Dakota Zoo

One of the many things my wife and I like to do together is visit zoos. From the Toronto Zoo during our honeymoon to San Diego and San Francisco, it’s generally a low-​cost option with plenty to look at. Probably the one exception to the rule was our stop at the Greater Vancouver Zoo in 2012 (actually, I believe it’s in Aldergrove, but I associate the trip with the city that everybody knows of), which we found out later was privately owned, and a significant argument against that method of running such an organization.
I have to say that when I first found out there was such a place as the Dakota Zoo, I thought it might be more like the Vancouver version than the San Diego edition. And if one measures a zoo’s likeness in terms of number of visitors or interesting animals, that would be an accurate assessment. But it’d also be a bit unfair — for those animals that were in fact present, they all appeared to be well-​taken care of, and even entertaining in the case of the prairie dogs… really, one could spend all day looking at those creatures act like humans in a certain way. And monkeys are always entertaining to visit, and we were thankful they were kept in an air-​conditioned building, as it was about 95 degrees with humidity to match that day.
The admission was $ 7.50, and given that it entertained us for about 90 minutes, not the worst deal in the history of the universe. That being said, the Dakota Zoo is an adequate way of killing some time. It is not a destination per se.

For North Dakota… no wait… for Bismarck… this is a fantastic zoo!
I was really impressed! I love zoos of all sizes and locations, but I have to admit that this was one of my favorites. Although they don’t have certain classic animals like monkeys (chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, etc.), they have a lot of really interesting critters that I had either never seen before or don’t normally see when out zoo-​ing.
The goat exhibit at the entrance is just ridiculous. So cute, and you can pet/​feed those dumb dumbs! Same with the pigs and donkeys.
The location is really nice, built into nature, and it’s nice and flat for a walk. Some of the cages are small and kind of ghetto, but on the other hand, maybe it’s good to have direct exposure to the outside and air instead of being inside an artificially built pen.
Favorites? Buffalo/​bison, tigers (they have so many!), owls, moose, otters, wolves, and bears.
Have I mentioned how active these animals are, too? They just seem happy. Most of the time, the animals I see at the zoo are either hiding or are in a comatose state. These guys were all over the place!
And the snacks — 1 word — SLUSHIE!!!
If I lived here, I would definitely get a membership!

Nice park like setting and animal exhibits.