enlarge John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

A pair of macaws are among the many animals and birds to be seen at York’s Wild Kingdom, a zoo and amusement park on York Beach.

enlarge John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

Visitors line up at the gate to at York’s Wild Kingdom on a recent summer day.

enlarge John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

Above: A pair of ring-tailed lemurs, native to Madagascar, make their home at York’s Wild Kingdom.

enlarge John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

An ostrich gazes back at visitors to the Maine tourist attraction.

YORK'S WILD KINGDOM WHAT: Zoo and amusement park WHERE: Route 1, York WHEN: Zoo is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., amusement park is open noon to approximately 9:30 p.m. Hours change after Aug. 26. HOW MUCH: Combined zoo and amusement park package is $18.25, $14.25 for children 4-10, and $4 for 3 and under. Parking is free. WHAT ELSE: Zoo features some 70 species. There's also a petting zoo and butterfly house. Amusement park has about 22 rides, as well as mini-golf, go-carts and an arcade. MORE INFORMATION: Go online at www.yorkzoo.com.

ABOUT THIS SERIES MAINE: SEE IT LIKE A TOURIST offers a sketch of some of the state's tourist spots, many of which Mainers recommend to out- of-state visitors but never visit themselves. THE SERIES WILL RUN through the summer in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

They had arrived at 10 a.m. and were slowly winding their way from the black bears, Muntjac deer and prairie dogs, past the wallabies, zebra and collard anteaters, to the spider monkeys, tigers and lions.

Now they were taking pictures of the three sleepy lions -- including one lying on his back with his belly exposed, like anyone's pet kitty might. After living in Maine for more than 12 years, this was the first time the Nestors had made the trek to York's Wild Kingdom.

And they were apparently making up for lost time.

"I had seen the ads on TV for a long time and just thought we should come see it," said Kim Nestor, as her five children continued to gawk at the lions.

"I've never seen a zoo so clean and well-kept," said Brian Nestor, Kim's husband, who said he's visited zoos in several big cities. "After this we're going to get lunch and then go to the amusement park. We'll be here all day."

The Nestors didn't leave for their home in Cape Elizabeth until evening.

York's Wild Kingdom has an extensive zoo, with the kinds of animals you'd see in a major city zoo. It's also a tourist attraction with an old-fashioned feel because of its child- friendly amusement park, mini-golf, gift shop and lots of summertime food stands.

It's located right on York Beach, allowing people to park for free, enjoy the zoo and or amusement park, hit the beach, and go back to the park and zoo.

The place has been there, in some form or another, since 1950. It was first called Animal Forest Park, and featured lots of herd animals, said Amy Wheeler, the general manager. Around 1980 it was bought by Nat Golzbein and became York's Wild Kingdom.

The amusement park was added, and later Joe Barberi became a co-owner. Golzbein's family owns another venerable Maine summer attraction, The Pier at Old Orchard Beach.

WILD AT HEART

Wheeler, the general manager at York's Wild Kingdom, says there's no question the owners regard the zoo as the main attraction. That's what draws people, not just vacationers, but visitors from all over the region who have very few options for zoo-hopping.

"We just wanted to go to a zoo, so we came here," said Ann Nelson of Haverhill, Mass., who was visiting with three of her children on a hot Wednesday afternoon in July. For $5 each, Nelson's sons Justin, 10, and James, 15, were each able to take home a handsomely matted photo of themselves with a giant snake draped over their shoulders.

Snakes aside, there isn't very much that is scary or challenging at York's Wild Kingdom. Hannah Nelson, sister of Justin and James, said her favorite part of the zoo was being able to walk right up to the ducks and geese that roam freely on paths and in ponds there.

"I've just never been that close to a duck before," said Hannah, 18.

The zoo and amusement park lend themselves to being easy on small children. The zoo's paths are wide and the animal exhibits are spread out enough that there aren't stroller jams or people standing elbow-to-elbow staring at the spider monkeys.

As soon as I entered the zoo with my 4-year-old old daughter she yelled, "Look, there's a bear!" And a few minute later it was "Look at the camel!" Then it was "What are those?" when she saw the wallabies.

I couldn't answer, until I read the text on the fence about how wallabies are members of the kangaroo family. They look like small kangaroos.

The exhibits are well-landscaped, with lots of grass, trees, waterfalls, ponds and huts for shade. It's possible with many of the exhibits to get close to the animals. My daughter was nearly nose-to-nose with a wallaby, with only a green chainlink fence between them.

After seeing the exotic animals (exotic for Maine anyway), we went into a petting zoo area that was gated off. We watched people feed deer, by hand. Since the deer were twice as big as my daughter, she opted...