A Zoo Review: Rolling Hills Zoo

On June 27th, other members of B-Card and I took a trip on I-70 west just

outside of Salina, Kansas, to the Rolling Hills Zoo. A zoo that, while not completely off

my radar, hasn't been high on my list to visit recently. However, a recent search of the

AZA website showed that RHZ is AZA accredited. Following a fiasco in Saint Louis with

their aquarium, which was not AZA accredited, I decided that it was a good palate

cleanser. I was shocked to find that it was that and more.

The first thing that stuck me was, while driving in was one how out in the middle

of the Kansas prairie it is. 14 minutes away from downtown Salina and located in Ohio,

Kansas, in the middle of rolling hills; the name is apt. Iron gates with the zoo’s name

welcome you into the parking lot. Admittance is 15 dollars per adult; with the three B-

Card members, it was 52 dollars after tax and a round-up as a donation to the zoo. The

price to get in isn't just for the zoo; it’s also for the museum, which is like displays seen

at Bass Pro but with animatronics.

The zoo isn’t divided as many other zoos are by either continents or

environments. Instead, Rolling Hills opts for more of the classic menagerie style of

zones: Yellow, Red, Purple, Orange, Teal, and Green. These colors have no real

meaning in the grand scheme of things. Most of the animals on display are of African

variety. There is also a surprising amount of South American animals on display as well.

One of the few downsides I can think of about the zoo is that there are a bunch of paths

with while it lowers congestion, also means you must double back to see something you

hadn’t seen yet. For us it was the Wallabies and Kangaroos.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the exhibits that animals had. While a

good portion of the animals had basic chain-link fences, the marquee animals had very

nice spaces. The flamingos have a nice, covered habitat. The Giant Anteater has indoor

viewing along with several other animals that you would expect to like, such as

Crowned Cranes. The Rhinos and Giraffes have nice barns that you can enter view

them in the colder months. The Rhinos also share that area with lemurs and tamarins'

habitats. The decent-sized Bamboo Bay is home to reptiles and a single tank of tropical

fish. The current crown jewel is the Pride of the Prairie for the Lions at the zoo.

The “Great Apes” exhibit is suffering from the loss of one of the chimps who

called the zoo home, so with one chimp, it seems lacking; however, the Colobus

Monkeys have plenty of room in what I think once housed Orangutans based on a map I

found online. Mandrills also used to be located at the zoo in the same area, but I’m not

entirely sure where they would've been located. Possibly over by the cat loop, which is

currently closed due to the construction of the brand-new Tiger Falls.

So where does the Rolling Hills Zoo rank on my list of zoos I've been to since

2022? 8 out of 14. The second highest-ranked zoo in Kansas and two spots below

Sedgwick County. Tulsa remains the dividing line for zoos. I was truly and pleasantly

surprised by Rolling Hills, and while I’m not saying go out of your way like I did to go see

it. If you find yourself westbound on I-70 and you are in the mood for a fun quick walk

around a zoo, don’t stop at Sunset in Manhattan or the Topeka Zoo (Yet). Rolling Hills is

a nice little Zoo in a state starved of good ones.