Lion Country Safari

Lion Country Safari is a drive-through safari park and walk-through amusement park located on over 600 acres in Loxahatchee (near West Palm Beach), in Palm Beach County, Florida. Founded in 1967, it claims to be the first 'cageless zoo' in the United States.

Lion Country Safari
26°42′58″N 80°19′20″W
Date opened1967 (1967)
LocationLoxahatchee, Florida
MembershipsAZA[1]
Websitewww.lioncountrysafari.com

In 2009, USA Travel Guide ranked Lion Country as the 3rd best zoo in the nation.[2]

Background

Developed by a group of entrepreneurs, Lion Country Safari became a place where families could experience an African safari. Due to its year round climate, South Florida proved to be an ideal location for the park.[3]

In the beginning, the park had its own 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railroad, the Everglade Express. The architects of Lion Country Safari based the design of the property on Jack Murphy Stadium. This attraction was eventually closed and the Crown Metal Products 4-4-0 locomotive was put on static display. Later, the locomotive was donated to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Miami before finally being bought and fully restored by the Veterans Memorial Railroad, located in Bristol, Florida's Veterans Memorial Park. It runs on that railroad to this day.[4][5]

The original South Florida park is the only one remaining in operation. Lion Country Safari previously operated parks in Irvine, California (1970–1984); Grand Prairie, Texas (1971–1992); Stockbridge, Georgia (1970–1984); Mason, Ohio (1974–1993) and Doswell, Virginia (1974–1993); all of them subsequently closed.

Exhibits
Giraffe

The original park in Florida consists of over 1,000 animals, throughout seven sections in the 4-mile preserve as well as the 33-acre Amusement Park.

Visitors who purchase a ticket enter the park in their own vehicle (no convertibles or soft top covers), driving slowly at their own pace, and view the animals while listening to a recorded narration which is available via streaming from SoundCloud. Many of the animals, such as giraffes, antelope, and zebras, are allowed to roam freely throughout the preserve, even crossing the road in front of vehicles. Others, such as lions or apes, are segregated behind fences or water barriers.

Visitors are warned to drive slowly and carefully, to avoid stopping too close to animals, and not to open their car doors or windows. The lions, whose ability to roam freely with cars was one of the park's original attractions, were separated from visitors by a fence around the road in 2005, due to visitors ignoring warnings and opening their car doors. Additionally, opening windows near the frequently seen ostrich is not recommended, as they often peck on the reflective windows and windshields of passing cars.

A unique aspect of Lion Country Safari is the chimpanzee exhibit. The chimpanzees live on an island system where they move to a different island every day, replicating their natural nomadic lifestyle. The chimpanzees live in complex social groups, as they would in the wild. Because of this, Lion Country Safari has been useful to those interested in behavioral studies of chimpanzees. One of the chimpanzees, named Little Mama, recorded as the oldest known living chimpanzee, was born around 1938, died on November 14, 2017 from kidney failure.[6] Lion Country Safari also serves as a retirement facility for chimpanzees who were once used in research laboratories and entertainment.

After visitors have driven through the park, they can visit Safari World, a theme park featuring exhibits, and amusement park fare such as an Animal Theater, a petting zoo, mini golf, paddle boats, two water slides, a small water park, and the popular giraffe-feeding exhibit. Food is available at Lion Country Safari's main restaurant.

Animal species
Safari Tour

Las Pampas

Ruaha National Park

Kalahari Bushveldt

Gir Forest

Gorongosa Reserve

Serengeti Plains

Hwange National Park

Safari World

Frasier the Sensuous Lion

The Lion Country Safari franchise in Irvine, California, briefly featured Frasier, an old lion that became a celebrity in his own right.[7]

An aging circus lion from Mexico was given to the Irvine facility in 1970. Already 18 years old, analogous to a human aged 80+, the lion was toothless and ill.[7] Named "Frasier," he became a major attraction at the park when, despite his advanced age, Frasier fathered litters totalling 35 lion cubs by the park's pride of six lionesses.[8] As a result, T-shirts, watches, and other souvenirs were made featuring a photo of Frasier, which quickly became popular merchandise.

In 1973, Lion Country tried to capitalize on their star with a feature film called Frasier the Sensuous Lion. The film featured a song, by the same title, performed by Sarah Vaughan.[9] However, the film was a major flop, financially and critically, being roundly panned for using a different lion in Frasier′s place and for employing a voice actor for Frasier to fictionalize the story.

Frasier the Sensuous Lion died of pneumonia in 1972. He was buried at the park, with a sendoff by the Frasier clan of Scotland, which had adopted Frasier as its mascot.[7]

After his death, attendance at the Irvine park declined sharply. The park closed in 1984, with the owner still holding 13 years of the original 29 year lease, which he then subleased to the operators of the Wild Rivers water park, the Camp Frasier (later Camp James) summer camp and the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.[10] The water park and summer camp closed in 2011, with the land turned into a housing development.[10] The same fate befell the amphitheatre in 2016,[11] such that the original Irvine-based Lion Country Safari land is now a 3,700-unit housing development.[12]

Incidents
  • Bubbles the hippopotamus escaped from the Lion Country Safari in Irvine, California in 1978 and enjoyed her freedom for 19 days until she was killed, 5 months pregnant, by an overdose of tranquilizing drugs.[13]

Notes
  1. "Currently Accredited Zoos and Aquariums". aza.org. AZA. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  2. "Lion Country Safari Named Third Best Zoo in Nation". WPBF 25. February 26, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  3. "Lion Country Safari History | Lion Country Safari". Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  4. "Steam Locomotive Information". www.steamlocomotive.info. Retrieved Aug 22, 2021.
  5. "Surviving Steam Locomotives in Florida". Retrieved Aug 22, 2021.
  6. Webb, Kristina (14 November 2017). "Little Mama, oldest living chimp, dies at Lion Country Safari". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  7. Harvey, Steve (2010-01-17). "Lionizing Frasier, a first-class lover". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
  8. "5: Best Thing Not There Anymore". OC Weekly. 2000-10-19. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  9. "Send in the Clowns (Columbia) - Sarah Vaughan". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  10. Martinez, Brian (2011-05-23). "Timeline: Wild Rivers' wild ride". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  11. Boessenkool, Antonie (2015-11-10). "Closing time nears for Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  12. Shimura, Tomoya (2017-12-06). "Irvine Planning Commission to discuss 169-unit gated condos near former Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre site". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  13. "Bubbles the Hippo kept roaming". Jan 8, 2009. Retrieved Aug 22, 2021.

References
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