Papanack Park Zoo in Kingston

I went there this past weekend with the kids and heres what I have to say.I have heard horror stories about this place and its why Ive hesitated for so long to take the kids there.You have to go in knowing what it is that youre in for.Its a farm with cages with wild animal, this makes it a zoo. It is not a traditional zoo perse. All animals are behind chain link fencing not steel bars like a typical zoo. This gives it a less elegant look bit still works.The enclosure do seem small but again, it also doesnt have the footprint of a large zoo.The animals seem lethargic. Sure, they are caged wild animal afterall. Ive seen the same at large zoos. But how big of a cage is big enough? As a person, if I were confined to my house forever would that be too small? Maybe confined to my neighborhood, or city? Some humans are confined to earth and its not good enough either. No creature is meant to be confined.They let you feed most animals which the kids love. All monkeys are very active. The big cats are not, most are not overly active in the wild either.You cannot expect to pay $20 for a ticket and get the same experience as a zoo that charges $60. People need to be realistic. Again, its a farm with zoo animals.You will see a lot of the same animals that you see in a bigger, more expensive zoo as well. Pretty much all of the big cats are there, so youll love it if you are a big cat fan.As a reference point of how they are cared for. The bears are owned by the woman who cares for them. Life expectancy in the wild is like 8-9 years. The bears there are 20+. Not sure about anyone else, but their lives have been doubled, at least.If youre in the area and want to go to the zoo, but dont want to drive an extra 2-3 hours, try it out. With kids, the shorter trip amd cheaper rate is appreciated.

I learned about the importance of animal conservation. I saw many animals safe, well fed, content, and cared for. My favorite part was feeding the animals and learning about species I would never otherwise see in Canada. Oh and dancing with an ostrich was pretty cool! The owner and staff were kind, friendly and knowledgeable. Would highly recommend to anyone who like animals. Thanks Papanack Zoo for a day I will never forget.

My kids loved it! It’s nice that we have a Zoo like this in our area. I don’t seem to noticed anything wrong with the animals❤️ I would only consider more trees and shelter/Bigger rocks and pools for the animals.

We took our 4 and 6 yr old grandchildren. They thoroughly enjoyed the day. I thought all the animals had good space and looked well treated. Our highlights were the monkeys and the cheetahs. We were there from about 10 to 2 and did not see everything. It was a lot of walking for the 4-yr old but they have strollers to use. It would be helpful to provide a map of the zoo. I have no hesitation recommending this nice day trip from Ottawa. We had a great time! Bring your own food. There are treats available in the store.

Very sad and run down but closer than Montreal. Don’t buy any food. I forgot to say hold the insects in my daughter’s slush puppy. Made a fun ride home.

Honestly this gets 0 stars in my opinion but I can only post if I put a star. These poor animals are suffering and not taken care of at all. My heart broke for them, you have a goat with a missing horn and covered in blood on the other one. A bear in a tree barely being able to breath and another trying to sit in his drinking water because he has a TINY box to get shade in. Pretty sure the bear is bigger then the box. Many animals you could see there bones from how skinny theyre when they should not look like that. Im absolutely appalled at how this place "takes care of" there animals. I hope they can be released where they should be to live a happy life in the wild and be able too eat properly. Horrible place should be shut down

It was ok zoo. I really think they need some work on the cages and out more food and water out for the animals. It was so sad some of the animals were crying outside for water and food. It was good price to go see them.

It is a great place for the kids lots of animals to see. Priced accordingly. Bring a picnic. It would of been nice to have a map.. over all we had fun.

It was a beautiful sunny day to visit this zooLots of animals to seeWe had a great family day!

I do not recommend this zoo, I found that it was not well kept. For the size of certain animals I feel that their cages were too small.

Went today, yes some of the enclosures are small but what the hell do I know about their care, maybe theyre just viewing enclosures and theyre moved to other enclosures at different times. There seemed to be other much bigger enclosures that werent accessible to the public. All of the enclosures we saw had little dens and lots of greenery for shade and to hide. As for water, I noticed a lot of natural source water. I thought the animals looked healthy, they were curious and interactive so they cant be that sad... ultimately it has greatly improved. There was also a bear and cheetah show where a handler was right there with the animals and the animals obviously loved her. I saw no signs of abuse. The cheetah was purring away and looked very healthy.Also there were people doing work on some of the enclosures.Its improving, and thats what matters. Portapotties were clean, gift shop is cute and the staff are very friendly and knowledgeable.My 8 year old and 6 year old had an amazing day out.Thanks Papanack!

TerribleMy son asked me why the lion was crying and why the animals looked so sad.Some Enclosures are unsafe and broken.Clearly the animal where thirsty and had no access to water at the time of our visite*Friendly staff*I have never seen anything so sad, PLEASE STAY AWAY do not visite!!!!

It is a little run down but you can see they are trying and things are improving for the people and the animals. The cages are small but are made to make the animals interested. Overall an affordable, enjoyable fun afternoon

Absolutely amazing experience!Family of 7 including 4 children did zoo & cabin rentals with another family was day well spent roaming zoo refreshing slushies / STAFF were very educated about animals many updates since previous tornadoCabins were all decorated in themes which made for fun for childrenCabins include fridge microwave keurig queen bed an futon spacious ac environment/Fire pit & bbq patio chairs an many many roaring all night ! Wolves were to be heard -☆☆☆☆☆ 5 STAR EXPERIENCE will be doing this again-

Stayed at Papanack park zoo in the wolf den this past week with my girlfriend and we absolutely loved it since Kari recently took over the zoo she has done a great job and is still working hard to make it even better the animals have lots of room if your ever in the Ottawa area I highly recommend staying at the papanack zoo in one of the bunkie’s it’s like sleeping in the jungle and prices are great if we’re ever in the Ottawa area we will definitely be back at papanack park zoo

We visited the zoo today the staff were very friendly. Alot of big animals looked stressed out and not very well taken care of . Small black bear well undersized . Timberwolves look like they may weigh 40 pounds when they should be 100 plus the hair Falling out of them its heartbreaking . Most animals dont have enough shade to lay in their drinking water was full of algie pens are dirty grass grown way up on some pens you couldnt see the animals . Alot of enclosures are way to small for the animal/animals that are jammed in them. The enclosures are mostly dirty and falling apart . This place needs to be shut down these new owners arent any better than the old ones . These animals need to be rescued and taken somewhere they can get the proper medical treatment, food, enclosure size , and love they deserve . This place is beyond disturbing to see . Please help rescue these animals before its to late

We rented the bunkies for 2 nights, our tickets for the zoo were included so we did part of the zoo one day & the other part the following day. You can certainly tell that this zoo is getting some make overs. (Which wont occur over night, this takes time for a big place)Lots of staff working on the make overs. Friendly staff. Animals are well looked after. Yes we would go back again and for sure rent the bunkies. Good price and you only need to bring food and all disponibles like forks cups spoons bowls etc. I would bring water too. Only downfall with bunkies was lack of water for rinsing things off and washing face. Great place. Thank-you for having us.

Really Really save your money its Really poor and Really wresting your money and time. Not many kind of animals, its look like a farm with a budget to buy some "exotic" animals. There is a poor bear is bigger than his own bath. The animals looks really hungry and nobody presents the animals to make feel people there are animals because they are hiding a lot even if its not hot outside. Indeed, the customers service at the reception is not good. They dont tell you anything, just if your tattoo for the day is earasing, they gonna almost run after you to kick you out of the "zoo".

This is a really nice zoo, the animals look to be very well taken care of. This isn’t your average zoo this zoo it isn’t a concrete cage, this zoo makes it really feel like your in the animals nature habitat. I really recommend.

Went there on June 16th, had bear cave cabin rented for me, wife, daughter. 3 minutes away from the zoo when we were driving there it starts pouring rain and a tornado warning! Completely destroyed the trip. Had to turn around and drive all the way home near Cornwall.Spoke with owner agreed my $75 deposit that we are just going to come up and go through the zoo on a nicer day. Cabins were very nice and clean, was extremely disappointed with the weather as this is the second time this month a family outing was destroyed by rain. Wish we could have stayed, there is also a slide thing for kids to play on with my daughter went on but it was too wet. Looking forward for my daughter to see the animals at some point this summer when its nice out.

Terrible zoo , abusive to the animals which can be seen on YouTube, watch for yourself but aside from the actual abuse the enclosures are too small and run down multiple animals have escaped and been killed , I will never again support this awful place! It should be shut down.

Took my kids there for the first time on Sunday, they had an absolute blast at the place. My daughters told me the place is more fun than Toronto zoo or Granby zoo. The only thing is saterday rained,on Sunday the place is still very muddy and wet, we didn’t wear our rain boots. For future spring visitors, wear rain boots.

Im a pretty straight forward person I give one star because. The animals have no space to roam like the lions !! They stank really bad and where full of mud there enclosure was disgusting and not suitable. Sad thing is they kept walking back and fourth because of stress and no room ! The animals where starving! The alpacas and lamas had ingrown teeth and dental problems . 😬 no animal had proper care or proper living space I feel sad for the wild animals. Its a very low class zoo I am disappointed they charge so much and do soo little SHUT THIS PLACE DOWN !!

Terrible customer service! Booked an overnight stay, paid 50% deposit at time of booking, and attempted to reschedule with more than 72 hours notice. Owner ignored my attempts, and finally when I inquired about returning my deposit as clearly they were not interested in rebooking she claimed they do not offer any returns or rebooking. Would not recommend to anyone! Despite their history, we thought we would try and see if they had improved - sadly we were proved wrong.

We were very surprised about the zoo by how amazing it is and it is a huge park. There were many kinds of animals. Adult and kids will the Zoo.the poor rating by the people who wrote the review its not fair . To be honest, this place is awesome and both kids and adults will definitely enjoy to visit this zoo. Just be prepared to bring your own snacks and water because it is a huge zoo. All the staff are friendly and professional. The only thing I would say it is expensive we paid $50 for 2 adults, a toddler and an 4 year old. Otherwise we had a great experience

The staff who were there, which is very little from what we could see, were really friendly. Can’t take that away. The animals were fun to see and very cute. But it pained me to see such dirt and smelly cages, and pretty much a run down place. Looked almost abandoned. The lions looked extremely thin and the play structures looked old and dirty. I didn’t want my daughter playing on them. The bathrooms were clean. It needs a lot of work and money. It has potential but all I could think of leaving was that sad flamingo in a dirty kiddie pool that sounded like he was crying. I just wanted to give him or her a hug…

Great place to visit. Lot of animals when it comes to calling it as a small zoo. Please dont expect for someone to be there to guide you thru the zoo. Be your own guide.

Pretty impressive to see Lions, Tigers, Wolves, Kangourous and other animals in such a small town (Wendoverand its only 40 mins from Ottawa. Worth the trip.

This place has been massively improved. Its a great small zoo. Dont let the bad reviews scare you off. Some enclosures are small but theyre doing their best to expand them. They need visitors to afford improvements. Quite a big diverse variety of animals and the staff really care.

I keep seeing bad reviews of this place and Im not sure why. This is a great little zoo, we all enjoyed it very much. They are updating alot of their enclosures and the animals dont looked stressed as some people say. They all have food and water and shade. This is 1 of the best little zoos i have been too. 10/10 recommend take your kids they will love it and so will you!

I wish I could provide a million more stars for this Zoo. I prefer animals to be in the wild but the way our world is nowadays this isnt always possible, it is our obligation to provide animals the safest place to live and the Papanack Zoo is exceptional at making this happen. It is evident that the animals are so well taken care of, great facility for them and the animals look incredibly content.I took the time to learn about these animals, they are not purchased on the black market, as some people believe. Most of the animals are in fact rescue animals. The owner has taken so much time to educate herself on all the different specifies at her Zoo.I highly recommend this facility and suggest to anyone that is against having animals in a zoo setting to reach out to the owner and allow her the opportunity to explain the story on each animal, they all have one!

Never have I experienced a "zoo", which was deeply uncomfortable to watch, as the animals. Are grossly overcrowded, the African lion pen at least one of them are way too small to house 2 full size African lions.There is a lack of shaded area for some of the animals, namely the Kodiak bear. The water source in the Flamingo den, is stale and dirty.The fences are poorly maintained, the pathways in throughout the zoo seem to be planned by someone who was under the influence of some sort of substance and probably failed geographyThe Staff was ridiculously non existent except for the one in charge of collecting the money.With all the exisiting visible problems, it looks like expansions are well underwayReally think they should concentrate on their core operation and animal care issues before they look to exploit the animals for profit further.

I highly recommend visiting this zoo! The staff were incredibly helpful and kind! The animals were very friendly and well taken care of! What a wonderful experience to see animals up close! Also family friendly and affordable!

It’s a wonderful place to bring family to have fun. My son loves feeding the goats, monkeys and other animals. I personally feel it’s better than Toronto Zoo at lease I saw a tiger wander around in his cage and the viewing distance is closer. Hope it get better and better. We had hesitance in the beginning because some negative reviews but once being there, it’s totally worthwhile. Crew are very friendly.

Was alright. They have some really nice animals, and some animals we couldnt see because of there being so much growth. Nice little zoo though, and new owners. The staff were nice, and helpful. Was fun feeding the animals.

Its a beautiful place to take the kids. We really enjoyed the time we spent at the zoo. The kids enjoyed the play parks also. The food is a decent price so are the plush toys. I would suggest bringing bottled water as the park is big and long to walk. The staff were really friendly and kind.

We had a great time yesterday. The place was very clean and lots of space to explore. The animals appeared very well cared fir and the staff were super friendly.

I was there today and my son really enjoyed it it’s so worried that this place has a lot of negative reviews that make me scared of going but we really enjoyed it even with the rain.

Amazing and fun experiences at the Zoo. Really recommend for the VIP pack for more one on one interaction with the animals and the zookeepers

I heard and read different things or comments about this place. When you drive in the parking lot, the first thing that came up in my mind was "what the heck" but things get better as the visit progressed. We liked our visit, the animals look happy and well taking care of. The most important, we can easily see all the animals and fairly closed. Cages are definitely looking old, made out wood, things you dont see elsewhere. Especially at the tigers cage on the right side of the site, makes you wandering if this is strong enough. The place is walkable but still a long walk for elderly. Kids loved it.

Its small and just a bit in disrepair but stuff is nice animals are cool and its just close enough for a nice day trip.

The animals were fun to watch and feed! They look well taken care of. Staff was very friendly. The paths go in all different directions, it is not one path that you follow there are many of them! A good time was had there! Good price!

Loved this zoo! Staff is nice, we went on a rainy day and still loved our visit. SO Worth it!

Reading the barrage of negative reviews I was a little weary at first. After visiting the park Ive come to my own conclusion that this place is run well. The animals are happy, and for the most part quite sociable which says a lot about the care they receive.Its sad that this place isnt super busy. Its super close to Ottawa, 25 minutes east of trim just off the 17. Staff is great, animals are in good shape as well. My only critique of the place is that some of the wolves seemed a bit hot.Honestly, Id pass over the negative reviews and focus in on the more positive ones.

Nice park to visit, not far from Ottawa. They have some event during the day like feeding the bears and lion. Kids loved it. Also small places to set and relax.Recommended

My family and I enjoyed this place. The staff is friendly. The animals seem well taken care of. You can feed many of the animals. They also have demonstrations with different animals every half hour or so.

Ive visit the zoo on 2011 and it was a clean place, animal was looking good with a lot of variety .... but today I came back with some friend and it was terrible.. animal look starving, and there is no fresh water, and the place look rundown, the grass is not maintained inside or outside the cage.even 2 goat escape from the cage

The new owners of Papanack Zoo have definitely made improvements, but even for a small zoo it is not perfect. It is fun and the animals are definitely as interested in seeing you as you are them, but some of the enclosures are questionable. I have seen animals who are used to living in groups completely alone, cages that are far too small, cages with holes in them, chest with doors wide open and nothing inside. It is not perfect but still fun. I did enjoy it but I probably would not recommend visiting to a friend.

Ive lived relatively close to here while growing up in Ottawa, then moved away 8 years ago to London.While visiting family with our 2 year old, we visited the Papanack Park Zoo and boy am I glad that we did!The lady at the store counter was super friendly, greeted us warmly and introduced us to the little ones. Then we were directed and told about the many enclosures, provided times where keepers had fun educational times to tell the many kids visiting about their many animals.We were able to interact and hold month old wolf puppies, so our timing couldnt have been better.I can go on and on about the many animals living happily here, however there are lots of treasures that need to be discovered on your own.Special shout out to their local celebrity bear Bonkers and his family of bears. He had such good manners pulling many tricks for us, including playing soccer, waving, lunging on his favorite chair etc.

Ive never seen such an awful zoo. No proper sheds to stay away from heat or cold. One small enclosure the size of my room for three monkeys, another one for three eagles. Small enclosure for lions. No proper food or water available for them. Not even a proper habitat at the bare minimum, no trees, no logs, no ponds, no proper play areas. Not to mention the staff dont have proper or legitimate training, thus the domestication and taming process is barbaric. They also allow for inhumane circus acts and selfie taking with these exotic wild animals.