Lion Country Safari
Encyclopedia
Lion Country Safari is a drive-through safari park
located 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
.
In 2009, USA Travel Guide named Lion Country the 3rd best zoo in the nation. http://www.wpbf.com/news/18804484/detail.html
experience for families who would not normally be able to experience it. The park originally exhibited only lion
s.
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
; Mason, Ohio
(1974-1993) and Doswell, Virginia
(1974-1993); all of them subsequently closed.
Visitors who purchase a ticket enter the park in their own vehicle, driving slowly at their own pace, and view the animals while listening to a recorded narration on audiotape or CD
. Some animals, such as giraffe
s, rhinoceros
es, and zebra
s, are allowed to roam freely, even crossing the road in front of vehicles. Others, such as lion
s or chimpanzee
s, 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 parks original attractions, were separated from visitors by a fence around the road in 2005, due to visitors ignoring warnings and opening their car doors.
A unique aspect of Lion Country Safari is the chimpanzee exhibit. The chimps live on an island system where they move to a different island every day, replicating their natural nomadic lifestyle. The chimps 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 chimps. As of 2006, chimpanzees living at Lion Country Safari include "Little Mama," one of the oldest chimpanzees in captivity, born in 1938. 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 with some zoo exhibits, and amusement park
fare such as a Ferris wheel
, a petting zoo
, a small water park, and a giraffe-feeding exhibit. Food is available at Lion Country Safari's main restaurant.
A partial list of animals exhibited at Lion Country Safari in 2010 include:
until 1984. The California park was designed by R. Duell & Associates (the same firm that designed Six Flags Magic Mountain
). Lion Country was founded and headed up by South African CEO Harry Shuster of United Leisure in 1968 and the first park opened in Florida in 1969. The second park in California opened in June 1970.
In 1982, two years prior to closing the park, United Leisure opened a summer day camp, Camp Frasier, to hopefully help offset the effects of low attendance. Meanwhile, there was still no budget for maintaining the park, and its deteriorating attractions meant the park's future was doomed. In 1984, with dwindled attendance and decrepit conditions, the park closed. In 1982, during the final years of the park, a long bitter battle began between Shuster and the Irvine Company
.
The Irvine Company decided to renegotiate the 28 year lease on the land (which began in 1968), trying to take back control as nearby property values increased and the park was proving to be a financial liability. Harry Shuster then became involved in the bitter and excruciating legal tussle, which lasted until 1997, when they finally reached a settlement. During the ongoing legal maneuverings, Shuster threatened to 'tear it all down' -- including Irvine Meadows (built on a sublease agreement with U.L., now Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
), Wild Rivers
, and the day camp. His reasoning was, "I built all this on a firm 28 year lease agreement; why should the Irvine Company be allowed to take it from me just because they want it back?"
A portion of the park's entertainment area was converted into the current water park Wild Rivers in 1986-87. The remaining park land was left as Camp Frasier, which continued until 1997, when it became Camp James. During the years of Camp Frasier, the drive through reserve was used for horseback riding, archery, ATC, ATV riding and hiking. Lion Country was originally in the city limits of Laguna Hills
.
The Zambezi River Boat Ride was initially designed to be part aviary. After passing through a tunnel about 3/4 of the way along the river course, the boats would enter a fully netted area where exotic birds could fly freely. The boat would then exit the netted area through another tunnel about 100 feet before the end of the ride. Due to budget limitations and potential problems that would ensue from keeping the birds inside, that idea was dropped and it was to be a basic boat ride. The ride was designed to be landscaped in order to create the effect of different micro-environments, such as the Rain Forest and African plains, etc.
However, the original boats were scrapped in the late 1970s and early 1980s, replaced with rustic African wooden barges that were built upon huge styrofoam blocks so they would not sink as they deteriorated. (The park was starting to fall apart by then due to low maintenance caused by poor attendance.) One of the original metal Zambezi Boats from 1970 was saved and affixed in the concrete paving as a decoration in the Wild Rivers outdoor eating and recreation areas between the wave pools and the locker rooms.
An aging circus lion from Mexico, who was ill, was given to the Irvine facility. He sired quite a few litters of lion cubs, mothered by several lionesses. Named "Frasier," he became a major attraction to the site. In 1971, Lion Country tried to capitalize on their new star, and a movie was made called "Frasier the Sensuous Lion." T-shirts, watches, and other souvenirs were sold featuring Frasier until 1972, when he died and was buried on top of the hills behind the Safari. Afterward, attendance continued to decline, and negative incidents occurred at the Safari Park.
On a February night in 1978, Bubbles, a hippopotamus, managed to burrow under her fence, squeeze past a barricade and lumber away from her pen. She found a marshy drainage pit in the hills behind the safari and settled in for a standoff with park rangers, rarely showing much more than her nostrils above the water line. Crowds gathered. Television cameras arrived. Soon, even Johnny Carson
was having a laugh at the wayward hippo in Orange County
.
Bubbles emerged from her watery hideout a few days into her escape, and was greeted with a tranquilizer dart. She crumpled to the ground. Three rangers approached, and one tapped her with a wooden pole."Bubbles roused with a mighty snort," the Orange County Register newspaper reported, "and promptly treed two rangers and sent the third scampering." Bubbles flicked her tail and rumbled back into the pond."
For 19 days, Bubbles wallowed in her pond as news helicopters clattered overhead and highway patrol officers directed traffic on nearby roads. She refused to budge even when rangers baited a huge net with her favorite food, alfalfa. And then, as night fell on her 19th day of freedom, Bubbles pulled herself out of the shallows and wandered up a nearby hill. A ranger approached her in the dark and shot her with two tranquilizer darts. She staggered for a few more steps before her knees gave out and she collapsed.
A veterinarian arrived and gave her a dose of a potent calming drug. The cheering and backslapping of her capture soon turned to disbelief and then tears as the park rangers realized that Bubbles had stopped breathing. One of the rangers reached down and tried to close her eyes, then covered her body with a blanket. The official story from Lion Country Safari has always been that Bubbles fell in an awkward position on the hill, and her heavy internal organs pressed against her lungs, suffocating her. But the lead ranger that night, Steve Clark, has long maintained that it was the veterinarian's drug - administered needlessly and carelessly, he says - that killed Bubbles. A heavy-duty earthmover carried Bubbles back to Lion Country Safari, where an autopsy found she had been pregnant with her second calf.
An Asian elephant, Misty, broke free from her chains at Lion Country Safari following a concert at the neighboring amphitheater on July 24th, 1983. Head game warden Lee Keaton, apparently was attempting to put a chain around the elephant’s leg when she turned on him, crushing his skull and killing him instantly. Misty had attacked a handler, David Wilson, just three weeks earlier. The handler survived. After Keaton was killed, Misty managed to run off the property, causing an evacuation of a nearby swap meet and a massive traffic jam on the nearby 405 freeway.
Misty was loose for three hours before being recaptured. At the time the elephant was owned by Gentle Jungle, a company that supplied animals for movies and television. After the accident Misty was whisked away and absorbed by the circus industry until 1988 when she was purchased by the Hawthorn Corporation. Misty maintained her reputation as a dangerous elephant until the day a sanctuary staff took custody of her from the Hawthorn Corporation. Her parting shot was to strike John Cuneo
, owner of the Hawthorn Corporation, across the chest with her trunk as he attempted to make her stretch out on her sternum so he could remove her chains. She is now located at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee
.
Also, several lions who killed hoofed animals had to be quarantined in a fenced section of the park. Monkeys reportedly ripped the rubber bumper stripping off car doors and jumped on hoods. Insurance claims were skyrocketing. The park was finally shut down in the summer of 1984, and all of the animals were sold and relocated. As of August 2010, the Irvine Company
still has not done anything with the land, except to re-grade what was once the drive-through preserve and designate parcels for nurseries to store plants and large specimen trees.
(just north of Richmond
), operated a similar attraction called Lion Country Safari from 1974 before the park's opening in 1975 through the fall of 1993.
, in the town of Mason, Ohio
(just northeast of Cincinnati
), operated another Lion Country Safari, which became Wild Animal Habitat between 1974 and 1993.
Safari park
A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial tourist attraction where visitors can drive in their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals...
located in Loxahatchee
Loxahatchee, Florida
Loxahatchee is a community located in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located in the areas north of Wellington and west and northwest of Royal Palm Beach, Florida and approximately west of West Palm Beach. Loxahatchee is also the name of the Post Office that serves this area,...
(near West Palm Beach
West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida...
), in Palm Beach County, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Founded in 1967, it claims to be the first 'cageless zoo' in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In 2009, USA Travel Guide named Lion Country the 3rd best zoo in the nation. http://www.wpbf.com/news/18804484/detail.html
Background
Lion Country Safari was founded in 1967 by a group of South African and British entrepreneurs who wished to provide a safariSafari
A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...
experience for families who would not normally be able to experience it. The park originally exhibited only lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s.
The original South Florida park is the only one remaining in operation. Lion Country Safari previously operated parks in Irvine, California
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
(1970-1984); Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas and is a part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Grand Prairie is a suburb of both Dallas and Fort Worth and had a population of 175,396 at the 2010 census.- History :The city of...
(1971-1992); Stockbridge, Georgia
Stockbridge, Georgia
Stockbridge is a city in Henry County, Georgia, United States with a population of 25,636 as of the 2010 census. It is the hometown of the multi-platinum selling alternative rock/post-grunge band Collective Soul and home to one of the youngest starting pitchers ever to play for the Atlanta Braves,...
; Mason, Ohio
Mason, Ohio
Mason is an affluent city in southwestern Warren County, Ohio, United States, 22 miles away from Cincinnati . As of the 2010 census, Mason's population was 30,712. Mason has experienced fast growth, with its historic Main Street remaining at the center of the community...
(1974-1993) and Doswell, Virginia
Doswell, Virginia
Doswell is an unincorporated community in Hanover County in the Central Region of the U.S. state of Virginia. Originally called Hanover Junction, it was located on the Virginia Central Railroad, which later became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad at a crossing of the Richmond,...
(1974-1993); all of them subsequently closed.
Exhibits
The original park in Florida consists of over 1,000 animals, kept in large fenced areas with approximately 5 miles of paved roadway running throughout.Visitors who purchase a ticket enter the park in their own vehicle, driving slowly at their own pace, and view the animals while listening to a recorded narration on audiotape or CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
. Some animals, such as giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
s, rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
es, and zebra
Zebra
Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
s, are allowed to roam freely, even crossing the road in front of vehicles. Others, such as lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s or chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s, 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 parks original attractions, were separated from visitors by a fence around the road in 2005, due to visitors ignoring warnings and opening their car doors.
A unique aspect of Lion Country Safari is the chimpanzee exhibit. The chimps live on an island system where they move to a different island every day, replicating their natural nomadic lifestyle. The chimps 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 chimps. As of 2006, chimpanzees living at Lion Country Safari include "Little Mama," one of the oldest chimpanzees in captivity, born in 1938. 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 with some zoo exhibits, and amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
fare such as a Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
, a petting zoo
Petting zoo
A petting zoo features a combination of domestic animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, also called children's farms or petting farms, many general zoos contain a petting zoo...
, a small water park, and a giraffe-feeding exhibit. Food is available at Lion Country Safari's main restaurant.
A partial list of animals exhibited at Lion Country Safari in 2010 include:
- African LionLionThe lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
- Aoudad
- Asiatic Water Buffalo
- BlackbuckBlackbuckBlackbuck is a species of antelope native to the Indian subcontinent. Their range decreased sharply during the 20th century. Since 2003, the IUCN lists the species as near threatened....
- Brazilian TapirBrazilian TapirThe South American Tapir , or Brazilian Tapir or Lowland Tapir or Anta, is one of four species in the tapir family, along with the Mountain Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, and Baird's Tapir...
- ChimpanzeeChimpanzeeChimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
- Common ElandCommon ElandThe common eland , also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is the largest antelope in the African continent...
- Dromedary Camel
- GiraffeGiraffeThe giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
- GemsbokGemsbokThe gemsbok or gemsbuck is a large antelope in the Oryx genus. It is native to the arid regions of southern Africa, but formerly some authorities included the East African Oryx as a subspecies...
- GnuGNUGNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
- ImpalaImpalaAn impala is a medium-sized African antelope. The name impala comes from the Zulu language meaning "gazelle"...
- KuduKuduThe kudus are two species of antelope of the genus Tragelaphus:*Lesser Kudu, Tragelaphus imberbis*Greater Kudu, Tragelaphus strepsiceros- Etymology :...
- KulanKulanKhulan was an empress of Genghis Khan and head of the second Court of Genghis Khan. Her status in the Mongol Empire was second only to Grand Empress Borte.-Biography:...
- LechweLechweThe Lechwe, or Southern Lechwe, is an antelope found in Botswana, Zambia, south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, north-eastern Namibia, and eastern Angola, especially in the Okavango Delta, Kafue Flats and Bangweulu Swamps....
- LlamaLlamaThe llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times....
- Mouflon
- NilgaiNilgaiThe nilgai , sometimes called nilgau, is an antelope, and is one of the most commonly seen wild animals of central and northern India and eastern Pakistan; it is also present in parts of southern Nepal. The mature males appear ox-like and are also known as blue bulls...
- OstrichOstrichThe Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
- RheaRhea (bird)The rheas are ratites in the genus Rhea, native to South America. There are two existing species: the Greater or American Rhea and the Lesser or Darwin's Rhea. The genus name was given in 1752 by Paul Möhring and adopted as the English common name. Möhring's reason for choosing this name, from the...
- White RhinocerosWhite RhinocerosThe White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped rhinoceros is one of the five species of rhinoceros that still exist. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species...
- White-handed Gibbon
- ZebraZebraZebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
Cultural references
- Lion Country Safari plays a major role in Frederick Buechner'sFrederick BuechnerFrederick Buechner is an American writer and theologian. Born July 11, 1926 in New York City, he is an ordained Presbyterian minister and the author of more than thirty published books thus far. His work encompasses different genres, including fiction, autobiography, essays and sermons, and his...
novel Lion Country. - The park was referenced in The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode Old MoneyOld Money (The Simpsons)"Old Money" is the seventeenth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 28, 1991. In the episode, Grampa's new girlfriend at the Retirement Castle passes away and leaves him with $106,000...
when the family takes a trip to Discount Lion Safari.
Irvine, California
Another drive-through zoo known as Lion Country Safari existed in Irvine, CaliforniaIrvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
until 1984. The California park was designed by R. Duell & Associates (the same firm that designed Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain is a theme park located in Valencia, California north of Los Angeles. It opened on Memorial Day weekend on May 30, 1971 as Magic Mountain, by the Newhall Land and Farming Company. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name Six Flags to the park's title. In...
). Lion Country was founded and headed up by South African CEO Harry Shuster of United Leisure in 1968 and the first park opened in Florida in 1969. The second park in California opened in June 1970.
In 1982, two years prior to closing the park, United Leisure opened a summer day camp, Camp Frasier, to hopefully help offset the effects of low attendance. Meanwhile, there was still no budget for maintaining the park, and its deteriorating attractions meant the park's future was doomed. In 1984, with dwindled attendance and decrepit conditions, the park closed. In 1982, during the final years of the park, a long bitter battle began between Shuster and the Irvine Company
Irvine Company
The Irvine Company is a privately held real estate development company based in Newport Beach, Orange County, Southern California. The corporate center of the company lies in Newport Center. A large portion of its operations are centered in and around the City of Irvine, a planned city of 250,000...
.
The Irvine Company decided to renegotiate the 28 year lease on the land (which began in 1968), trying to take back control as nearby property values increased and the park was proving to be a financial liability. Harry Shuster then became involved in the bitter and excruciating legal tussle, which lasted until 1997, when they finally reached a settlement. During the ongoing legal maneuverings, Shuster threatened to 'tear it all down' -- including Irvine Meadows (built on a sublease agreement with U.L., now Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Irvine)
Not to be confused with amphitheatres in Georgia, Missouri, or Virginia.Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Irvine is a 16,085-capacity amphitheater, located in Irvine, California...
), Wild Rivers
Wild Rivers
Wild Rivers was a waterpark in Irvine, California. It opened in 1986 on the site of the former Lion Country Safari. Following the expiration of its lease with the The Irvine Company, it closed permanently on September 25, 2011, with the hope of opening in a new location by 2013.-History:Before Wild...
, and the day camp. His reasoning was, "I built all this on a firm 28 year lease agreement; why should the Irvine Company be allowed to take it from me just because they want it back?"
A portion of the park's entertainment area was converted into the current water park Wild Rivers in 1986-87. The remaining park land was left as Camp Frasier, which continued until 1997, when it became Camp James. During the years of Camp Frasier, the drive through reserve was used for horseback riding, archery, ATC, ATV riding and hiking. Lion Country was originally in the city limits of Laguna Hills
Laguna Hills, California
Laguna Hills is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. Its name refers to its proximity to Laguna Canyon and the much older Laguna Beach. Other newer cities nearby—Laguna Niguel and Laguna Woods—are similarly named.-Geography:...
.
The Zambezi River Boat Ride was initially designed to be part aviary. After passing through a tunnel about 3/4 of the way along the river course, the boats would enter a fully netted area where exotic birds could fly freely. The boat would then exit the netted area through another tunnel about 100 feet before the end of the ride. Due to budget limitations and potential problems that would ensue from keeping the birds inside, that idea was dropped and it was to be a basic boat ride. The ride was designed to be landscaped in order to create the effect of different micro-environments, such as the Rain Forest and African plains, etc.
However, the original boats were scrapped in the late 1970s and early 1980s, replaced with rustic African wooden barges that were built upon huge styrofoam blocks so they would not sink as they deteriorated. (The park was starting to fall apart by then due to low maintenance caused by poor attendance.) One of the original metal Zambezi Boats from 1970 was saved and affixed in the concrete paving as a decoration in the Wild Rivers outdoor eating and recreation areas between the wave pools and the locker rooms.
An aging circus lion from Mexico, who was ill, was given to the Irvine facility. He sired quite a few litters of lion cubs, mothered by several lionesses. Named "Frasier," he became a major attraction to the site. In 1971, Lion Country tried to capitalize on their new star, and a movie was made called "Frasier the Sensuous Lion." T-shirts, watches, and other souvenirs were sold featuring Frasier until 1972, when he died and was buried on top of the hills behind the Safari. Afterward, attendance continued to decline, and negative incidents occurred at the Safari Park.
On a February night in 1978, Bubbles, a hippopotamus, managed to burrow under her fence, squeeze past a barricade and lumber away from her pen. She found a marshy drainage pit in the hills behind the safari and settled in for a standoff with park rangers, rarely showing much more than her nostrils above the water line. Crowds gathered. Television cameras arrived. Soon, even Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
was having a laugh at the wayward hippo in Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
.
Bubbles emerged from her watery hideout a few days into her escape, and was greeted with a tranquilizer dart. She crumpled to the ground. Three rangers approached, and one tapped her with a wooden pole."Bubbles roused with a mighty snort," the Orange County Register newspaper reported, "and promptly treed two rangers and sent the third scampering." Bubbles flicked her tail and rumbled back into the pond."
For 19 days, Bubbles wallowed in her pond as news helicopters clattered overhead and highway patrol officers directed traffic on nearby roads. She refused to budge even when rangers baited a huge net with her favorite food, alfalfa. And then, as night fell on her 19th day of freedom, Bubbles pulled herself out of the shallows and wandered up a nearby hill. A ranger approached her in the dark and shot her with two tranquilizer darts. She staggered for a few more steps before her knees gave out and she collapsed.
A veterinarian arrived and gave her a dose of a potent calming drug. The cheering and backslapping of her capture soon turned to disbelief and then tears as the park rangers realized that Bubbles had stopped breathing. One of the rangers reached down and tried to close her eyes, then covered her body with a blanket. The official story from Lion Country Safari has always been that Bubbles fell in an awkward position on the hill, and her heavy internal organs pressed against her lungs, suffocating her. But the lead ranger that night, Steve Clark, has long maintained that it was the veterinarian's drug - administered needlessly and carelessly, he says - that killed Bubbles. A heavy-duty earthmover carried Bubbles back to Lion Country Safari, where an autopsy found she had been pregnant with her second calf.
An Asian elephant, Misty, broke free from her chains at Lion Country Safari following a concert at the neighboring amphitheater on July 24th, 1983. Head game warden Lee Keaton, apparently was attempting to put a chain around the elephant’s leg when she turned on him, crushing his skull and killing him instantly. Misty had attacked a handler, David Wilson, just three weeks earlier. The handler survived. After Keaton was killed, Misty managed to run off the property, causing an evacuation of a nearby swap meet and a massive traffic jam on the nearby 405 freeway.
Misty was loose for three hours before being recaptured. At the time the elephant was owned by Gentle Jungle, a company that supplied animals for movies and television. After the accident Misty was whisked away and absorbed by the circus industry until 1988 when she was purchased by the Hawthorn Corporation. Misty maintained her reputation as a dangerous elephant until the day a sanctuary staff took custody of her from the Hawthorn Corporation. Her parting shot was to strike John Cuneo
John Cuneo
John Cuneo is an Australian sailor and Olympic champion. He competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, where he received a gold medal in the dragon class, together with crew members Thomas Anderson and John Shaw....
, owner of the Hawthorn Corporation, across the chest with her trunk as he attempted to make her stretch out on her sternum so he could remove her chains. She is now located at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee
Hohenwald, Tennessee
Hohenwald is a city in and the county seat of Lewis County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,754 at the 2000 census. The name "Hohenwald" is a German word that means "High Forest". The town was founded in 1878 and later merged with a town named "New Switzerland" to the south. New...
.
Also, several lions who killed hoofed animals had to be quarantined in a fenced section of the park. Monkeys reportedly ripped the rubber bumper stripping off car doors and jumped on hoods. Insurance claims were skyrocketing. The park was finally shut down in the summer of 1984, and all of the animals were sold and relocated. As of August 2010, the Irvine Company
Irvine Company
The Irvine Company is a privately held real estate development company based in Newport Beach, Orange County, Southern California. The corporate center of the company lies in Newport Center. A large portion of its operations are centered in and around the City of Irvine, a planned city of 250,000...
still has not done anything with the land, except to re-grade what was once the drive-through preserve and designate parcels for nurseries to store plants and large specimen trees.
Richmond, Virginia
Kings Dominion, located in the town of Doswell, VirginiaDoswell, Virginia
Doswell is an unincorporated community in Hanover County in the Central Region of the U.S. state of Virginia. Originally called Hanover Junction, it was located on the Virginia Central Railroad, which later became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad at a crossing of the Richmond,...
(just north of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
), operated a similar attraction called Lion Country Safari from 1974 before the park's opening in 1975 through the fall of 1993.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Kings IslandKings Island
Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. Opened in 1972 by Taft Broadcasting Company and now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, Kings Island is the most visited seasonal amusement park in the U.S...
, in the town of Mason, Ohio
Mason, Ohio
Mason is an affluent city in southwestern Warren County, Ohio, United States, 22 miles away from Cincinnati . As of the 2010 census, Mason's population was 30,712. Mason has experienced fast growth, with its historic Main Street remaining at the center of the community...
(just northeast of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
), operated another Lion Country Safari, which became Wild Animal Habitat between 1974 and 1993.