September 17, 2021

ZOOMONTANA

2100 Shiloh Rd, Billings, MT 59106

“ZooMontana is a 70-acre wildlife park located in Billings, Montana, U.S. and is Montana's only zoo and botanical park. It currently maintains nearly 100 animals, representing 58 species. These animals all live in habitats designed to imitate their natural habitats.” - Wikipedia

If you’ve been following my travels you probably have noticed that I love zoos. So, when I was researching what to do in Billings I became excited upon seeing the city had a zoo. Unfortunately, ZooMontana did not meet my expectations. I can’t explain why exactly, but as I toured the zoo I just felt let down. The grounds were well maintained, the paths through the zoo were paved and mostly shaded by trees in the arboretum that shares the 70-acre park. My disappointment may have been triggered by the first three or four animal enclosures I came to, which were empty or at least I could not see any sign of supposed inhabitant of the enclosure. Many of the other four legged animals were sleeping. Now, I’ve been to enough zoos to know the sleeping is out of the zoo’s control, so I tried not to let that bother me.

The zoo advertises nearly 100 animals representing 58 species, in my estimation the only way they get to 100 is if they count the over 50 Koi in the pond in their total. Their website only names 48 species. In the end, I thought their selection of animals was weak, at best. However, the animals I did see appeared very healthy and well cared for.

I walked the zoo twice in the two hours I spent, and on the second round did see some of the animals that eluded me on the first round. I’m not unhappy I went to ZooMontana, I had two hours I had to kill before checking into my campground. But, I wouldn’t drive to Billings, Montana, just to see this zoo.

Editorial Note: After reading about the animals on ZooMontana’s website I found that many of the animals came to the zoo after an injury that would not allow them to survive in the wild or were pet surrenders. Props to the zoo for taking care of these creatures.