Animal Adventure Park

About Animal Adventure Park

Animal Adventure Park is an interactive animal park in Harpursville, New York. The park's website describes two sister facilities across the road from each other: the walk-through zoo that carries the Animal Adventure Park name, and a drive-through safari called The Preserve Safari. The walk-through zoo's address is 85 Martin Hill Road in Harpursville, according to the I Love NY listing and a November 2025 WSKG feature. Jordan Patch is identified as the owner in a January 2026 WBNG report and in the Wikipedia article on April the giraffe.

The park's website says it is federally licensed by the USDA and licensed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New York State Agriculture and Markets. Under a Zoological Association of America heading, the website states that the park earned accreditation after an application and site inspection process in December 2021. The park is not accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The website does say the park takes part in a Species Survival Plan overseen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, along with six Animal Management Plans: African penguin, African lion, cheetah, southern white rhino, lar gibbon, and ruffed lemur. The site also lists a 2025 Zoological Association of America award for African lion propagation.

According to the park's website, the walk-through zoo covers 20 acres with 100 species to meet. The site says many of its animal ambassadors come from rescue situations and surrenders.

History

A WSKG feature published in November 2025 states that the park has been open since 2013. The park became widely known in 2017 through its giraffe April. According to the Wikipedia article on April, she was a reticulated giraffe born on April 18, 2000, at the Catskill Game Farm in New York, and she lived at Animal Adventure Park from 2015. In 2017 her pregnancy was livestreamed on YouTube, and her calf Tajiri was born on April 15, 2017; Wikipedia gives an estimate of 1.2 million viewers for the birth stream and 232 million total views for the stream. April had six calves in all, according to the article, and was euthanized on April 2, 2021, because of deteriorating arthritis. The I Love NY listing still describes the park as the former home of April the giraffe.

The I Love NY listing states that The Preserve, the drive-through safari, opened in 2022. The Preserve's website gave April 25, 2026, as its reopening date for the 2026 season. A January 22, 2026 WBNG report covered the opening of an indoor zoo experience, which the station gave as Saturday, January 24, 2026. In the report Patch described the indoor zoo as a repurposed space that allows the park to remove its seasonality, so that it can operate in the colder months as well as the warm ones.

Exhibits and habitats

Walk-through zoo. A WSKG feature from November 2025 described lions, tigers, bears, reindeer, peacocks, capybaras, flamingos, African guinea fowl, alpacas, a Tibetan yak, Asian water buffalo, and patas monkeys, along with a barnyard area where visitors feed goats. The I Love NY listing separately names Arctic wolves, American bison, sugar gliders, keel-billed toucans, African black-footed penguins, an American alligator, emperor scorpions, sloths, and a white kangaroo named Cosmo. Species on display can change, and the park's website is the place to confirm what is currently on exhibit.

The Preserve Safari. The drive-through safari is described on the park's website as covering more than 100 acres, with hundreds of animals representing 30 species, including giraffe, rhino, bison, and elk. The Preserve's own site says it is a self-driven experience in which guests offer fortified diets to the animals, and describes a free-choice approach in which animals decide whether to engage with guests. It describes three miles of roadway and four geographically designated paddocks: Aussie Eurasia, The Americas, Africa, and Giants of Africa. The park's main site says that Tank the rhino and Tajiri the giraffe are featured at The Preserve. The WSKG feature mentioned deer, alpacas, and water buffalo in the drive-through, with food offered from vehicles.

Indoor Zoo Experience. The indoor zoo is at 42 Pease Road in Harpursville, a separate address from the walk-through zoo. The indoor zoo's page names giraffe, rhino, kangaroos, reptiles, monkeys, otters, sloths, capybara, and a lorikeet aviary, and describes more than 20 species. WBNG reported more than three dozen species when the indoor zoo opened, including rhinos, giraffes, sloths, capybaras, and kangaroos. The indoor zoo's page describes a mix of interactive feeding opportunities and viewing displays, gem mining, and keeper-led animal encounters with capybaras, a sloth, a rhino, and a giraffe. WBNG also listed a gift shop and birthday party space.

Conservation and programs

The park's website lists several animal encounters, including capybara, sloth, and rhino encounters and a VIP Keeper for a Day experience. Its menu also lists memberships, animal adoptions, school and group visits, and birthday parties. The indoor zoo's page says encounter reservations must be made in advance, that reservations are required for indoor zoo visits, and that group rates apply to groups of 25 or more paid admissions, with requests due at least 48 hours ahead.

On conservation, the website names its Species Survival Plan and Animal Management Plan participation described above. The indoor zoo's page says the building is wheelchair and walker friendly and has a Cub Care Station, a private space for breastfeeding, changing, or a break from the excitement. The park also runs a holiday light display called Jungle Bells during the holiday season, according to the WSKG feature. Events and tickets are handled on a separate site, aapevents.com, according to the park's main site.

Planning your visit

As listed on the park's website, both the walk-through zoo and The Preserve are open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with October 18, 2026, given as the final day of the season. The walk-through zoo's last entry is listed as 4 p.m., and the drive-through's last car entry as 3 p.m.

The indoor zoo is listed as reopening on November 7, 2026. Its page lists Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., in November and December, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from January through April 2027. Reservations are required for the indoor zoo. WBNG reported that reservations help manage capacity and allow the park to contact guests about weather closures.

Ticket prices, encounter pricing, and reservation links are on the park's website and on aapevents.com. The I Love NY listing gives a phone number of 607-760-4429 and a guest services email address on the park's domain. Because seasonal schedules and closure dates change, check the official site before traveling.