Reviews of Cherokee Bear Zoo (Zoo)

Amanda McMillan

I went here years ago as a kid/young teen. I remember a good experience. The bear even waved at us. I'm planning a trip as an adult with my husband to Cherokee, NC and this place came up as a thought! After some googling, I honestly cannot bring myself to ever go here again. Looking back on those photos years ago, I never realized what they were forced to be in. No I'm not an animal activist screaming animals shouldn't be in cages blah blah blah. Anyways, my point is, I know how my feet feel at the end of the day standing on concrete. Could you imagine standing, laying, walking, etc on this (hot) concrete every day for long periods of time??? I will not support this business.

Jamie Lee

I was so impressed and proud with the owners changes of the small place they have had for so many years. I can't wait to see his wife and his dream becomes reality when they open the doors to the new place. Bigger, better and more animals. (Bravo) be patient, it will come in time! I'm blessed by my children and grandchildren will see and be as proud of each and everyone involved to make your dream come true. 7/13 visitor! Patient and slow always gets the reward.

Jeremy Hewit

Several different types of bears were here, and they all ranged in age. It was a fun time for the family. The goats also were a fun time, as well the lemurs. The staff was friendly, helpful, and went overboard to try to make our experience enjoyable.

Max Helmer

The man doing the pictures was great he is very knowledgeable. Had a great time. Great value

Ashley Noriz

I never support places like this but I went to see what it was really like for these bears and I am incredibly sad for them. The bears look very malnourished, one was walking strangely, they were miserable in the heat and it's not even June yet, and they had fur missing. They are kept in such small little "prisons" and they are no doubt very sad and depressed. Please do not support this place. It should be shut down and the animals sent to a sanctuary where they can have a more natural habitat to live out their lives.

Alan Palczynski

Great place for kids see live bears. Good prices and entertainment!

Logan Zerbe

Loves it

Brittany Laura

How can someone go here knowing they are kept in concrete cages. It’s 2019 we need to shut places like this down.

Diane Turner

I wish I could give zero stars. Horrible, abusive place. Stop soliciting this place. Free these animals to a humane sanctuary.

Jessica Kennedy

I love to go see the bears and take pictures with them

SIDECAR RICH

Very sad place, do not support this cruel place

Jordan Rue

Bears - grizzly, black or any kind - should NOT live in 6x12 cement walls. They look pitiful. Some can barely walk because they are clearly not well taken care of. A zoo is one thing, where animals are cared for, well fed, and in a habitat similar to their own, but this is not that. This is a jail for wild, beautiful animals. Report these people to PETA and help save these creatures. It is absolutely disgusting that they have to live this way. When the bears look up at you, you can tell they are struggling.

Dana Dae

This place does not need to be shut down! Animals are well taken care of.

Austin Unruh

Cheap and the kids loved feeding the bears

Lacie Gosnell

I love this zoo! Just wish the animal enclosures were a little bigger! Make sure you bring extra money for feeding the animals!

Jennifer Gooden

We've been visiting the zoo for years and are never disappointed. The cages are very clean; animals well fed and cared for. The owner is extremely nice and willing to answer questions/teach about the animals. We always have lots of questions for him! :) $6/person and if you'd like a tray of food for the bears it's $1/tray. They have dispensers for goat feed for .25 If you're lucky enough to go at the right time they'll have a baby bear or tiger you can have your photo made with!

D Ripollone

No animal deserves this. Usually Native Americans respect the spirits of animals, but in this place no. Its time to get rid of inhumane attractions like this. Wild Exotic Animals should not be in a petting zoo. There is always a danger of someone getting hurt, unless they drug the animals. Which is known to happen. Also here's my take on the reviews here, most of the local guides give the place a thumbs up because they probably know the owners or work for them. Be careful where you spend your money with your children.

kimberly mansfield

Loved seeing all the bears and feeding them

Michelle Perkins

I hope they get bigger mats for the bears. They really don't like the concrete.

Cortnie Nomikos

This place is the hotspot in Cherokee for animal cruelty. We brought our family here expecting to see majestic bears in a natural looking habitat, only to find bears pacing around,begging for food and stuck in a concrete prison. This place is almost as bad as SeaWorld. Please do not bring kids here. Please do not support this place.

Colorful Gardener

This place is awful. The animals looked so sad. The “exhibits” which are basically pits aka holes in the ground. They stick animals into cramp conditions and people pay to see this. Disgusting. Anyone with common sense can see these animals are in pain and are prisoners. Will never come back.

Jessica Piercy

We love the zoo.

Jade & Robert Born

Was fun feeding 8'+ tall brown bears!

Amye Burks

The bears are cute. They a building a nice new habitat which will be better for them than where they are now. The bears will stand up and clap their paws when they see the food.

Jeremy Lott

We had a great time and the people was great too. Cant wait until we go back next year.

Dusty Jespersen

Pretty awesome lil spot

vince T

The people that work here are friendly and seem to actually care about the animals. All the animals appear to be well taken care of. The employees I met that day were awesome.

Crystal Shaver

I haven't visited the zoo, but whoever is in charge of those animals need to set the bears free. I didn't think a Indian Territory would want to keep wild bears in captivity just to make money off them. Plus with Cherokee NC being the home of Indian's I thought they had more care about the animals wanting to be free then making money off them. It goes to show how money hungry people are just to see a wild animal.

Brenda Ledford

Great place

Brandi Bywater

Daughter had a great time feeding and talking to the bears

Michelle Bush

Worth the money bears are not sick looking or underfed as mentioned in other reviews

SweetAs Coco

For all people who are complaining about their experiences, well first off you cannot complain fairly. You spent your money to see these "poor bears" as you call it ... umm that makes you just as bad as the native people you are bashing for operating this place. How about instead you start a go fund me page and raise some money for the bears!!! Nothing will be done by just you writing a review and posting it !!! Take it a step beyond your complaints. . And do something actually worth while!!!!!!! If you have not realized this is located on a reservation, there not a lot of monies sitting around from PETA!!!!!!!! So next time you dare to post comments think of a solution! !!!!!!

Candi Aintright

We had a great time on a rainy day in Cherokee!!

Larissa Hernandez

It is what it is. It's cute but the bears are in a concrete box.... Unlike other reviews... There is water and shade for them to cool off. They love the food; I'd recommend it just for the baby bear photo

Christal Mcphetridge

My family of seven loved it! From ages 10 to 18 all my kids had a very good time and we did the baby bear picture and the people was super nice. It was $20 for our whole group and got a 8x10.. Well worth it for the memories ❤ Very few places in Cherokee that are similar to what it use to be and this is one of them ❤

Mariah Henderson

This is sad bears are on concrete it’s not humane there is to many bears they are in a small environment they should at least make it to where it would look like a home for bears with grass. Would not recommend at least you can feed the poor bears.

chad houston

This place needs to be shut down. It is horrible the way these bears live in a concrete pit. Cherokee needs to spend some of that casino money to build a appropriate habit for the bears and improve Cherokee in it's self it looks just like it did back in 1980. I would not go on a family vacation in Cherokee much less go see the pitiful bears.

Robert Ferguson

You people get a life they take better care of them better then most of you all take care of your kids. They are a great place to go to have a one on one with bears. Super nice place and people it is a must go

E Mercier'

Sad existence for these wonderful animals. Please consider finding an appropriate sanctuary for these helpless creatures.

Jack Baugher

Great place to visit ! Very friendly staff .

Lauren Williams

I don't understand how this business is open. These bears are kept in terrible conditions. This is torture.

junior Rogers

Really have a lot of beats and they sale good to feed them

Martha Mayfield-HOYNS

We really enjoyed the bears. We had our photo made with the baby Lion cub. I would recommend it to anyone

Thomas K

Great zoo, all the animals are well cared for and the exhibits are clean. The experience here as opposed to other zoos is way more fun! Its an affordable great place where you can take photos with baby animals and feed them all at very affordable rates!

Dave St. Onge

PETA is worried about bars on boxes of animal crackers they should check in to this place horrible for these poor bears

Andre Mittelmark

This place is aweful. Its bears trapped in concrete cages. Please don’t support places like this.

Jessica Keene

This so-called "zoo" is incredibly sad and it was heart-wrenching to see how miserable the bears and one tiger looked. They had no shelter, very little dirty water, absolutely no toys or stimulation, and some were begging for food! The most inhumane thing I've seen. I would never return and I urge that others don't waste their money supporting this outright animal neglect and abuse. This place should be shut down immediately.

Taylor Burkett

This is the most saddest place I’ve ever seen! The bears have no room to move around and no shelter to stay under when it rains. The baby cubs are in a dog pin pretty much and THE ONLY REASON THIS PLACE HAS ONE STAR IS BECAUSE I CANT GIVE IT ZERO STARS. The bears look like there starving and so do the other animals down stairs.

lauren lingerfelt

Very small but fun for little kids!

Hans Gilgen

THE OWNERS SHOULD BE THROWN IN THE BEAR PIT WHERE THEY CAN LIVE THEIR LIVES!!! Only disgusting ignorant human beings are attending this place. FREE the bears to a sanctuary NOW!!!!

Shebbie Hardwick

so much fun

Linda Givens

Feeding the bears was good and we watched a baby goat being delivered it was amazing.

DW Spin

BEYOND DEPRESSING Do NOT support this place, they have been dodging lawsuits for years and lack of public support may help shut them down. The bears will break your heart. They sit in small, filthy concrete partitions that reek of urine in 90 degree heat with no shade and stare up at you sometimes opening their mouths for food which people throw at them. You wish that the human/bear roles were reversed here trust me as imbeciles wind up and hit these beautiful animals with apples and wonder bread. The bears are broken, their souls are gone you will see it in their eyes, it was like visiting a prisoner of war camp, no kidding. If you think this will be a charming day out with the "lil guys" think again, its a day wrecker...

Gains Flemming

This place is a disgrace. These poor bears spend their lives in tiny artificial environments that don't even resemble their natural homes. Imagine if you had to spend your entire life inside of your house. You would go insane. It is no different for these animals. All of the animals here endure these same conditions. These animal deserve to live like animals. It is sick to take a beautiful creature created by God and try to contain it so you can make money off of it. I know it may be tempting to go and get a picture with a tiger, or a monkey, or a bear, but please, do not support places like this. What they are doing is cruel and basically abuse to animals. Just take a look at the pictures of this place and you will see what i'm talking about.

Tiffany Liles

So much fun

A ZinQ

Small zoo where they treat the animals very bad. Small spaces for the bears. Which animal enjoys sitting in a small compound every day?? So sad, so sad!

Lori Clauson

These animals are prisoners. Don’t support this place.

Joey Goodman

Best time ever you get to feed the bear

Shawn Rainey

Enjoyed seeing the bears and getting to feed them. I hope that they add more animals in the future and it's only $6 to get in a little extra to feed them but not a lot more.

Wanda McDowall

Nice, clean, and informative.

JoAnn Eaton

These animals need to be surrendered to a true sanctuary with room to roam, not in filthy, small concrete cages away from anything natural to them. Shameful that this is allowed.

carlos smith

Small place, feel bad for the animals

Kathy Keever

Enjoyed

Markus Aurelius

DISGUSTING DISPLAY OF HUMAN CRUELTY!! WHY IS THIS ALLOWED. Keeping these poor animals in concrete pits. America is such a shameful place to allow this. I hope the owners of this place all fry in hell.

Hailey Doster

Daughter loved it!!

Ami Bailey

Family friendly and its cool to feed the bears and goats

Jason Albers

Wonderful place! Super friendly, cant wait to go back

Rachel Coffenberry

We ABSOLUTELY LOVED this place!! We almost didn't go bc of the reviews.... BUT SOOO GLAD we did!! It was only $5 per adult, $3 per child! Plus $1each for a plate of food for the bears. All of the animals looked very happy & healthy! There is 1 Black Bear that will sit up and clap for food!

Ashley Powell

Awesome beyond able to see real bears up close an get to feed them if u want to pay to do so but honestly it's cruel the way the poor bears are kept captive.

Brittany Varner

I would give no stars if I could. The treatment and confinement of these poor bears is disgusting. It is immoral to keep bears like this.

Joleena Copeland

This is an awesome place to bring the kids, fun for the whole family. Not expensive. Had a great time.

Yvonne Bursess

Was ok felt bad for the bears was hot but they looked cared for

Mary Fleming

These bears are precious! The other animals are cute. My kids loved this when they were little. They're supposed to be building a new nature park with more animals. I wish them well with this project!

Abhi S

It was a fun experience. We went there with our family and has a lot of fun. You can actually see the bears from upclose. The people that work here are nice and the facility is clean. The bears seemed to be happy and communicative. If you are a bear fan you should def visit this place.

Brandi Easler

I absolutely love this place!

Constance McCulley

The bears were sad and they didn't have but two animals

Andrew Wright

Disgraceful to keep these beautiful animals locked in these concrete pits that resemble nothing of their natural environment. Release them to a sanctuary and stop profiting off their misery and exploitation.

Diane Conner

Love this place

Debra Waters

Not all of the animals were there, but the bears were beautiful, I will be glad (and I'm sure they will too) when they move in a couple of months. They will get a more natural habitat, bigger. The goats were hilarious, and cute as a bug's ear! The Lemurs were pretty quiet. The guys who runs the place was very nice, the animals seem to love him.

Sade J.

This place is awesome! After reading reviews we were a bit skeptical... but, I wanted to check it out for myself. Have my own opinion. The bears were laying around looking content. They said please for their “snacks” which was the cutest thing ever! I call them snacks because I ASKED QUESTIONS and was informed that the food we buy to feed them are simply that, snacks. The oldest bear billy jean was 25!!! The baby tiger that I took a picture with was 3 months and she was sweet, tame, and acted accordingly.. like a cat. Lol. Anyway, If you’re in the area SUPPORT this place. They are moving to a 15 acre facility next year and he staff were sooooooo sweet and helpful!!! Highly recommended!

Risa Quinn Feldbusch

Cuteness overload!

S Engelhart

Simply horrible. Had heard about this place & can't believe it's still in existence. Please God, save these bears.

Will Brannon

Great place to stop if your in the area and have a little time to spare. Kids will love it!

Joylynn Jarman

Great just can't wait for them to expand to bigger park soon with more animals.

Morgan B

I've been here since I was a kid. Idk why so many people claim its abuse. They feed them more then people are acting like they do. Everytime I have went the bears are beautiful and seem happy. The "begging" people are talking about that some of the bears do is taught to them. They teach them to do tricks such as standing on their back legs and clapping. It's to attract visitors not the bears starving. I really hope people stop downing this place.

Patrick White

It's $6 per person to get in and you can take a photo with a bear cub which is cool, however it's $20 per person. Also the enclosures are small and hot for the bears and it made me feel more sad for them than anything. At least for $1 you can feed them apple slices to make their day a little better.

Mary Catherine Saunders

Great seeing the bears, monkeys, and goats!

Ovis Eller

I love feedings the bears and goats

Linda Calloway

Kids loved the baby bears! Admission $6 a head-ouch

Deborah Cardwell

Kids loved it

Cindy Lattin

Small zoo but so much fun, u can feed the Bears and even get a picture with a baby bear and you get to bottle feed it .

Tony Walkingstick

We love and care greatly for our bears.

K. Raye.

This place has underfed animals in tiny cages, in HORRIBLE living conditions!!!!! Tigers and bears are not meant to be caged and treated so terribly!! They probably bought them from evil breeders, only helping to fund a horrific industry of animal cruelty. DO NOT GIVE THIS PLACE YOUR MONEY!!! Teach your children to respect and love animals, not pay to see abused animals suffer for your selfish entertainment! PLEASE contact your local government officials and protest this place.

Lauren Berry

The bears were so cute! It doesn't take long to see everything but it's a fun and inexpensive activity that the whole family should enjoy!

penny bearden

Too cute. The bears know sign language

Ali Watson

This place is disgusting. The bears ( and tigers, lemurs etc. ) are literally confined into a concrete hole with a couple of worn mats with no room to play or explore. Could you imagine a life like that? All of the animals, not just bears, look so pitiful and unhappy. If you want to see bears, TRAVEL to a reputable sanctuary. This place needs to be shut down IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!

Linda Dubose

Love this place been many times I do miss Bonita the tiger they use to have! Highly recommend!!!

Scarlet Pettit

This place should be closed and the bears rescued. It is horrible conditions for the bears! It is so sad.

Jobi Wan

You can show your kids bears down in a pit, and a bunch of goats in a pen. My son loved it, so definitely worth the cheap admission.

ash152087

This place needs to be shut down and for the people giving it good reviews have no souls

dragon 5 princess

It was animal cruelty to all of those animals in those small spaces

Jennifer Volk

Please retire all of your animals to a reputable sanctuary. Bears & tigers nor any other animal should have to live in concrete pits & beg for their food. It's not cute, it's sad. People should be teaching their children about animals in their natural environment & not be contributing to their exploitation. People that think places like this are okay & fun for the family are just turning a blind eye to what is really happening which is people profiting from animals suffering. If you enjoy this place, you are either ignorant or just don't value the lives of these beautiful animals. They are not on this earth for our entertainment.

joshua robinson

Their moving to 14 acres so I’m super happy for them. Only complaint is they live in a small place but like I said their moving so it all works out well.

Robert & Heather Halko

It wonderful place to go and see the animals

Andy P. Hoffman

Utterly disgusting. I am not against zoos, but a habitat of concrete is not suitable for a bear. Skip this on your visit and go to a real zoo or go hiking and see animals.

Nancy Mann

Our granddaughter loved feeding the bears!

Desiree M

I read a story out of the charlotte area news saying that these bears were abused, starving, and begging for food. The bears looked very well fed, granted their habitats could be considerably better. The baby bear handler treated the cub with respect and had us wait because she didn't want to come out of her habitat for the picture at that moment. We bought lots of extra food in hopes to help support updates. Down the stairs they have lemurs, some monkeys and goats. Tip: this place is cash only, however atm is on site.

Lord Monocrona

I gotta be honest, I'm really concerned about how these animals are kept. I gave it a 3 out of 5 because I really doubt any foul play is going on, but all these bears have a kinda small space to stay. If you aren't too concerned about any of that, it is still really cool to see, but that's just my opinion.

Shawn

Best zoo around

Sarah Willis

STOP going to this Zoo. This zoo keep innocent wild animal in a concrete box out of their natural habitat. The bears are lonely and depressed. By going to this zoo, you are supporting the ABUSE of animals. There are plenty of things to do to occupy your time in Cherokee, supporting this zoo does NOT need to be one of them.

Melissa Silvers

Love it

pat davis

Cool bears

Meliha Kremic

For any of you that say this is a great place-lock yourself in your bathroom and stay there for a year and then come back to tell us how the experience was.Just looking into their eyes makes me sooo sad.Im going to start a Petition to close this place down.God please be with me! Love you animals

lori cobb

Very small. Only a few types of animals in very tiny enclosures. Bears are kept in concrete runs.

Katie D

Petting the goats was worth it. I was tempted to sneak one out under my shirt!

Carrie Smith

We drove 2 hrs to see this and not open.. OMG

Taylor

Loved this place!! Will definitely go back when I make it to Cherokee again. Very reasonable in price! The owners are very nice and welcoming. All the bears were so cute. They all looked healthy and happy!!! I fell in love with the baby bears. They were so playful.

Gloria Washington

Awesome place the bears are adorable!

Wendy Thornton

Most go

Alexa Lang

Dear Mr. and Ms. Coggins: Please close the Cherokee Bear Zoo bear pits immediately and agree to retire the animals to reputable sanctuaries. A concrete pit in which there is nothing to do but pace back and forth or walk around in circles is no substitute for open terrain, and these intelligent living beings deserve more than to live out the rest of their days behind concrete walls entertaining bored tourists. There’s no excuse for confining bears to concrete pits that a district court judge found “archaic” and for profiting from animal suffering in the name of entertainment. Please also end your practice of using cubs for photo ops and public handling. As you know, big-cat and bear cubs would naturally be playing, exploring, and socializing with one another and their mothers. But when used for photo ops and public handling, they’re taken away from their mothers, transported to different facilities, and handled by humans, which is stressful for them. Reputable sanctuaries stand ready to take in these bears. There, they could roam vast acreage, forage for their own food, and act on their natural instincts. They didn’t choose to be in the tourism business—please don’t allow them to continue to suffer for your choice. Thank you.

Miranda LaRoche

Loved it!

Sybil Howell

These bears are abused and left with no touch of nature while loathing in concrete pits so people can get manipulated into paying for their abuse. 0 stars if I could

Audrey Metzger

Wonderful place for animal lovers. The environment is clean and staff is very friendly. There's more than just bears and staff has food you can buy $1 to feed the bears.

Amanda Jo Venenga

We love love love this place. It's a must visit every time we come. We were able to pet a baby bear a few years ago... and a baby tiger last year. We always have so much fun here and the owners are super nice! ! Prices to get in are reasonable and it's just all around a great experience. This is a definite must visit when you come. The bears are so loved. The owner will tell you all about them . . . He knows them by name and each one has a different personality

Elgon Dodson

Torn about this, fun to see bears but sad they are in paddocks.

Holly Bryan

This is a MUST STOP location. I remember many adventures as a little girl I couldn't wait to take my 2 boys to engage on the rare one of a kind sights and experiences I had done since I was little and let them finally understand the greatness of the stories I have shared with them. First thing is feeding the bears as some do cute self learned tricks for you. The highlight was my boys getting their picture taken with their sweet Granny while bottle feeding the baby tiger. Such a sweet cub (Stormy) was this year's cub's name!

Jennifer Anderson

Small but cute.

Maria A

STOP AND DONT COME HERE!! These bears are confined in empty concrete pits. They have nothing to do other than pace back and fourth, go in circles or beg tourists for tiny crumbs of food. The bear CUBS are FORCED to be alone so they can be used as photo props and ship them off to other road side zoos when they’re older and forgotten. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do NOT come here and support this act of animal cruelty!

Jalisa Smith

Kind of small but cute! You get to feed the bears as well and there are also other exotic animals there too!

Caitlin Kuecher

Bears deserve to live like bears. This artificial environment deprives the animals of any semblance of a life. Everyone associated with this place she be forced to live in the same conditions as their "attractions."

Cody Lee

I'm no animal expert, but the bears and other animals actually seemed well taken care of. I'm not sure how their animals are sourced and they are kept in concrete partitions, but again, without knowing much about caring for exotic animals, I won't rake this place over the coals. My kids loved feeding the baby bear, and the grizzlies were very playful in their habitats. They didn't seem depressed or whatever as some reviews here have said. Its also pretty cheap to get in ($6 per person I think). I could see where some might think this place is a little sketchy, but again I will withhold judgment without really knowing the ins and outs of the business. So overall, if you're in the area, its definitely worth a visit. There isn't much else to do in the town of Cherokee.

Kerri Fisher

Really awesome place!! Haven't been to Cherokee North Carolina since I was a little girl,feels good to come back.. there use to be a bear in a cage you could feed but this was way better and the bear's

Lyndel Foor

Not many animals and they look very sad in their cages. Should have known when the sign at the front declared no refunds. Only goats to pet.

nicole perrone

This place is disgusting. Extremely sad. Do not support this place.

Cici Young

These bears are starving and need to be let out!!!

RedSonja09

Heartbreaking, sad, depressing place where bears are confined to small, barren concrete pits and beg for food scraps from tourists. I thought the Native American culture revered bears, so I am shocked at the animal cruelty that exists here.

Emilee Burkett

THIS PLACE IT HORRIBLE !!!!! there are very little enclosures that the bears are held in, all the animals need to be fed. This is no way for any animal to live. The animals especially the bears are treated terribly, they are placed on cement and only have a small pool to play in, the only food that they seem to have is the food that the customers give to them. There is one bear in particular that won’t eat any food that is given to him, he just runs around the small walls and shakes his head trying to find a way out. DO NOT COME AND SUPPORT THIS CRUELTY !!!!!!

Johnny Carey

We love coming to Cherokee just to see the bears here. The goats and monkeys are funny too.

Chance Walker

this place is always fun and very friendly staff!

Karen Bryant

This is cruelty to these poor bears. Having people throw food down to them is appalling. They don't look happy at app. They looked miserable. Don't visit this place.

Andrea Sutton

CLOSE THIS PLACE ALREADY! If you're a decent human being, you'll leave here crying. It's seriously so depressing and I can't believe there are people on here giving it a 5 star review and saying to go support this place? Seriously? I can't tell if you all are naive or just seriously, SERIOUSLY, uneducated. And then you think it's cute to take pictures with a baby cub. The only thing that cub does all day is sit and take pictures with you for your entertainment because the company wants the money. After he is done for the day, he's kept in a tiny cage with nothing to do and no room to play. That is going to be his entire life. Seriously PLEASE do your research people. These animals have no reason to live. They live in a concrete hole with nothing to do, come on now, look at the pictures on here! You're a horrible human being if you tell people to support this place. I'm with everyone else on here stating this place needs to be shut down!

Jessica Smith

It is really sad to see First Nations people disrespecting animals like this! This is animal abuse in my opinion and if there are this many people who have the same opinion there must be something wrong. To those of you that will still go here despite knowing the animals are not being well taken care of, shame on you! Enjoy your ten minutes of feeding the bears and remember that those bears will have to live in that concrete coffin till they die! They will never see trees they will never feel grass beneath their paws and all that the earth has to offer. My heart aches for these beautiful animals and knowing that they could easily have a better life if the owners actually cared about them and not profits.

Ashkea Dyal

Kids Loved it!

Johnny Sloan

Bears looked absolutely pitiful. Glad it has improved some since I was a little kid, they actually had water and a few plants in there with them..

julie bage

Just watched this place on TV. What a god awful place this is. The poor bears are so depressed and sad, I live in England and places like this would never be allowed to open due to the lack of space stimulation and basic care of the animals that the owners have no regards for, but they live in a huge mansion.....

Joey Elwood

We lived seeing the white tiger and goat's and other animals.

Alexandria Haynes

Yes this place is small but they have a dream of expanding, so I try and donate whenever I get the chance!

Charita Coleman

Awesome location and friendly staff.

Sharon Shillinger

To crowded.

Nate LeRoy

We visited the Cherokee bear zoo and had a really great time. For 6$ admission + $1 per food tray you can visit and feed the bears sliced apples and bread. For $20 You can pet a baby bear and feed it a bottle and get your picture taken. The picture is actually a good size one too not a tiny one. The guy that runs the place is super friendly and funny, great with kids and the bears. They also have a bunch of goats the kids can pet and feed and a hand full of Lemurs.

carrie Shough

Kids had fun

S Manikandan

Children will have fun while feeding bears from upstair

Marion Socha

First of all, this place is handicap accessible, which was great since we both had to use scooters. The people here are very friendly. You can take all the pics you want. It is truly amazing to see these well cared-for animals. Several of the bears were very frisky. It was very amazing to watch them being safely close to them. For a buck, you can get a tray of food to feed them. I got an awesome pic of the bear sitting up with mouth open and awaiting the piece of fruit. We had our picture made with the baby tiger. It was a once in a lifetime experience to be able to actually pet it and be that close. Worth every bit of only $20. The trainer had excellent control of the tiger. This was too cool. There is one monkey there that likes to flash and chatter his teeth. If you try to take a pic, the monkey will not do it. When I left, the monkey came over and laughed at me I think, lol. If you put a quarter in the food machine, the pygmy goats will love you and head your way, yes, they are watching you. They eat the food right out of your hand! My scooter lady and I got some great pics and had a great time. Be sure to stop in the ice cream shop, great milkshake and butter pecan ice cream. I really enjoyed visiting the beautiful healthy animals at the time. It now time to go back and visit them again. There sure are some radical naysayers about this nice animal sanctuary. That is okay. The world needs haters to have love in it. May God bless.

hannah gregg

i wish i could give this place no stars. overall a very sad and depressing exhibit. the bears have very little space and dont seem happy at all. dont support this business

Teresa Oakes

Clean and animals well cared for. Enjoyed my visit.

Brittany Jordan

Great place for small kids ! It's not big but we had a great time with the bear !

J. David Joyner

It was very sad seeing these animals caged up on hot concreate cages. The cub was crying the whole time and it made me feel very depressed the goats were starving to death. Very disappointing

Puns of War

Animals in poor condition. No animals should be kept in small concrete cages. Please do not bother giving these people your money.