Did you know that there is a place where you can see kangaroos and other exotic animals in Washington without having to go to the zoo? Well, after doing some research of odd places to visit, I came across the Outback Kangaroo Farm in Arlington, WA. It’s just a short drive from Seattle, so if you’re visiting Seattle and want to find something to do that is off the beaten path, plan a visit.
It’s a great place to bring kids and adults can have fun as well. I’ve never seen a kangaroo in a zoo let alone ever gotten close enough to these beautiful animals to even touch them so I was really excited to see how they would respond. Just an FYI before you rule this farm out as something to do, there are other animals besides the kangaroos at this farm. There are peacocks, wallabies, a tortoise, burros/donkeys, alpacas, lemurs, and birds of many kinds.
First impressions were that I was expecting the farm to be a bit bigger where they roos could spread out more but maybe the enclosure size that they currently have is supposed to be the right size or maybe there are restrictions on how large of an enclosure they are allowed. What do I know? I don’t raise kangaroos.
You start your tour by the parking lot. You pay for the tour in the gift shop and they tell you when the next tour is so you can bide your time and possibly have a picnic while you wait.
Tip: If you go during a weekday, there may be school kids there on field trips so plan accordingly.
I opted to go on the tour time after a large group of school kids since the kids were a bit rambunctious and I wanted to enjoy the tour as well as not feel rushed. While I waited, I found the ring-tailed lemur enclosure to be quite fascinating. They’re so fast and just jump all over the place and look around with their glistening bulbous eyeballs. They also look quite soft.
It’s a little disappointing in that you can’t touch them though, but just look from afar. It’s okay though. Respect the animals because some animals aren’t super sociable anyway which is what our guide told us.
The tour is about 30-45 minutes long and you are herded along in a group of about 15-25 people. There are 2-3 staff on hand to keep an eye on everyone to make sure no one gets too close with some of the animals or in order to intervene if the animals get too frisky.
The first enclosure we were led to was where the kangaroos are kept. A lot of the kangaroos like to just chill and lay out in the grass and some don’t mind being touched or photographed.
They also hop very fast so watch out and watch your kids. I would say watch your kids the whole time because sometimes kids can be a little rough with animals that are a bit apprehensive or they chase the animals which some of the animals don’t like and could injure you or the kids if you get on their nerves.
Again, respect the animals. If the kangaroo doesn’t seem to like being touched or scampers away as you approach, just leave it alone.
I also had never seen an emu. So, it was quite a surprise when we rounded a corner and these substantially sized birds turned to give us side-eye. This enclosure was also pretty small for two emus but I thought the emus were pretty cool anyway back in their little cage in the distance.
Emus are such large birds that they look a little funny when they walk but it was great to see one of the first time. Emus are the second largest bird by height and are only second to the ostrich. They also do not fly. It would probably be too much work to live such a big body up in the air and maintain flight even with the largest of wings. I also learned that emu is pronounced “ee-myoo” and not “ee-moo” just in case you were wondering. They look like they could do some damage and peck your eyes out if you crossed them the wrong way. So once again, respect their space.
Our tour moved on and came to my favorites; the alpacas. They are soooooooooo soft even if they’re freshly shorn. The alpacas had just been clipped prior to our tour, so they didn’t have their normal afro puffs of hair.
Don’t let this scare you though. When they hear the food pellets and see people huddled in a group, they know it’s lunchtime. They do love to be touched though and are overly friendly if you have food in your hands.
One thing that I felt a little bad about is that although most of the animals are used to interaction with the public. Obviously, it’s not natural for many of these wild animals to just walk up to humans unprovoked or without the chance of reward with food.
I personally was stressed out by all the kids running after the animals or so many people trying to touch the animals in such close spaces. I kind of wonder if the animals get stressed but maybe they don’t care if they’re getting food from you. A lot of them just show unconditional love though.
FYI: You don’t really have a choice of which group you get placed with but the tickets are timed so you can always take a later time if you perhaps get stuck with a group of middle school students on a field trip. They do welcome you to take as many pictures as you like so bring your DSLR or whatever.
The Kangaroo Farm is located at
10030 State Rte 530 NE
Arlington, WA 98223
