Luray Zoo, The

It is a small zoo, but the reptile display is as impressive as a large zoo. My son likes the petting zoo portion. The staff is friendly and you can tell that they really care about animals and preservation.

This is a small zoo owned and operated by Mark and Jennifer Kilby. The first part is the reptile exhibit and is indoors. The other animals are outdoors in cages, with a petting area that has goats and other friendly farm animals that stick their heads through the fence to be hand fed. The entire zoo is clean, well kept, and beautifully painted. My family arrived just after the zoo opened at 10am on a Tuesday. At 11am, when the first presentation was scheduled, we were the only ones there. Jennifer Kilby decided to bypass the formal presentation and instead offered us a choice of animals to see. Our kids weren't interested in touching a snake or a camel, so Ms. Jennifer brought out one of the goats. (Ms. Jennifer knows all the animals by name.) Then she asked our kids if they wanted to feed Star, the zoo's new tiger who turns 2 years old on July 4th, 2005. Again, the kids hesitated, but their mother couldn't pass up the chance. This degree of personal attention can't be offered to all patrons, of course, but it demonstrates the zoo keepers' knowledge of, attention to, and love for the animals.