luray zoo - a rescue zoo

Stumbled across this attraction while visiting Luray. Great fun for family and especially kids. Although small but definitely offers to keep the kids entertained.

We stumbled upon this funny looking place while in Luray. The owner was there and spent time explaining and exploring the different rescue animals. What a hoot and joy this was.The snakes and gator were interesting the petting zoo was a blast for all of us. Bella the monjey was comical.Defenitly worth the attraction anytime you are in the luray area.

It is important to remember this is a rescue zoo (the only true rescue in Virginia) and the animals housed will change.Steve Irwin ( the Crocodile Hunter) when living backed this place. The front is cute for little kids but needs work. It is predominantly snakes as they have the largest venomous snake collections on the east coast. However, they have some cool lizards, turtles, alligators as well as condors, vultures, some exotic birds, tiger, sometimes other exotic cats. The first time I was there I felt sad for the animals until I learned their stories and how the Kilby's take care of the animals without government help. They do a great job teaching about the animals they have on site. I now make a point to go in a few times a year to see what new animals they have and to make donations. The staff is wonderful as are the owners and they truly cares for these animals and are doing their best to educate the public as well as to care for the animals. Please keep all this in mind when you visit.

I have visited this place twice in the past 3 years & nothing has changed except better quality merchandise in the gift shop. There are some wonderful animals here & I have to admit I like the layout of the exhibits. On the other hand.... The tiger has barely any room to go anywhere, the crocodiles & the water turtle look dead & worse each time I visit. Their are more snakes inside than any other inhabitants in the zoo. I would love to see this place expand these animals (especially the large ones) cages & all in all, expand the property a bit because the zoo is nice but it's small & if your like me, you will leave the zoo with lots of photos with your kids but a very sad heart for those animals.

Our visit to the Luray Zoo was fun and entertaining. You start out going through the reptile exhibit (coincidentally, you also leave through this exhibit). They have tons of different snakes and a few other lizards, turtles, and alligators. Almost all of the exotic birds had been put away for the winter, but the more cold-tolerant ones were still out on display. They also had a few different kinds of monkeys. The capuchins were the most fun to watch, they were running around playing the entire time we were there. The petting zoo consisted of some llamas, lots of goats, deer, donkey, rhea, and emu. There is also a tiger and a porcupine. This zoo has clearly seen better days - as the outside can attest (they'd pull in more visitors with a new coat of paint at the very least - the dinosaur and alligator out front are just sad). In addition to our admission fee, we chose to donate some money towards the animals. The staff so clearly cares for the animals they have, but they need a lot of help.

We visited Luray Zoo on our way back home to Maryland from the Massanutten Resort on 10/30/14. We were the only ones there and took full advantage of it. We were able to take our time walking through and really seeing the animals up close. The owner was very helpful and answered all the questions that we had. My 3yr old's favorite part was the petting farm. He was able to pet a variety of animals and even made a friend.....a baby goat. The baby goat kept crawling under the fence to follow my son. It was adorable. Before we left, my little one received a nice Halloween bag full of great items. Thank you Luray Zoo!

Based on trip advisor we decided to try this place as we had half an hour to kill and caverns are not really my thing. I had actually been looking forward to seeing a nice little zoo in the states. I have been to zoos in Europe, the Americas and Asia (including India) and this was sadly the worst zoo I have been to in all my travels.The concept and intention I am sure are good and there, however the funds obviously are not. They should not be resucing animals if they don't have the space, man power and money to be able to do it properly. Rather than being a rescue centre you get the impression that this is a hoarders collection from which the animals need to be rescued.We spent 10 minutes here and struggled to make it last that long.You start with the reptile collection. Don't get me wrong they have an impressive reptile section, but this is let down by rediculously sparse enclosures... They could show them off so much better without having to fork out a ton of money. Then you go outside to what was a real eye opener for us.The Macaques and Capuchins were so incredibly bored, and this is not just because of where they have come from. if they had a terrible start to life give them something to do... And a couple of toy cars aren't going to cut it! The Ring Tailed Lemur needs to be part of a group, not kept on its own.There are some birds which although look in fairly good condition could do with some extra space - especially that poor condor.Finally the Tiger. She is tiny and the poor diet she started life on has really stunted her growth. This isn't just from when she was kept with the other people... This zoo didn't change her diet sufficiently upon arrival. Also the enclosure is far too small, and just like the primates she needs a lot more stimulation, especially if kept in such a poor space.These animals really would be much better off somewhere else and the zoo should stick to what they obviously know - reptiles... and just invest on bring them up to a standard which will make them more enjoyable to look at.

I took my 5 year old granddaughter there this Spring. The price is very reasonable. They have a reptile house, several species of birds and a small petting area. It is great place for children.

We visited the zoo & were impressed with all of the different snakes. We loved the petting zoo & how friendly the animals were during the feeding. We spoke with the owner & you can see how much he genuinely cares for the animals.

Kids would really appreciate it (has petting area), but the inhabitants and their rescue stories would fascinate adults too. Many unusual specimens. Worth supporting in the zoo shop too.

the animals looked so sad and uncared for. the goats damn near attack you because you the guest feed them by putting a quarter in a gumball machine which is filled with their food. NEVER NEVER AGAIN so uncared for

If you are looking for the typical big zoo you will be disappointed. We were driving from PA to SC and were looking for things to do along the way. When I found the website for Luray Zoo and saw that it was a rescue zoo I knew that we had to stop. This is a small zoo with a lot of heart. We really enjoyed reading the stories of the different animals. They had a very large collection of reptiles, including many, many snakes which my husband and daughter looked at while I browsed around the gift shop. There are a few different species of monkeys, several different kinds of birds, a tiger, a ring tailed lemur and a few others. There is also a petting zoo with an emu, a few llamas, sheep, goats, a donkey along with a few other animals. You can purchase feed for them and even brush the goats or sheep. This would be a great zoo for younger children. Our 9 year old daughter said she enjoyed Luray Zoo much more than the Columbia Zoo (Columbia, SC) because it was a rescue zoo and the animals found new homes and were being taken care of.

Visted Luray zoo while visiting the luray area. This is a rescue zoo so it is not a real large zoo, but is definitely worth visiting. You will see alot of snakes that you probably have never seen before . I seen a cobra , which totally freaked me out. It also has monkeys, birds, turtles. . a tiger and other rare animals. The owner took the time out to talk to us about the animals and his quest to keep the zoo going. You feel sorry for some of the animals being caged up. But you have to consider what would of happened to these animals if this rescue zoo was not here. He told us about Steve Irwin visiting. He also took the time to explain alot to my grandchildren.He is a really nice person tells you exactly what he thinks. No sugar-coating. the little ones loved the petting zoo and feeding the animals. My daughter loves this zoo and wants to visit everytime we are in the area.

Nice little zoo. It's nice that they are a rescue zoo. Just that the animals seem to have small cages with little enrichment. Even if the animals don't "need" it, it would be nicer for visitors to look at. And I still believe even snakes and turtles would appreciate a more interesting environment than a plain square box.

I appreciate that this is a rescue zoo, first of all. But...it is very small, and a little run down. There are more reptiles than anything. The kookaburra was the most memorable animal, and the tiger didn't seem extremely active. All in all, it was "ok", but not great.