8/16/2023 0 Comments Safari in virginia![]() ![]() Yeah, I had to wash my car, and I still need to vacuum out the animal food, but it was so fun to get that close to animals that we usually only see behind large fences at the zoo. This was the coolest thing we’ve done in ages. I don’t do birds *shudder* so I waited outside. There was even an aviary where you could walk though and the birds would land on a stick you hold out to them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. One of the highlights of the excursion was seeing a mama kangaroo with a joey in her pouch. R really wanted to do it, but the second the giraffe’s wet tongue touched her hand, she squealed and dropped the food, much to the dismay of the unfortunate giraffe. You can feed them too, but rather than buckets, you feed them right out of your hands. There is a separate village walk-through for certain animals including the giraffes. They have bison, llama, camels, pigs, deer, emu, ostrich, elk, giraffes, antelope, oryx, wildebeest, buffalo, yak, cattle, watusi, pigs, zebras, rhinos, kangaroos, peacocks and monkeys. Then before I could blink, he STOLE my bucket. Soon the kids decided to get in on the fun. At first the kids were afraid to roll down their windows so mama had to show ’em how it’s done. I am serious!!!! We were laughing so hard. This was the scene that greeted us as we emerged from the ticket booth : Animals roam freely on the 180-acre property, and you drive through on a 3-mile paved loop and feed them out your window. Safari Park is pretty much a drive-thru zoo. They were determined to go and wouldn’t take no for an answer. My husband and I were a bit hesitant, but after reading a few reviews online, we decided that there wasn’t much chance we’d get our heads bitten off so we agreed to stop in on our way home. I’ve driven past it probably a hundred times and never knew it existed, but when we stopped in Lexington (on our way to Virginia), the folks in the Visitor’s Center shared this with us an an option for things to do in the area, and my kids jumped at the chance to see wild animals up close and personal. Wilson is charged with nine misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and 10 felony counts of selling an endangered species and a hearing in his case is scheduled for Friday.ĭefense attorney Erin Harrigan called Antle’s prosecution politically motivated in response to a growing public outcry against wild animals being exploited for entertainment purposes.On our way home from Virginia last weekend, we stopped at Virginia Safari Park. ![]() He said Antle paid $2,500 to $3,000 per cub with the exception of the 2017 transaction when Antle traded three lynx kittens for three lion cubs. Wilson testified that Antle paid him in advance under the guise of a donation. In August 2019, 119 animals - including lions, tigers, bears, camels, goats and water buffalo - were seized from Wilson’s roadside zoo after a judge found that Wilson “cruelly treated, neglected, or deprived” the animals of adequate care. There were three illegal cub exchanges in 2017, 20, Welch said.Īntle was indicted in 2020 on several offenses including felony counts of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy. But after lions were designated as an endangered species in December 2015, lions could only be traded between zoos and wildlife preserves that were part of an established breeding program and had permits. When Antle and Keith Wilson, the park's former owner, began doing business in 2015, it was still legal to buy and sell lions, Welch said. Prosecutor Michelle Welch said Myrtle Beach Safari's lucrative petting zoo motivated Antle to maintain a steady supply of immature lion cubs that he purchased from Wilson’s Wild Animal Park near Winchester, calling the arrangement a “cub pipeline” from Virginia to South Carolina. The jury acquitted Antle of five counts of animal cruelty and Judge Alexander Iden dismissed four additional animal cruelty charges against Antle and all charges against his two adult daughters, The Winchester Star reported. A jury convicted Antle on Friday of two felony counts each of wildlife trafficking and conspiring to wildlife traffic.Īntle, who owns the Myrtle Beach Safari, appeared in “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” a Netflix documentary miniseries that focused on tiger breeders. A wild animal trainer featured in the popular Netflix series “Tiger King” has been convicted of wildlife trafficking in Virginia, the attorney general’s office announced Tuesday.īhagavan “Doc” Antle was accused of illegally buying endangered lion cubs in Frederick County, Virginia, for display and profit at his South Carolina zoo, Attorney General Jason Miyares said in a news release. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |