shalom wildlife

we have been taking our childen to Shalom for years! My wife is a grade school teacher and also take her classes to Shalom. The experience is wonderful. Unlike we have ever done before. Even brought our family from Italy to experience the fun!!!

You're walking through what feels like the woods with some fences most of the time. Just a beautiful and spacious area that was fun to visit in the fall, even after almost all of the leaves had fallen.Most animals have very large roaming areas and clearly find it optional to eat food from humans. Of the probably 50 deer, only 3 were interested in food, which is great (they aren't starving). Lots of other animals to feed and get close to if you want. The optional food for feeding is very reasonably priced (1USD of food got us through the whole park). The caged animal enclosures are smaller than they could be, but there are not too many of them. There is a reasonable small playground for kids.

What an amazing place! We spent about three hours here and had a wonderful morning hiking through the woods and learning about the animals. Unlike a zoo (where most of the time you just feel guilty that once-energetic animals are now cooped up and lethargic), Shalom's enclosures are very large but somehow also offer great viewing of the animals, many of which are friendly enough to eat out of your hands.We were able to hand-feed a bull elk, run along a long enclosure with the bear cubs, toss venison to the wolves (ask them if you can bring meat and you may be able to do the same!), and watch the new cougar being fed. The setting is beautiful - feels like you're in a state park. Can't wait to come back next year!

I've never fed wild animals before.....i thought the Goats were the cutest thing. We rented a golf cart to go around the 6 acres. even though it was light rain it was still a relaxing and enjoyable to see these animals.

We drove an hour and a half north to visit the Shalom Wildlife Zoo on a beautiful Sunday in October. Based on the reviews we read I thought my family would like this place. I was wrong, they LOVED IT! We walked through the front door, bought our bags of feed, headed out the back and that's when the adventure began. We saw all the animals the zoo had to offer in a natural habitat. My girls had a massive bull elk eating out of their hands. We stood 10 feet away from bears, rescued several caterpillars from the trail, caught a toad and fed the wolves. YES, I said fed the wolves! While talking with owner after completing our first lap he asked if we would be going back to see the wolves again. I wasn't planning on it until he said "if you are I will get some meat for you throw over the fence for them." We can cross feed wolves off our bucket list. You can go to a zoo anywhere but you can experience a zoo at the Shalom Wildlife Zoo.

I came to Shalom with a zoo volunteer conference group (AZADV 2014) and the owner gave us the wagon tour. He stopped multiple times along the way to share stories about the place, the animals, and native american heritage. It touched many in our group; I remember seeing one tiny woman thanking him at the end and asking to give a hug. Dave (the owner) stresses the importance of nature and "Mother Earth" in a way that is both educational and inspiring. I know he does the tours for school groups as well; those kids will never forget it. After our tour, the owners fed us a homemade chili dinner with pie for dessert and made a bonfire. Whenever you go, ask the owners to explain the importance of your totem. Just a magical and peaceful place. You won't regret stopping.

I went here with 2 other adults and a 5-year-old. All of us adults had just as much fun as the kid! We opted to walk the path, but you can also rent a golf cart to drive it if you want. The walk is a nice wide path under the trees, very pretty and lots of shade. The animals are fenced in big areas on both sides of the path, so the lamas and others can "follow" you for awhile around the park. It takes about 2 hours to walk it assuming you spend time looking for the animals and, if you're comfortable doing it, going up to the fence with a bag of feed and feeding them. We were delighted to see the white deer, lamas, sheep, elk, bobcat, bison, wolves, bear cubs, and more. There are so many animals to see. The 5-year-old was delighted with the "treasure chests" scattered throughout the park with small toys to take home. At the end of the walk, if your kids still have energy, there's a nice playground and a "petting zoo" type area with donkeys, goats, emu, piggies, and other small animals that are not shy about rubbing up against the fence so you can easily feed and pet them. This is a great way to spend an afternoon. I'd recommend it for everyone.

I decided to walk versus using a golf cart. I had a very nice time walking solo around the property and admiring the wild animals. Upon returning to the lodge it was very nice to visit with the owners. Very kind people, nice gift shop.

Happened upon this place by accident. It is set in on beautiful acreage and is hope to a wide variety of native plants and wildlife. Great for adults and a good education for kids. We walk with canes so we rented one of their golf carts for an extra $20. Well worth it. But if you are able bodied, it's a stunning walk on the trails.

Our visit to the zoo was wonderful. The place is very well kept up and clean. We chose to walk the 3 to 4 miles of paths, others rented golf carts to drive. They have quite a bit of a variety of animals in a natural setting. It is like walking through a sanctuary with all the trees and flowers along the way. We could feed a lot of the animals with the bags of food available fo purchase when you enter. We never fed a huge Elk by hand before, and we able to touch it's velvet antlers. It was a peaceful 2 hour visit. Watching 2 brown bear cubs playing in the water was fun. It would be great for any aged visitor to go and see.

First off, this place is so unknown it's all word of mouth. This place is great! It has a natural setting for its animals and they are huge! No trip is ever the same. They have 7 plus types of deer that you can feed, if you are patient enough. They have wolves and when we were there we seen a wild fox playing with the foxes in captivity. It was soo cool! The cost is is on the low side and they don't really have a food area to purchase but they do have a. Very large well shaded play area with tables. Each month they have a different special activity to do. July was scavenger hunts. Really need to go and see this place.

I found this hidden gem a few years ago when I saw a brochure for it at the Cabela's several miles away. This is more a wildlife park than a zoo, since most of the animals are in very large yards which allow for the animals to be exhibited in herds so you will see much more natural behaviors than you would at a typical zoo exhibit. The park is in a very beautiful forested area, with a wide variety of deciduous trees, pines, evergreens, hills, meadows and streams. It would probably be a very cool and shady place to visit even on a hot summer day.The majority of exhibits are North American animals, including elk, bison, wolves and several varieties of deer, both native and exotic, along with a few exotic hoofed animals. The place is about 100 acres, and you can rent a golf cart to get around, but I suggest you walk, slow down, and really take in the quiet and beauty of the natural settings. I have visited about four times, and each time I spent about three hours (so this place is also a very good value). Because the enclosures are large be patient and you are sure to see some interesting behaviors. For example, on my last visit the bison had just had a calf, and when I first got to their meadow the herd was way in the back, but within about five minutes they had moved much closer to the fence where I could view them much better. The staff is very friendly and the owner gives school groups a narrated tour on a tractor-pulled tram, and you can tell this guy is a real showman who enjoys sharing his love of animals with the school kids. My only criticism of the place is that the exhibits for smaller animals, such as the fox, mink, porcupine, etc., and VERY small (although clean) and do not seem to have much enrichment for them...a sharp contrast to the large and complex exhibits for the other animals. I would very much like to see bigger and more interesting cages for these animals.Be sure to be on the lookout for Lovey, a whitetail deer who enjoys being petted and will stand by the fence of the whitetail deer yard when she sees people coming. I've petted her about 10-15 minutes (she seems to like having her ears scratched and her neck and chest rubbed), and that still wasn't enough for her. Found out I am terribly allergic to deer dander but I would rather have itchy eyes than pass up a chance to pet a deer.In sum, this is a wonderful nature-oriented attraction for families, adults, or serious wildlife watchers.

Awesome place to go with or without kids. Great people and animals are in a natural setting. Every visit will amaze you, and there is always something new.

We were looking for a place to see and take photos of animals on a warm June day, and this place was close enough to Milwaukee that we didn't need to drive 2 hours. It's a wildlife park and it also has a petting zoo at the end, so if you miss the wild animals, you can always check out the barn animals. The petting zoo includes a large pack of greedy yet adorable goats that will fight for pellets, two sweet pigs, a group of gentle donkeys, and a horse. We were worried that we would be unable to see many of the wild animals because they would be hiding or sleeping, but several are in small enough cages that unless they are tucked away in their little box beds, etc, you will at least get a peek at them. This includes the mink who was sleeping, a raccoon tucked away in his tower napping, a bobcat on his perch also napping will fully visible, a porcupine napping atop his log, and a family of 4 foxes complete with 2 kits that were running around alternating napping with playing. There is also a skunk listed on the map, but we somehow missed him. The highlight of the smaller caged animals was the foxes just running in circles and yipping, and the beauty of the bobcat. He had been declawed by previous owners and could never be released into the wild, but amazing to see so up close. I hope he might get a partner someday to play with. It's sad that so many people think they can tame and handle a wild animal after they alter it to fit their lives, and then end up dumping them. There are also larger animals in large enclosures instead of cages, including 2 llamas, a bison that was too far away to really see, several types of deer- some of which came close enough to be pet through the fence including reindeer, moose that were too far away from the fence to see, and bears that we somehow missed. The highlight of the whole wildlife park was seeing the two wolves in their enclosure. They come right up to the fence to examine you and hold still for pictures, which was amazing because the wolves at the zoo always hide. it was incredible seeing that kind of animal less than a foot away and only separated by a few pieces of wire. They have trees, logs, and even water to run through and explore. I would come back just to see the wolves.We made it through the entire park in 3 hours, but to spend enough time looking at every animal I would suggest at least 4 hours. The park closes at 5, leaving us with no time to loop back to catch what we missed or what had been hiding or sleeping. As an added note, there are little education stations or sheds with facts and information about some of the animals- deer, birds, insects, and each stations has a clue that leads to a chest with a small toy. A yoyo, a rubber bug, a superball...Overall we were not at all disappointed in our visit, would definitely come again, and were enchanted by the wolves and foxes.

Go now while the bear cubs are little....so fun to watch! The other animals are great too, the bison large and intimidating. Most of the animals have acres of land to roam freely. It's a lovely place to spend a morning...