What other travelers are saying about Aso Cuddly Dominion
We had a fun visit at this adorable zoo! The variety of animals was just right, with highlights including cute alpacas and a number of bears. But the real entertainment was the pig race - hilarious and entertaining! The animal show was also super cute and engaging. Overall, a fun visit to a zoo that's perfect for families with kids.
When approaching, the entry building looks nice and modern, but after entry into the zoo territory most buildings look old and worn down. Many of the animals you are not supposed to touch are placed in ways where they are easy to reach out to and pet, we didn’t do that but we have seen other people do exactly that. A lot of things and activities require additional payment on site and the payment methods are often very confusing. Some of the animals like the bears are kept in pretty dirty and uncared for enclosures. Those same bears and some of other animals look sick, unfed and dirty. The animals actually allowed to touch and pet are afraid and annoyed by people visiting, for those same animals there are no workers to control how the visitors act with the animals, that caused a lot of those animals to be treated badly by other visitors right in front of our eyes. Some of the animals don’t look as bad as the others, but that doesn’t make the overall experience any better. When we have visited the zoo it was cloudy, but in sunny weather there is no place to hide from the sun and heat. The only beautiful thing was the recreation of a traditional Japanese Pagoda in the middle of an artificial pond.
Don’t ever visit this zoo, all you do is pay them money for this terrible experience! Instead visit the hiking trails around the volcano, they are much more interesting and really worth your time!
While the park is beautiful, the animal enclosures are absolutely awful. Many of the animals live in wretched conditions. The bears are kept in concrete pits, and their only entertainment seems to be guests throwing food at them. They constantly look up at guests expectantly. Many of the animals are conditioned in this way to behave unnaturally, approaching guests and begging for food. The rabbits are kept in tiny cages. Instead of soft bedding they have metal floors, I guess to make cleanup easier for the staff. The reptiles are kept in bare enclosures. The conditions in this zoo truly broke my heart.
Came here early in the morning for the helicopter, but stayed for the animals. Most of the animals are kind and you are allowed to pet or feed them. Food could be bought from vending machines in park including bear food. Decent cozy zoo and excellent helicopter ride of course.
