP you cant have species with only 200 left and kill it, they need to stop hurting so many animals and fix their enclosures I would say 95% of the animals looked to be in bad condition and they just cared about the money, yes it is a business, a business ran by psychopaths

This place is pretty unique and cool (yes maybe a little sketchy) but fun! Family of 3, our little one loved it! very cool animals, loved being able to pet the kangaroos, feed the birds and feed the other animals too. It is pretty pricey though. but worth a trip for sure

Loved this park - very clean and orderly - very little animal odor - maintenance teams were weeding the landscaping and keeping it nice - we behaved animals and a fun visit, We would go here again.

So we've been here a few times. Went recently with my 4-year-old daughter. The price is pretty average for the dells. The park is nice. Most of the animals are in good enclosures, with hiding places and some enrichment. The lions and tigers are in a big enclosure with nothing but sand and no shade, which is too bad. A worker by the tigers was a little rude about standing by the rocks. The park itself used to be a waterpark years ago and there's still a lot of empty buildings around. Trails aren't very well marked and paths tend to just end. I think the bathrooms are still from when it was a waterpark! It makes the park feel a little unfinished. There's a really nice area in the back that's wooded and very peaceful. If you go with little kids, watch them! Most of the enclosures you can walk right up to the fence and stick you hands in. Some animals you can feed, but others it's a little vague if you should, I feel like little kids might get bitten or scare the animals. The giraffe and the parakeets are the two main attractions. You can feed the giraffes and the parakeets are in a big barn that you can walk in and feed them. Animal food costs extra, the parakeet food is like $2 a stick but if you walk in a lot of times people share. The train isn't worth it, it's a really short ride. Takes about 2 hours to see everything.

We did the VIP tour and really liked it. We got in the park before everyone else. Do the train ride. The animals came up to the train to eat. We loves the nursery area with the baby camel and baby kangaroo.

This was my favorite activity of our trips the past few years. I was so excited that rather than just viewing the animals, we could actually pet and feed a lot of them. I was pleasantly surprised by how many different animals they had there. Petting the soft kangaroo and the gentleness while she ate melted my heart. I will want to go back every time we are in the Dells.

It was a nice outing for my family. (My kids are adults). We all enjoyed it. If you go I would definitely recommend adding the train ride. Without it, I would give it 4 stars.

This park was pretty nice and bigger than I expected. You get to see a lot of the animals up close and feed them. I would say the Safari Train (extra $) isn't worth the money. It takes you to most of the same animals you can see on your own walk throughout the park. Overall, it's a nice family activity to do for a couple of hours.

Have been 5 times and have a wonderful experience every time. Animals are well kept, staff is great, nice little restaurant. Every time we go they have done something to improve animals spaces and park. Love it here!

This was our first time at Timbivati. We loved every part of it. Prior to going in, I thought it was a typical zoo with a few animals. I was surprised and the kids loved feeding and petting the animals. Where else can you go in a kangaroo enclosure to pet and feed them. The safari train was a fun time as well. We will definitely be back.

I'm not a zoo person, so that's my disclaimer. However, the experience at Timbavati was excellent. There were a number of animals and it seemed like a well-maintained zoo. Loved the opportunity to get up close with the sloths, kangaroos, camels and giraffe. It was hot so some of the animals were resting and weren't able to be seen, but that is understandable. Feeding the animals (additional cost) would be exciting for a kid. All-in-all it was a great experience and worth the trip.

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect before going in, but I was very impressed with Timbavati! There were tons of animals and exhibits, and we had a great time! So much bigger than it looks like from the road.

We took a 9 and 13 year old. We all had a good time. The animals were great and looked well cared for. The train was a little pricey but the kids loved getting close to the animals. Since the park used to be a water park the layout wasn’t the best but they said they are still working on everything. The lion and tiger cages are a little scary. There is only a short fence (3 Ft high) and then the cage the animal is in. If a parent was not paying attention to their child the child could easily climb the fence and stick there hand in the cage.

This wildlife park doesn't have all the bells and whistles other big cities may offer, but it was a great place to spend some time. We happened to go during downpouring rain, but we still had fun. My 9 month old son was able to hold out the treat sticks for the parakeet house and he absolutely loved it, so it was worth it to take the trip.

We received free park passes from our wonderful motel the BlackHawk. We weren't too sure if we wanted to spend an afternoon at a zoo, but we're sure glad we did. I'm definitely not a zoo person, nor are the other two adults in my family. There is still something to be said about caged animals in small enclosures when they were purchased, stolen or illegally bred.

Call me crazy, but the family that owns this, 4th generation, has plead guilty for wildlife trafficking for breeding bears, charging to take photos with them, and then killing them and sending their parts to Korea to make money. They were also a part of other buying and selling of animals for profit. They have sold over 8000 baby animals, sold 1400 prairie dogs to research labs, along with dozens upon dozens of other horrible things. Now that the "ring leader" father is deceased, one could only hope that the long time practices have slowed down, however records show that the mother and son own it now and still have issues with following the rules. Still trading bear cubs to other known meat/organ dealers. The park now holds over 403 animals and hasn't been inspected since 2019, I'm assuming due to Covid. They make good by being protected saying that they "save" other animals from zoos and private sources that can no longer care for them. All of the animals looked like they were fed well, however as in most zoos, the marks/trails around all of the enclosures prove that most of them are under a great deal of stress. The Rhino has the largest enclosure and looked the happiest honestly. It's hard to walk around knowing that this family owned/owns a fur farm and contributes to cage shoots where an animal is boxed up in 5 acres or less while a hunter is let free to shoot them.

The best part was the Giraffe feeding. Our daughter absolutely loved it. Of course as adults we wonder what these animals are dealing with eating bird seed mixes and carrots from hundreds of filthy humans every day. We didn't pay for pictures with baby animals because we know the truth about them as a money maker. There are no male kangaroos in the park we were told, however a pen of all females for people to pet and babies to sell pictures of for $10 each. Clearly something is going on there with the males. None of the staff had any answers for that.

In the end, the zoo make it to the top three things we did while in WI Dells. We're looking at an African Safari to be able to see the animals in their natural habitat and not caged up being forced to eat carrots all day. Think about it, what's the life span of a Giraffe that eats mainly carrots?

Like many said, this was a small and hands on zoo that I enjoy so much more than the larger zoos. You can interact with more animals and you don’t have walk all day or make a full day of it.

It’s a little underwhelming but it seems like they are trying to improve. Feeding the giraffe was the highlight. Thought the badgers were fun to look at. Otherwise it would have been a bust, especially if you paid $20 per person.

This was a wonderful family event! There were lots of animals and many opportunities to pet a s feed them. It was clean snd well cared for too. The staff was very friendly and informative too!!

Most of the animals were sleeping. They had LOTS of goats. Kids (9 and 11yr) had a blast feeding them. Not as many animals as we thought.

Good experience, spend about half a day total checking out the animals. The tickets aren’t the cheapest thing in town, but for a family of animal lover I can’t say enough about the quantity and quality of animals that they have. Be prepared to spend a little extra on some things, feeding some of the animals is worth it. For animal lovers, pictures with the baby wallaby was also worth it. The train ride probably is not worth it if you already purchased admission to the park.

We just did the train ride due to the park closing time. The kids loved it. You just see some of the bigger animals.

This is a great place to visit!!! Animals are in great enclosures and easy to see. Getting to feed giraffes and camels was a great experience. It's a must visit no matter your age

Tix came with our motel stay. I don't know if zoo's just aren't my thing or if this is borderline a slummy zoo. i feel like this park was big enough to have bigger enclosures for the animals. The enclosures were pretty small for the animals they're holding in them. Feeding the giraffe's was pretty cool. we got to pet some kangaroo's. I don't think i'll be back. good for littles i guess. but again, This place is pretty big, and their enclosures are pretty small.

Nice family attraction with interaction/feeding with a few different animals including camels and giraffes.
You have the option of going on foot or riding the train around the park.
Family of 4 will cost between $40-60 plus the cost of food($4-10) to feed the animals.
Check out there website for all the details.
Your hotel will have coupons to save $2/person.

Paid over $100 for my family of four to go in- asked what we’d see and do and she gave me a ‘oh you’ll love it and worth every penny, you’ll do more hands on than summertime admission’. Well steer clear unless it is summer time. I haven't a problem donating to the animal cause but to be lied to and see my kids be disappointed just because the staff wanted us in the door I was sad for my children. Not a high point of spring break vacation.

All the animals! Very clean and animals are taken good care of. Kids loved it. We loved it. You can feed the animals or take a train ride through part of the park.

We all loved it tremendously! Feeding the animals one box was good. We cut the carrots in half n shared. It went around good. The birds was so relaxing for us. We all were in love, but also with all the other animals u see. We bought the train ride and the ither part but never did the train ride. Would go back again

Slow ticket buying and check in. Not enough staff help. Only one refreshment stand inside park. The train and camel ride was the best part of the park. I was hoping to see more animals. It is easy to get to on the main strip.

10/10 my son and I had a great time. Lots of interaction with the animals. We were able to feed and pet a lot of different animals. The staff was great. Highly recommend.

Save your money. This attraction is a good example of what happens when the goal of its existence is solely for profit and not for animal welfare or conservation. Animal cages are small for some and we felt bad for them. Gift shop attendant extremely rude and unhelpful. Snack shop attendant also snippy. Layout of park was not intuitive, and animals were duplicated in various sections. Go to Deer Park for a more pleasant, though less diverse, experience.

Loved seeing the different types of animals and letting my daughter explore the different exhibits. She loved the train ride at the end!

another attraction that you must see while in the dells. you must take the train ride while you are there.

We did a VIP tour. It was an awesome experience. Everyone loved it. We were the only ones in the zoo, it was closed for the season. We got to feed giraffes in their barn, goats and birds. Hold several animals including a baby kangaroo. I would highly recommend this experience to all ages, we created great memories.

The enclosures are quite small. While this let’s you see the animals up close, you won’t see them in action. The maps have not been updated and the animals on the map did not match the exhibits. The grounds are overgrown and crumbling in areas. Poor signage for exhibits. The kids enjoyed the animals. The giraffe was a hit. I recommend getting a “lunch box” to feed the animals. Not a lot of staff around.

Very nice place. Easy to walk around for a few hours. Buy one lunchbox for 2-3 people. You can feed lots of the animals. We did a sloth encounter which was enjoyable but expensive.

This is decent place for kids, Zoo is not too big, but you can have good time kids. We have spent 2 hours there with train ride. But only thing is tickets of train and zoo entrance is expensive.

What a great place. Feeding the giraffes and holding a 4 month old kangaroo was the highlight of our tour. The staff was great and very knowledgeable of all the animals we saw. We will be going back many more times.

This was our second time here in two years. If you have an animal or zoo lover this must be a place to visit. Plan on three to four hours if you take your time and purchase train ride tickets. To many up close opportunities for feeding animals to list! Educational talks, petting opportunities, clean safe grounds, and very friendly staff! As you can tell, we really enjoyed our visit!

These poor animals do not deserve to live in habitats like this. The lion and birds looked so stressed, as well as the kangaroos. The only animals that had proper living conditions were the parakeets, goats and prairie dogs. Otherwise, these other animals such as the giraffe, camels and lions should not be in the state of Wisconsin. In addition to that, there were very little staff. The staff were only by the giraffe, pony rides, and camel rides so people were walking in places they shouldn’t have been. I enjoyed the parakeet experience but everything else was heartbreaking to see. We only went because it was free tickets from our hotel.

Over rated. The park itself is ok. The park is a family owned business which I am all for that. However, it is being taken for granted. Lack of customer service. The owner’s sister is very rude. She yelled at everyone there and told them to “learn how to read the signs”. Then she went on on lecturing everyone rudely. I asked about her name. She comes back and put her hand into my face and said “ I am is the owner’s sister”. I talked to the Managment at office and they told me that I made my point and that’s it. I usually don’t like to write
reviews. But I was compelled this time to do so.

Great experience! Took 4 kids aged 3-7, they loved it! Highlights are feeding(many animals) but the giraffe was the best, closest we've ever been to one and so cool! Paid extra for my son to hold the baby kangaroo, worth it! And kangaroos; you get to go in the pen and pet them! Very unique!

Went on a hot day so we didn't make it to the grassland section but we saw a lot and this was worth it. A nice, unique zoo experience!

Decided to combine some shopping downtown with a tour of the wildlife park as part of our first day at the Dells. Everyone in our family, the youngest being 12, had a terrific time at the Timbavati Wildlife Park! The grounds are very clean and beautiful. The staff friendly and helpful. The animals of all types, looked well cared for and content in their surroundings. We really enjoyed going into the kangaroo area to pet them as they lay about in the shade. It was so peaceful we also took a short break to relax amongst them in the shade. Watching the goats as they climbed down their spiral staircase and romped around their yard was fun, there where a number of cute baby goats playing. Feeding and petting the giraffes and camels was a highlight! A great way to start our week! We'll worth the visit!