ZooMontana

LOVE the Zoo!!! Its come a very long way in the last few years~! We go as much as possible! I have never had anyone there be rude in any way. Its obvious the animals are very happy with all the surprise births. Great place to spend the whole day at.

Very rude staff!!! The wolves are starving. Animals are treated poorly and it does not seem like the staff gives them enough attention. Nothing to see. Waste of time and money! Very disappointed, we wouldn’t go back to this place or recommend it to anyone else. We feel very sorry for the animals who are being mistreated in that «zoo». Animals should be sent to places where people actually care about them.

We are a large state with a small population. How wonderful is it that we have a zoo?! Albeit, a small one, but it is delightful. We visited about 6 years ago when my kids were small, and this was our first time back. The kids’ takeaway both times: the peacocks! They love the free-​roaming peacocks. We experienced the zoo on a gorgeous, bright fall day. The otters were playful, as were the beavers and the red pandas; the geese were vocally intimidating, and have you ever seen a live bald eagle that close?! The grounds are lovely and peaceful. If Tizer Gardens (near Helena) had animals, this is what it would feel like. And at such a reasonable price for the three of us – lots of entertainment/​educational value per dollar spent. We were all pleased with our visit and will be back. Hope it won’t take another 6 years!

This is the only Zoo in all of Montana. And given the population of Montana, it’s quite decent, but it’s certainly nothing in comparison to bigger zoos. But that doesn’t make it a bad zoo. I had a splendid time exploring the exhibits they did have, feeding the birds and the koi, and trying to find the more elusive animals. The sensory garden was very well maintained and the area that my group used for a picnic was quite perfect for this purpose.
The gift shop was tiny and didn’t have that much of selection, but that’s fine as this zoo isn’t over commercialized and focuses instead on the animals and the experience that you might have exploring the exhibits. There’s even a great little playground for the kids (yes I did play on the spiderweb and I’m an adult).
The Siberian Tigers, the Red Pandas and the River Otters were the highlights of my visit. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy seeing the eagles, or the turkeys or the koi or the peacocks and peahens! This zoo seems like the perfect size for exploration by families and children and it was absolutely ideal for the evening event I was attending. We all enjoyed the use of the facilities and especially liked the motivational quotes on the side of the building near the entrance.

We had a lot of fun at ZooMontana with our kiddos.
They have quite a few animals for such a small zoo. No lions or Elephants, but they have some beautiful tigers, grizzlies, and two injured eagles. As well as farm-​type animals. It’s a nice place to walk and they have a great play area for the kids. We brought in our own lunch. It was a great afternoon and the price is cheap! To view some photos posted on our blog, follow the link below:
–Lilah

I don’t understand the bad reviews for this zoo. They don’t have a ton of animals, but the exhibits they do have are clean and well done. The grounds are spacious and beautiful and the staff was very friendly. I don’t have kids, but there were several play areas that looked great. I enjoyed visiting Zoo Montana during my trip to Billings and would recommend it!

Disappionted in the over all experiance. not worth the money paid. employees were not helpful or friendly. whats up w the Christmas decorations?

This zoo is tiny. But for what it is its okay. The fact that it is so small makes it easy to see the few animals up close. There is not to much between the walkway and the enclosure. You are upfront and personal. Makes for a good little walk. It’s almost like a nature center with some zoo animals.
I do agree though… Take down the Christmas decorations. I won’t come for Christmas because I already know what it’s going to look like.

This review in no way reflects the actual animals in the zoo. I am an animal lover and enjoy seeing animals anywhere. This zoo, however, is very disappointing. The grounds were overgrown and everything was so spread out that it felt like I was just walking through the woods. I couldn’t even see some of the animals. Why were there peacocks located in barn/​farm animal pens? I don’t care if the Christmas decorations aren’t on. It’s not Christmas. Take them down. I would suggest the zoo does some yard work, and gets some more animals. Get back that wolverine.

Very disappointing. We got to see a couple of bears, a couple of wolves, red pandas and a tiger. There were two bald eagles and a variety of other ‘farm’ type animals. No otters! It is great for a park for kids to play and the walking is in a lovely setting, but if you are excited to see animals, there aren’t many here. You are likely to be disappointed. Fortunately, they don’t charge much for admission. I am glad we went. It was fun for the kids.

I guess it’s not too bad if you’re looking for stuff to do in Billings with kids, but that’s mostly because kids can make an adventure out of just about anything if they’re in the right mood.
When we visited we found that the only bighorn sheep had passed away, and the wolverine had been shipped off to some other zoo for breeding. So, now the animal count is down abut 20%. That leaves lots of hiking around to see not much. The grounds are vast, so the place has plenty of potential if they ever did get some animals.
The tiger exhibit (which is easy to miss) was pretty cool.

We were looking forward to this zoo after a long drive from Custer, SD. We only saw some farm animals, two white wolfs and a tiger. Looks like they are redoing it but there is really not much to see right now.