Clay Center Zoo

If you have visited the Clay Center Zoo, I would appreciate your feedback on http://www.kansastravel.org/claycenterzoo.htm

This morning, the Director of Utilities in Clay Center emailed that the ';evaluation of the Zoo was very inappropriate.';

I went to look at the review, fearing I had been in a foul mood the day I prepared that web page. But frankly, it is less harsh than it might be. It includes every positive point that I noticed, and doesn%26#39;t word the negatives as strongly as it could.

I would value hearing other opinions.

Clay Center Zoo

Well, I must admit I%26#39;m going to be a bit partial, since I%26#39;ve lived in Clay Center for nearly 30 years, now; but once I found the site about our zoo, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed.

We have taken our children, and now our grandchildren, to the zoo--many times over the years and I have NEVER seen the birds out in the open like you have pictured on the site! You must have caught an unusual situation. And, as for them visiting the neighborhood -- they don%26#39;t. They are content to stay put, and except for a few ducks who follow the little creek into the park a ways, the others all are within the fences of the zoo.

We love taking bread crumbs with us to the zoo, and the ducks and birds love to eat them. as well as the children have fun throwing the bread to them. There are also pellets one can buy and throw to them. And, every age has such fun with the talking birds near the monkey cage--you%26#39;ll hear ';hello,'; ';hi,'; and even a wolf whistle from one of them! And listen to them laugh or cry out like the peacocks (okay--I don%26#39;t care much for the peacock screech, I%26#39;ll admit; but it amazes me that the bird can do it!).

Our baby monkey is all the ';rage'; at the zoo, right now. Young and old visit often to see it. We actually have watched several baby monkeys over the years, and as the babies grew old enough to be sent on to another zoo, we missed them.

As for ';watching your children';--I would hope parents do that at ANY zoo they visit, but I have never thought that any of our children were in danger of getting hurt there, like your comment implied.

I would hope anyone in our area would have the time to visit the Clay Center Zoo! They won%26#39;t be sorry; and if you are there in the spring and early when the flowers are blooming at the zoo and park, you will find ';photo ops'; for those, too. In fact, there have been several small weddings, Senior Pictures and family gatherings and pictures--all at the Clay Center Zoo and Utility Park.

Clay Center Zoo

Thank you for the feedback. I will take it into account when I revisit Clay Center.

Hi.

First, I have enjoyed your webpage (KansasTravel.org) and used it to help plan my trips.

I know this post is old, but I am starting to work on my reviews and found this.

I have my own little project, http://www.zoopictures.net , and have visited just about every zoo in Kansas (as well as many other midwestern states).

We went to Clay Center on our last trip (Topeka, Salina, Manhattan, Garden City, Dodge City and Great Bend) and frankly we were expecting it to be bad... and it was every bit as bad as I expected, if not worse. You were NOT wrong on this one, you were (if anything) much kinder than I was.

You can see pictures of this horrible little zoo on my website, specifically here: http://zoopictures.zenfolio.com/p145688936

I made a point of taking pictures showing how awful the caging is. It is REALLY bad. There was a YOUNG kid there feeding a wolf through the bars! A WOLF.

I love zoos, and I love animals, and every other zoo we visited in Kansas is a GEM compared to the awful Clay Center facility (even tiny little Dodge City... at least they TRY).

Thanks again for your excellent website %26amp; best wishes.

Thanks for your comments, sabbath999.

When the zoo got the bear, there seemed to be more local interest and it looked like it might translate into some improvements. But based on your photos, that hasn%26#39;t happened.

When looking for another web page, I just discovered this blog that says the zoo is breeding animals and selling them for pets. That seems wrong on several levels. www.freewebs.com/singingdogs/alovestory.htm

I looked at your photos of several other Kansas zoos. Nice job.

Thank you for your kind words.

I agree, breeding for sale for personal use is mind boggling for a zoo... but then again this whole zoo is mind boggling to me.

If any of my photos are of any use to you at all for your website, feel free to use them. My site is strictly for personal enjoyment and educational purposes, and I really appreciate your site as it has helped me find several places in Kansas that I would have otherwise missed. It was looking at your pictures of Garden City that encouraged me to make the drive to pick up that zoo %26amp; Dodge City (which was one HECK of a weekend of driving from northeast Missouri where I live).

I still have several zoos to go to on your list, and will be adding to them from time to time.

Kansas is an unusual state as far as having LOTS of zoos goes. Most states have two or three, unless they are BIG states like Illinois. Illinois has about the same number as Kansas, but the best zoo in Illinois (Brookfield) isn%26#39;t as good as Wichita, and there are about 10 million more people in illinois. The only other state around with about as many zoos is Wisconsin, and it is also much bigger population wise than Kansas.

We may be visiting that nature center in Lawrence this weekend.

sabath999,

I would be most interested in any photos that you have of New Guinea Singing Dog%26#39;s and/or Dingo%26#39;s that you have taken during your zoo travels. I already spotted one at the Miller Park Il/Bloomington Zoo.

I am the webmaster and co-founder of that freewebs site that lighthouselovertoo refers to when speaking about Clay Center selling NGSD%26#39;s to the public. That story on our site is about the other co-founder of our organization. http://www.freewebs.com/singingdogs/

I don%26#39;t know much about Clay Center and looking at the photos I get the impression that the animals were well cared for but they lack enclosures that provide for enriched lived. Again however I have never been there.

What I do know about Clay Center is that they have played a big role in the conservation of the very rare Singing Dog. They kept perfect records on them and thus allowed a reintroduction of a far removed bloodline.

Regarding comments about zoo%26#39;s selling to the private sector. Any zoo can do this including AZA zoos. I personally am not opposed to this as long as the selling zoo takes the time to make sure that the buyer is educated in the care of and has adequate facilities for the animal. In many cases, an animal live a better life outside of the zoo. I can without any doubt tell you that the dogs that were purchased by my co-founder lived lives far better then they could possibly have at any zoo.

The official Kansas tourism website has a page dedicated to zoos, if you%26#39;re interested in learning more about zoos in Kansas... http://www.travelks.com/s/index.cfm?SSSID=27

Actually I think I have better info at http://www.kansastravel.org/kansaszoos.htm but I wasn%26#39;t just posting to promote it.