Global Wildlife Center

So you have some young kids and you are starting to run out of things to do? Well this place is good for 2 or more visits a year! Bookmark this place now!
I actually haven’t read any of the previous reviews, so my review might be somewhat of a repeat. My apologies. Here is my «How To» visit Global Wildlife Center successfully
From Uptown New Orleans its a solid 1 hour 30 minute ride. Make sure you pack some snacks and drinks and a blanket and pillow so the little ones can nap and give you a little quiet time :-)
Upon pulling into the property, you will be thrust right into the wildlife. That is after the cattle gate. Immediately you will be driving 5 miles an hour thru groups of deer, emus and the like. The drive is a winding 5 minute one till you reach the parking lot.
Yep, you gotta go into the Gift Store to buy the tickets to board the tractor ride. Thats how they get ya! Actually though the store is full of quality learning things. Lots of stuffed animals too but the Conservation theme is throughout and positive. Also a drink machine and dipping dots and candy. No real visible foods being sold. Might be because of the animals.
The boarding tickets are bought at the checkout counter. There you will find a price sheet on the counter top. As of this day, an adult and two chirrens totals up to $ 39. The extra money is the «feed». You can buy it in all kinda quantities. Of course the bigger and better prices going along with the larger size feed. It tops out at $ 60 for a HUGE sack of herbivore feed. Next size down is a 5 gallon bucket for $ 30. This is the way to go, but if you have 3 kids that are throwing feed like an drunk Endymion rider, you WILL run out at the halfway point. We did. Thank the maker they will sell you more during the ride. Yes its a money grab but the entire facility is run by the money made by the tours. It all goes to a great cause and its food you are tossing. Not junk.
Things I learned on the ride. Zebras are mean to all. One of the awesome tour guides, Mallory, mentioned that Zebras bite you if they like you and bite you really hard if they dont. Deer like to fight each other and Llamas are sweet.
Pro-​tip… Get here on a weekend as early as possible. If the first ride is at 10… take it! We arrived 30 mins early for our 12:15 ride. Not a problem at all. By the time we returned back to the loading area the 2 & 3 pm rides were already sold out. There is no reservation system. First come first served. Thats a bummer if you just made a 1 hour 30 minute ride to have to wait longer. Your only option then is a private tour at $ 35 per person with a minimum of 4 people.
Come early, buy tickets inside gift shop, buy the biggest amount of feed you can afford and have a great time!

We heard of this place a few times and decided to give it a try. The place was really amazing, 4 adults, 2 kids about $ 100 that may have also included a bucket to feed the animals. The place was really interactive, you ride around in a train cart feeding quite a few wild animals. Great place for kids, it took about 3 hours for the entire tour. Its basiclly and mobile feeding farm.

What a great place to have outdoor fun with your family!!! These guys are doing a wonderful thing. A must see!

This place is amazing for families, affordable, lots to see and the animals are so amazing!
We love that this is a short 2hr drive away and its A safari in the backyard :)
We love finding amazing places to bring the kids and have fun outdoors!
Feeding the animals was great fun for our 7yr daughter (& her mom :) we will definitely be booking the private tour soon!

We enjoyed our experience. Just wish there was something for the kids to do while we waited for an hour for our tour to start. Do recommend the family bucket of food for kids. They go through a lot of feed.

We had a blast. We have never been able to pet or even give a kiss to a giraffe like we were able to at Global Wildlife Center. The zebras were a riot the way they held their mouths open for us to pour in the food we bought. Had a ball. Would recommend it to all.

I’ve been to the facility many times through the years and have enjoyed the experience. The last time I went, about a month ago, I noticed the animals go under the wagon looking for food while the wagon is moving. I just learned from my daughter’s friend that a baby deer was run over today during her safari tour. Unfortunately, a quick google search revealed this isn’t the first accident where a small animal was run over. I hope the facility will make adjustments to prevent this in the future.

Visited the center this June and was blown away. We did the private PINZ tour (I highly recommend over the safari wagon tour!!) and we had a blast. It was 100% worth the cost and our guide was great.

Thank you Brian, Nicole and Hayley, what fun we all had at your adventure. feeding all the animals was insane! We just beat a horrible storm. sorry to the riders after our truck came in!

Wow, what an experience! This is something that everyone should try at least once. It’s fun for all and is great for the family.
Just a few tips
If it’s a weekend day (or a break off from school for the kids), make sure you arrive at least a couple of hours earlier than your intended tour time. They sell out fast! You can buy the ticket then go somewhere to eat (not many restaurants around) then come back for your tour.
Second, make sure you try and listen to the tour guide during the tour. There are some animals you can feed out of your hands and some that you can’t
Bring sunglasses and a cap! And make sure you check the weather ahead of time!

Beautiful experience
Was left speechless because i have never experienced anything remotely as close as touching a Zebra ! ! !
Definitely doing the Private Tour next time

Had a great family experience today at Global Wildlife Center. This is a unique place but slightly pricey. Staff was really nice and service oriented. We haven’t been here for years and there seems to be more animals. All had a good time even the reluctant teenagers.

We all loved this. Great day trip. Worth any amount of time, drivewise. Get there at one of the early…9 or 10 safari rides. This way you avoid a lot of people. There were bus loads waiting when we got back from the 10:30 ride. We were in a car that had 10 people. Tons of room. You get up close and very personal with the animals! FUN!

As a family we have been multiple times and our whole family from adults to grandchildren enjoyed the experience throughly! But hold a tight grip on your food cups because they are little thieves and snatch them from you hand and hold it up like they are drinking! Funny! I suggest if you have young children to buy a BAG of food not by the cup because you run out quickly and the children will be disappointed. I prefer the early spring and cool fall days over the heat of the summer personally. But it’s a experience the whole family will enjoy! They have a nice gift shop also with a good range of prices for all.
They do have family yearly membership packages also. They have one where once a year the have a campfire and auctioning of the shredded horns to raise money for the establishment too!

I love The Global Wildlife Center! It’s so special! Where else in Louisiana can you really feel like you are in Africa on a safari? I’ve never been to Africa but it seems like it’s just as hot there as it is here, so it’s really easy for me to imagine I’m on a true African Safari.
There are zebras, giraffes, llama, ostriches, deer, cows and goats all eagerly waiting for you to come observe them and best of all feed them! How awesome is that?
Kids love it and so do adults. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon. You should definitely make it a priority to visit at least once!

Global Wildlife Center offers a unique experience that will engage kids from about age 3 up through any age.
The premise is simple: Collect a wide variety of non-​predatory grazing animals that can handle south Louisiana climate, set them out to roam on 900 acres, run tour trains pulled by a tractor across the property, and let riders feed the animals from large plastic cups.
The trip is about 90 minutes to 2 hours. There’s a covered picnic area where visitors can eat or rest before or after their safari journey. A gift shop offers a blend of kitschy animal-​themed tchotchkes and a smattering of remarkable and unusual offerings, the latter being more expensive, mostly.
The property itself is beautiful, with expansive meadows dotted with wildlife from around the world. In summer, the remote rear area looks like the «Bliss» wallpaper that was default for Microsoft Windows XP. (Mac users, google that.) Some of the animals stay put and don’t approach the feed train, which is reassuring; to have every single animal desperately clamoring for food would be a distressing indicator of mistreatment. This means you might not see, for example, giraffes or buffalo up close on your particular visit, but instead grazing in distance, enjoying the shade of one of the many tree groves, or lounging in a cool stream.
A well-​informed guide provides a running commentary on everything about the animals (including running).
June is baby season. Among the observations made on a recent visit: The smallest babies don’t partake from the food truck, preferring the mother’s teat until they mature. A baby zebra, pointed out by the guide, was up and walking behind mom within hours of birth. A zebra baby weighs a third of the mother’s weight at birth, a fact that elicited gasps and commentary from the human moms on board.
The variety of sizes, shapes, color, and (for those who aren’t squeamish) texture of the tongues of large grazing ungulates is impressive.
So much for the grown ups. The kids just to want scoop out the feed and pour it onto those wet-​nosed, long-​tongued faces. Some try to pet the creatures, who don’t really mind but will move to make it clear their main mission is eating, not affection. The llamas are fun to feed straight from the hand despite an intimidating set of teeth that apparently get used only on unfortunate blades of grass.

BEST PART OF OUR NOLA TRIP!
We went to NOLA for 4 days and went on a bunch of tours and visited as many sights as we could and the Global Wildlife Center was, hands down, the absolute best part of the trip.
It’s about an hour from NOLA but it’s a trek worth making. As soon as we drove up to the driveway, I could tell that this place is special. The animals are so comfortable with people and cars.
For about $ 20, we got a 90 minute ride on the wagon and enough food to feed the critters. As soon as the wagon pulled away from the parking area, the animals knew it was feeding time. Entire herds of deer followed us around. We also saw kangaroos, zebras, jiraffes camels, bison, and many other types of animals. They were all so friendly.
It was exhilarating to feed them out of my hand. The little kids all had a blast but I was just as excited as them. We sat at the very back of the wagon and it was the best spot because the animals approach from multiple angles.