Wildlife Learning Center

I absolutely love this place. I went a while back with a couple friends and we had such a great time. Yes, it is small but you have to expect that from this type of place. The service that we got was great and everyone was so nice. There was what looked like a child’s birthday going on at the time and that made it a little more crowded but we still had a great time exploring the facility. It’s disappointing to see all the reviews bashing on the WLC because they expected something different. It truly is a great place to spend time around animals, especially if you don’t want to spend the extra money at a place like the LA ZOO. The prices are very reasonable. I will be coming back very soon. :)

What a cute little place for kids! I took my 4 year old and 18 month old. Both really enjoyed their time there. We were there for about 2 hours max. We saw a boa with one of the employees. We were able to pet it. Very cute place. Definitely a place we will come back to.

The most amazing place I have ever been to!!! I am not exaggerating on how amazing this place is. My boyfriend asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him, «to meet animals!» Then showed him this place I found on Unilocal a few months ago. We planned to stop here on our way home to San Jose and it was better than I expected. I met a Lynx, Sloth, and Fennec Fox. It was truly magical! Everyone was so nice who worked there. Each meet and greet was about 15 minutes long. I love experiences and this was an experience I will never forget! I honestly can’t decide which meet and greet was the best. I definitely would go back! Thank you Wildlife Learning Center for making my birthday amazing!

Very small. I was excited to bring my daughters and thought it would be a big place where you could pay for admission and touch the animals. No! You have to pay extra to go into the cages or pet the animals and the place is so small it literally took 20 minutes to walk through and view the animals. The zoo may be more expensive but you def get what you pay for. I feel like I just wasted 30+ bucks.

Amazing. This place really is a gem. My family loved it. There is quite a bit of animals for the given space. The staff is friendly and close to home. It’s a good thing that this place is far from the city or else it would be packed!

I took my kids here and we really enjoyed it. For the amount of space they have available they really pack alot of animals in here. Thats good because you get to see alot but then I also wish the animals had more room to live and roam. They do really well with educating and making sure its not a zoo, which I like.

With the hands-​on learning experience that my kids were able to have at this center, I was more than happy with the quality of work that is done here. Everything is very intimate and personal with the very knowledgeable workers, and it’s just an overall enjoyable experience for all ages.
While you do have to pay for extra packages in order to experience the hands-​on activities, it is soooo worth it! How often do you really get to feed w porcupine or hold a majestic owl? Such an enjoyable and entertaining and EDUCATIONAL experience!
Also, a couple of tips to note: Park along the streets or the nearby residential area, there is no parking lot on site. Restrooms are porta-​potties — not my personal preference, but staff keeps them clean. Lastly, they have a cute, tiny gift shop/​snack area in the Admissions/​Tickets office, where you can purchase cute trinkets (stuffed animals, bookmarks, postcards, etc). We couldn’t leave without purchasing a cute fennec fox stuffed animal as a great souvenir from our visit.
A special thank you to Patrick and Wendy who were super knowledgeable and great with my kiddos! Their personal care and attention to our experience made it even more fun!

Took two kids and bought the Unilocal special…4 fix for $ 14 but a few extra fees Unilocal did not disclose on my card. another $ 2.For that price, worth it. very small. People were nice, kids had fun… Doable in about 40 – 50 minutes tops.
WOuld not really go back but for a one time deal and for kids a lot less drama than the zoo.

My son absolutely loves coming here no matter how small. He loves the reptile room. The staff there is really nice as well. I love a friendly place ! One star off since I felt terrible for some of the animals. I feel the cages are too small … It was kind of sad seeing them. The fennec fox was pacing back and forth. It seemed stress or something. But still a nice place to stop by with family during your free time !

What do you get an animal lover for his birthday? A meet-​and-​greet with a fox.
We made our way up to Wildlife Learning Center as part of my fiancé’s birthday weekend.
A few notes:
— We had no clue where the front entrance was because we arrived before the gates opened. Yes, the center is through those big gates on the street
— The site doesn’t mention anything about parking, so we just assumed that we could park on the residential streets near the entrance. It turns out that this is in fact what you are supposed to do
— Go to the bathroom before you arrive unless you like portable toilets
— The owl inside the office is real. And it is beyond adorable
Wildlife Learning Center is, as others have stated, very small. But don’t let that stop you from coming here. All of the animals here are so beautiful – very much worth a visit. They’ve got tons of tortoises, eagles, lemurs, prairie dogs, owls, a sloth, fennec foxes, and a bunch of other fuzzy creatures.
Compared to other zoos and parks, this center offers the unique experience of personalized encounters. Just note that all of the intimate one-​on-​ones with the animals are separate add-​ons that cost extra so as to support the maintenance of the animals.
We ended up paying to meet and pet Buster, one of the center’s fennec foxes. I wish we could actually hold the animals (I’d totally sign a waiver to do so), but whatever. It was fun regardless! Next time I come back, I might just meet a prairie dog.

IN. LOVE. WITH. THIS. PLACE. I raised a rescue fox (insta: @konathefox) in Utah, and needed to rehome her. I looked and looked for MONTHS all over SoCal for the perfect place. I’ve spent a lot of time working with animal sanctuaries, so I know what to look for, and this place is AMAZING. Really. I placed Kona (the fox) here to stay with them, and she is like my BABY and they are SO great with her, and all of the animals! The employees are all biologists (I think), and they really LOVE animals, and you can feel it!
It’s a smaller place, so great to take kids. They also have animal showings in the afternoons, where you can meet reptiles or other creatures! It’s SO affordable too! And they have animal encounters, and you can pay to meet ADORABLE AMAZING ANIMALS, but they only bring out animals that like people, so it’s not stressful for them. Such an amazing place, sorry I sound so redundant, but I really mean it!

It’s great what they do here. It is very small maybe 10 cages. $ 7 to get in and additional charge to pet the animals. They are hefty charges. I wanted to pet the sloth but it was $ 75 for 1 – 4 people. Since I was alone it would have been pricey. It’s best if you come with a group. $ 100 to touch the big cat so I did the fennel fox at $ 35. You only get about 10 mins with the animal. I enjoyed it but traveled a long way not to be able to let what I really wanted. Call first. NO prices on website

Amazing people who work and volunteer here! It is a small center it is about an hour visit if you go fast but we stretched ours to two hours. They have a room with snakes, frogs, lizards, a spider, and roaches! ()
I loved the turtles they are so adorable and pretty fast! They would come right over but no touching! The have common monkeys were so tiny but very active. The allegator just hangs out starting at you. Sloth was passed out. Two female bald eagles that each had a really great story. One was found in Alaska emaciated and with a broken spine and is deemed unreleasable. The other was, lil tiny foxes of my cat. The porcupines were passed out in their cage but so cute. The linxes were awake and coming up to the front of the cage.
They also had a giraffe in the back that we couldn’t really see and and ostrich.
I would recommend this place to people with small children.

Finally made it here, after months of attempting to come. Some friends recommended it and their description was spot on. Very small but cool. It won’t take all day to visit. You can get in & out in an hour, while providing education and entertainment for your kids. Plus you get a coupon for tickets by checking in on Unilocal.Walkways are dirt paths, so plan accordingly.
Staff is great. They are incredibly knowledgeable about animals. They offered an up close & personal presentation of one of the animals at one point while we were there. The staff member walked through the center gathering people to come to the presentation. It was cool. They also offer a variety of shows that cost a bit extra, if you wanna pay a little more out of pocket.
My favorite animals were the bald eagles. I was so amazed at them. They were huge and appeared so regal to me. They are a very impressive creature to see up close. The pictures don’t do them justice.
Bring your kids here. They will love it!

Affordable small and great for animal lovers! And kids too.
Plenty of street parking is available. Once you Slide the gate open and enter there are maps located on the back which you’ll see when you close the gate. There’s funny little cutouts to take pics. You register in the admission trailer. Very sweet employee they have drinks and snacks for sale. Bottled water 1 $. A picnic are is located between the lemurs and I think monkeys?
Brought my nephew here on a Sunday and he LOVED It! The reason we looked into it is because my sister noticed that you could see a giraffe and she looked into it and discovered the learning center thinking they housed the giraffe but noooooo their neighbors who work with movies and TV shows own the animals. Which is still cool we were able to see a few ostrich, a zebra, and a giraffe so that was neat but not a good view.
My nephew is 1 & a half so he’s still pretty young and kept calling the foxes dogs but he was amazed by the different animals. & how amazing they have 2 bald eagles so beautiful & I’m not a bird person whatsoever! But wow. They have a variety from sloths, fennec fox, to alligators & tortoise. So neat they also have Their trailer with the amphibians, reptiles and anthropoids. All the animals are in outdoor habitats each one unique for the animal. Very cool saw a couple of the animals being fed.
They also have set times of when a trainer brings out a specific animal so that was neat too.

Squeeeeeeeeeee was the noise I made while petting Lola the sloth. Pretty sure the trainer thought I was insane, but I’m okay with that.
I had a groupon for admission here, and it looks like Unilocal also currently has a discount admission offer, in short: there seem to be many ways to get discount admission to this animal sanctuary. I came here with my sister on a Monday in July. We nearly drove right past it, but as it turns out you should do that anyway since they don’t have onsite parking. Luckily there is plenty of street parking on any of the nearby residential streets. After parking my car we made our way to the entrance and started our journey of cuteness.
As I mentioned, we had a groupon for admission, but we also wanted to do a one-​on-​one sloth experience. Now, I cringe a little when I think of this, but we spent $ 75 for the two of us to get some alone time with Lola the sloth. That price seems less hefty with more humans since it’s the same rate for 1 to 4 people. That being said, I don’t regret the spend one bit! Lola was freakin’ awesome! We got to pet her, watch her eat, and since we are sloth enthusiasts it was a dream come true.
The center itself is fairly small: not too many beasties, but among the bunch are: the sloth, fennec foxes, squirrel monkeys, bald eagles, tortoises, boas, bobcats, alligators, a parrot, and a few more that I’m forgetting. It still took us over an hour to get through even though it’s not the largest animal center. This is a must-​do for animal lovers of all ages. And I do recommend doing an animal experience (most don’t cost $ 75, they’re closer to $ 30,which is completely reasonable). If you do opt for an animal interaction, and your heart is set on interacting with a specific animal it’s beneficial to call in advance and make sure that critter is there and not booked at a school/​on another outreach visit.
Besides the parking, the restroom situation also isn’t ideal. It’s a porto-​potty. Albeit, a clean one, but still a porto-​potty.
I do plan on a return in the future, and highly recommend this as a destination for young and old alike.

Although this place is tiny compared to other wildlife centers I’ve visited, this one is super cute.
Not expensive
They have tortoises, a little fox, tiny owl, huge snakes, slots…
It’s a nice place to stop by with children on a Saturday.
Very friendly and informative staff
Save the little animals!

Nice spot to take the kids. They’ve got some unique animals here and its nice to think that they are doing some good.
Loved the eagles.

I’ve been wanting to come out here for months. Finally made it and was thrilled to see all the beautiful animals. Most I’ve seen already from the zoo or animal exhibits, but this place has a sense of warmth and family feel. They had 2 bald eagles, an alligator (baby and adult), a serval, which I think are so adorable, porcupines, and they have all kinds of snakes and reptiles.
After today’s visit, I plan on visiting again just to see the adorable animals.
Staff here are real friendly and they had a show that featured a milk snake. They’re very informative.

I’m a HUGE animal lover. To the point that I enjoy them more than I like people. With that being said, I am not always the biggest fan of zoos because of the way the animals are treated and the lack of proper habitats. Luckily, there are some organizations whom rehabilitate animals or home abandoned critters. One of these places is close by in Sylmar: the Wildlife Learning Center.
The Wildlife Learning Center is located directly off the 210 freeway in a residential area. This means that it feels more like you are going to someone’s backyard then a big, commercialized lot. So much so, that there isn’t even a parking lot and visitors have to park on the streets in the neighborhood (check for parking restrictions and street cleanings!). Upon entering the facility through a large fence; a trailer is available on the right-​hand side to pay admission ($ 7/​person, cash or credit). It’s all quite laid back and fuss-​free. The fun begins immediately as a large Macaw is outside chirping ‘Hello’ to guests and Zeus, the internet-​famous blind owl hangs out in the office.
Now, I need to side track for a moment and explain that my reason for visiting the WLC was for the ‘Animal Experiences’. The WCL offers packages ($ 34/​up to 4 people) in which visitors can have one-​on-​one time with certain animals. My reason for wanting an Animal Experience? One of the packages includes holding an owl and I am obsessed with owls (I mean OBSESSED as in I own 350+ owl items and have an owl tattoo). In my world, this means the best day of my life. I called ahead of time to inquire about the package as my boyfriend and I planned to have the owl outing on Valentine’s Day and I know that can be busy at any business. The girl who answered the phone assured me all would be well and approximately what time to arrive on VDay.
Upon arrival, the girl at the desk said they could NOT fit us in due to the crazy Vday busyness! I was about to cry and was ready to rip her head off! I mentioned having called days ago and was told to come at this time. Luckily, she was the one that I spoke to on the phone and she worked to fit us in. Thank god for her customer service and ability to do so or I would have set the place on fire. Okay, not really of course but perhaps in my mind.
While we waited to hold an owl, we traversed the property. Truth be told: the place is tiny. Yes, they have some cool animals: foxes, monkeys, large cats, a sloth, eagles, hawks, tortoises, parrots, and a reptile building (snakes, frogs, bugs, and lizards); it is still small and takes no more than 30 – 40 minutes, tops. The animals aren’t even active (except for the mating tortoises) and are in small enclosed wire– fenced pens which don’t look large enough for their happiness. There are also other animals (giraffes and llamas) which you can see in an area which is blocked off to guests. It is all quite disappointing. Plus, don’t expect food stands or gift shops: this isn’t a zoo/​theme park.
Despite some of the pitfalls, the highlight and reason for visiting was upon us. THIS part of WLC is amazing. I was let into the owl pen and was able to hold Newton the owl on a gloved arm. The experience was beyond HEAVEN for an owl lover such as myself. The female employee never rushed me and simply rifled off owl facts (which I of course knew already) while I held the owl and my boyfriend snapped hundreds of photos. It was divine. My boyfriend and I then swapped gloves as it was his turn. Overall, the experience was bliss and worth every penny. These packages are definitely recommended for those wanting to get up-​close-​and-​personal with animals.
In summary, the WLC is a great place in terms of housing animals who may have not had a strong chance of survival but in terms of a fun place to visit; it is slightly ‘meh’. However, the animal packages are well-​worth it if they have an animal you are in love with. Basically, WLC is suggested for the packages but not really for a regular ‘olé visit. Not bad if in the area (or again, purchasing the animal encounter package) but not worth going out of your way.
NOTE IN RESPONSE TO EMPLOYEE/​OWNER COMMENT: Paul has commented my review claiming that animal experiences only cost $ 25. This has been cleared up as the OTHER packages start at $ 25 but the owl one which I chose is correct at $ 34. Paul also makes a comment that he is happy Brittany took «time out of her busy job» to fit us in for the owl experience. Um… that is her job. She was NOT doing us a favor as we were told DAYS before to come at 2PM NOT 11am LIKE PAUL IS SAYING and she is paid to do her job. He was NOT involved in this transaction and wants to act like I came at the wrong time. I did not. I came WHEN I WAS TOLD! These comments (along with Paul’s private message to me and now he has BLOCKED me when he is the one trying to harass) have left a sour taste in my mouth; lowering the 3 star rating to 1.