Timbavati Wildlife Park

My family and I went during the off season for the private tour. Absolutely worth every bit of money that was spent. Having a personal guide show us the animals was great. My son even got to race a kangaroo! I could go on and on about how good the personal tour was.
Now comes to our experience this last weekend… we went to the train ride offered to go «around the park». First of all they sell cups of carrots for $ 4 a piece and the tickets were $ 10 per adult, and $ 8 for each kid. SO a total of over $ 60 was spent. To jump ahead in the story the train ride was only 15 minutes tops with most of the time chugging along at quite a slow speed where there were no animals. The end of the train ride was to feed the giraffes. We were told to get back on the train before even being able to give all the carrots to the giraffes. So that was about $ 10 or more worth of carrot sticks to just leave behind. Never again will I do this and nobody should waste their money.
I would have given a 5 star review for the aspect of the private tour that was done in the off season but it has to go to 3 stars based on how horrible of a rip off the train ride was.

We got in for free because we stayed at Kalahari. We stayed about 20 minutes. The enclosures are cramped. The camel, for example, stood and made a moaning sound. Then he walked 10 feet. Then turned around. Then made the moaning sound. Then walked the same 10 feet. Repeat ad nauseam. Don’t know if it was in heat or overheated or unhappy but it was not pleasant. It certainly didn’t sound like bellows of happiness. We got out of there.
I should have known better when every review on their own site was glowing. That is just impossible.

Got free tickets through our hotel. Conditions for animals are a JOKE. Do not support this place, they definitely need to provide a better living space for their animals.

This place is terrible! They supplied animals to Goebbert’s Pumpkin Patch in Illinois and a baby cub that was too young to be separated from their mother DIED!!! It died. They have no regards for their animals welfare. This place needs to be SHUT DOWN!

Animals like these should not be in a place like this in Wisconsin! They may have been born in these temperatures, but animals take thousands of years to make climate adaptations, not one generation!

Stayed at Kalahari and we got in for free so I have to be honest that if I had to pay I probably would not go. The animals were nice: some animals I had not seen that close before and they were in a neat habitat. The lions were pretty awesome and the camels pretty rude. The goats were cute and crazy for the carrots. Look for coupons to try to lower the cost. This place could really stand for a cash infusion to help them out but they are doing a good job with what they have.

Ok we had a blast my kids loved it. we spent so much time in bird cage they land on u now they want a bird. lived the penguins. feeding animals was fun. train ride was neat. inly loss of star is its a newer place and the animals shelters are still being built could have used a tree and maybe a watering hole in some. but looks loike they are well cared for. and foing it as dast as they can it. getting bigger every year. thanks for a fun day and great family experience

This place is horrible. Big cats in sweltering heat with no shade. Few animals. Expensive. Animals are in need of care and better treatment.
What a disappointment for the cost. Use your money to see a magic show instead. This was a complete waste of money.

When we drove pass this place, it looked and sounded exciting. We decided to stop by. It was $ 18.95 for adults and $ 12.95 for kids which I thought was reasonably priced. Oh, we did pay $ 4 for some carrots to feed the animals.
We walked in and this place was so quiet. Wait, we were there on a Tuesday though. There were hardly any people there and not that many animals at all. The best part of this park was feeding the birds. The kids enjoyed it. You had to pay for bird food on a stick which I thought wasn’t to bad. I believe it was $ 5 for 3 sticks.
Overall, I thought i was just okay. Not anything I got excited over and will not returning to this park.

Apparently the owners of this park have never owned a pet. The big cats have no stimulation and are extremely weight. A lot of folks think it’s cool to be able to get so close, for instance, to the giraffe. It’s not safe both for the people or the animal. Very sad experience. Even with free tickets I wish I would have skipped the experience. Screams PETA.

One star is too many. Spent $ 85 dollars to get in & ride the train. Took my kids to this expecting to see penguins as advertised on the website. No penguins anywhere to be found. Instead there were lots of sad and depressing looking animals that are in need of better care and attention than what they are getting. DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY & TIME!!!

Went there with my son on Father’s Day for the $ 19 admission fee for adults and less for youth it is quite worth it considering this is not supported by tax dollars they have a lot of interreactive areas to get up close to some of the animals and to be able to hand feed a large range of species. From birds to big cats you can find it here. They are continuing to improve the park and make it a bigger zoo. This review was written by me not by anybody affiliated with the zoo.

Short Version: Easily worth the $ 16 admission to get in, but I’m not entirely pleased with the look of some of the habitats. It’s still a brand-​new place, though (open less than three years), and they’re currently adding and changing exhibits. With curious children, you could easily spend at least 2 hours here — and more than 4 if you really got into the feeding and other areas.
Long Version:
This is a still-​new zoo (less than three years old) that is replacing an old waterpark and go-​kart track that used to be here. They actually are attempting to re-​use materials and stuff from the old buildings to avoid wasting a lot of resources rebuilding things. However, as they’re still new, they are currently adding and remaking areas of the park. During my visit, I learned that they were offering free train rides with admission because they were currently doing construction on adding a Parrot Wing (and that all of the animals weren’t out quite yet because it was still a bit chilly since summer season hadn’t actually started).
This park offers a few things. You can get the admission-​only for less than $ 20 per person ($ 16, I think?) The local Wisconsin Dells coupon books offer a $ 2 off admission coupon. You can also purchase a train ride that goes around the park for $ 10 a person. There also is a Go-​Kart track that you can purchase tickets to. A Goody Goody Gum Drop candy store is also located right next door (literally), so you can walk there if you’re wanting candy after your visit.
The marketing copy they have is a bit misleading. I honestly was surprised to find that there were a ton of cages everywhere. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but most of the marketing seems like it’s a free-​range type of zoo — and that definitely isn’t accurate.
I would NOT recommend the train ride unless you have kids who will be super excited by the train or you don’t want to go through the hassle of getting a full-​park admission. You can choose to just get the train ride instead. The train ride lasts less than 25 minutes, and it honestly doesn’t cover anything that you couldn’t do if you were walking around the park. It provides a fun little ride on a train, but if you already have park admission, it’s honestly a bit of a waste of money.
The park has a ton of stuff to explore, but I was pretty disappointed to find most of the animals behind lots of caging. I suppose that makes sense. I wasn’t so fond of some of the cages, though. For example, in the «about this animal» information (which is missing on many cages leaving you to wonder what in the world you’re looking at) for the Cabybara, it says the animal loves to eat grass. These little capybaras were being kept in a habitat made up of mostly flat dirt — possibly because they had already eating all of the grass, but it seems like something the park might replace. The habitat with the two penguins is a 1 foot deep kiddie pool from the old waterpark structure. I’m not a penguin expert, but since penguins are used to oceans, I imagine a foot of water really isn’t the happiest area for them.
The park also lets you purchase cups of carrots for $ 4 to feed to the animals. Most of the animals can be fed the carrots, but it’s a bit vague in places. All of the animals that you visit on the train ride (kangeroos, zebras, bucks, camels, giraffes) can be fed the carrots. A lot of other animals in the park can also be fed them. The capybara will eat them as well lots of the other animals. Some of the cages are marked with «I like carrots!» and «I don’t like carrots!», so it helps to make it a bit easier to know which ones to feed. However, some of the cages have no markings at all, so you’re left wondering if you can feed them or not. Employees make occasional passes nearby (usually driving a gator or 4-​wheeler), and you can ask them. They’re always happy to help.
Staff was extremely, extremely friendly here. Everybody was so happy to help and happy to help you have the best time possible.
Animals at the park are pretty varied. You can find birds, lemurs, lions, other predatory kitties, small monkeys, and more. There’s an entire building «Nursery» where the baby/​small animals are kept, so it makes it easier to find the cute ones. Feedings are at 11 AM and 3PM, and they may let you help. They also have a pen full of baby goats, and oh my goodness, are they adorable. The caging on these is pretty minimal, so you can totally pet them, and they’re such a happy, healthy-​looking bunch.
Other activities include camel riding and taking photos with a baby animal (both cost extra money). They also have a «petting zoo», but the petting zoo seemed to consist of two camels and two horses. I was hoping for other animals, but the kids were going wild for just the four.

Amazing experience! This environment allows participants to pet and feed animals such as giraffes, lamas, kangaroos, and even zebras. To have this type of experience at any other facility you would have to pay hundreds. The staff is very welcoming and happy to answer questions. The animals are loved and well cared for by the knowledgeable staff. I would recommend Timbavati Wildlife Park to all of my family and friends. I am truly a fan and will be back to visit.

The zoo was under construction when I went last August so it looked run down and dusty. Besides that though, the zoo was very fun. It is one of the most interactive zoos I have ever been to. I petted a llama and carried a joey. I bought carrot sticks so I fed the petting zoo animals and an ostrich, which caught me by surprised when it snatched my carrot. I paid to ride a camel. I also was able to see my favorite animal, the giraffe. I will be coming back to this zoo once it is ready because I think this zoo has a lot of potential.

Don’t listen to these bad reviews! For anyone who goes to zoos this place is a nice surprise. We got to help bottle feed baby animals, pet the zebras, etc. we did not go on the train but we saw the train stop b the yaks and African deer, they were up walking around the train taking carrots from the passengers, it looked nice. Some of the cages were small, it was under construction but the staff was really nice and seemed to care about the animals. We had free tickets to get in from the kalihari so I’m not sure what the price of admission is normally.

In progress
The reviews on here from others on here suck. Too expensive, neglect, blah blah blah. What’s going to happen to the animals if people stay away because of your comments? Many hotels in town offer free tickets. If you don’t want to spend the $ to go inside, do the train for $ 10 and you get a good glimpse at everything without the walk.
It’s a great way to chew up a few hours and is far better «quality time» than spending it on the main strip of shops in town. Feed and pet baby animals! Get way closer to dangerous animals than you ever will in a city zoo.

This was such a disappointment. We were in our way to go to feed the deer and I had read about this place and said let’s go there instead, (our son loves trains) and the pictures outside of the park led is to believe there were lots of diff animals in the park (false advertisement!!)
So, we got to the ticket booth, the train ride is extra $ 10 person. I told my husband let’s go ahead and do both. I had read you would need hours to do everything in the park. Well $ 86 later for the 3 of us, the train ride lasted all of 15 – 20 min and the park was a dump!
Basically a few cages with a couple animals. Most of the buildings inside were empty, it looked like there couple be a couple places for wading, empty. It took us all of an hour to do the whole thing (including the train ride)
It was plain horrible!
Train ride worth $ 10, the park turn and run and go across the street to the deer park!

We were excited to visit as we had free tickets as guests at the Kalahari resort. I knew that it was not going to be any Brookfield zoo, but this was a bit disappointing. Apparently the wildlife park moved to this current location in recent years taking over an old water park on the main drag in Wisconsin Dells. It’s still under construction, which gives the whole place a kind of depressing vibe. The pens were very clean, but that’s what they are pens. Hardly ideal for the animals. It’s very old school zoo. «Come and look at these exotic animals», not «we are a partner in conservation of endangered species.»
My kids had a great time feeding carrots to various antelope, giraffes, kangaroos, etc. And that part is pretty neat. But the large number of baby animals to take photos with (such as baby tigers) and several dozen baby goats to feed made me feel uneasy. What is going to happen to those tiger cubs when they grow up? I guess they’ll probably be eating those baby goats. I’m just speculating, but it isn’t too hard to imagine.
I would not recommend riding the train. You can still feed the giraffes and several antelope very easily without riding the train. The train is basically a tourist trap. But at least my $$ will help care for these animals, I hope so anyway!

Horrible — the place looks desolate & might I add still under construction. The animals were few and far in between. Customer service was TERRIBLE! My friend asked if the almost $ 20/​pp included the train ride, the cashier told her yes. However, that info wasn’t true so we paid almost $ 200 (group of 10) to get into this place to see maybe 6 animals. When we tried to get in the train the attendant told us it was separate (extra $ 10pp) to take us back through the same area we had just seen. Well we go back to the front to express our confusion/​dismay because the cashier told us that train ride was included. They call the manager who didn’t give us an opportunity to say anything but rather come out from the back & say we’re not refunding you & I’m not calling you guys liars but I’m sure she didn’t tell you that included the train ride & he walked away. REALLY!!!
Example of good customer service would have been for him to 1. listen (no one asked for a refund), 2. Apologize for the misunderstanding 3. to say here I’ll just comp your train ride tickets, thanks for your patronage! Especially, considering we had small children excited about a train ride, we’d spent well over $ 300 by the end of the visit because we utilized their concession, purchased pics w/​the tiger ($ 30).
Bottom line: there’s plenty to do in the Dells don’t waste your money, time, or energy at this place!