Going Wild at The Wilds

We were headed to Gettysburg after visiting our son, Philip, outside of Louisville and Zanesville, Ohio was a good stopping point. I looked around as to what to see and do and found The Wilds.

Here's a description:

The Wilds is a private, non-profit safari park and conservation center that combines cutting-edge conservation science and education programs with hands-on experiences and one-of-a-kind adventures that include ziplining, horseback riding, fishing and more. Located in Cumberland, Ohio, the Wilds is home to rare and endangered species from the globe living in natural, open-range habitats.

The property encompasses 9,154 acres of reclaimed coal mine land and includes 2,000 acres of pastures and a 27-acre Carnivore Conservation Center. The Wilds is designated an Audubon Important Bird Area so the property includes a birding station with covered lookout as well as a butterfly habitat with hiking trails, more than 15 miles of mountain bike and hiking trails and approximately 150 lakes.

The Wilds is the largest wildlife conservation center in North America.

We got our tickets and hopped on our open-air bus for a tour of only 1,000 acres of the grounds to see all the exotic animals they have roaming free. Our tour guide was absolutely fantastic....extremely knowledgeable and loaded with all the history of each animal. The tour lasted about 2 and a half hours with two 20-minute stops. One was to see the birds and one to see the Cheetahs (and restrooms and food).

We were able to get as close as possible to the animals...waaaaay closer than you ever could at a zoo. Here's some of the animals we saw....

Southern White Rhino with her two-week old baby.

How come all baby animals are sooooo cute !!??

These are Persian Onagers.

Bactrian Camel in the foreground with the Rhino and Onagers behind.

Bactrian Camel

Przewalksi's Wild Horse

Cheetah..there were three of them in two separate areas.

What a great looking face huh?

...got his eye on something....maybe those school kids that just showed up?

African-Painted Dog

Dhole (pronounced like dole)

Sichuan Takins

Banteng

Female Sable Antelope

Male Sable Antelope

Look at the markings on this Fringed-eared Oryx

Grevy's Zebra....can you guess how many are here?

Love the markings around the eyes.

Look how the stripes continue right onto the mane.

Can anyone guess this one? Anyone?

Momma and her baby

Scimitar-horned Oryx

Giraffes with a baby in the middle.

All these lakes on the property were man made when mining was being done here. 

An aerial that shows only a part of the property but this is how large an area we got to tour.

....had to take some flower photos...

The contrast between the yellow and blue is wonderful. I believe these are Maximillian Sunflowers.

Our RV spot at Wolfie's Campground. Nice place but we had a big problem with Stinkbugs....first time we'd seen them...YUK ! We're still killing them weeks later.

This place easily rivals any wild animal park we've seen, including the Wild Animal Park in San Diego because, for only $20 each, we got a great tour. The animals are so used to the trucks that they don't mind us getting so close. And the weather, as you can see from the vista photos, was perfect.

Here's the website should you want to read more about the animals.

https://thewilds.columbuszoo.org/home

https://thewilds.columbuszoo.org/home/view-all-animals

Steve and Kim

Zoosiana. Zoo of Acadiana

There is a great zoo just south of Lafayette, Louisana that is called ZOOSIANA. It used to be the Zoo of Acadiana but they said no one could pronounce Acadiana so they changed the name to be part "zoo" and part "Louisiana. Clever.

The Zoo is privately owned so it's not like the San Diego or Omaha zoos that are so pristine with dozens of employees everywhere. Plus, the animal areas here are close to each other which makes for shorter walking through the park. The Omaha Zoo wore us out. Not only were the animals waaaaaay far apart from each other but there were ups and downs everywhere. We did not last long there.

This one is very very friendly, comfortable and you can get close to the animals. Some you probably don't want to...like the porcupines...but it is very intimate. This is our second time visiting.

This is the cutest picture. Kim is reaching for all she can to reach "Gabriel" and he's doing the same.

You talking to me !!??

Looks like some ladies I saw at WalMart the other day.

Cute little deer at the petting zoo. She started to come over to Kim but the cow took over instead.

This is Mrs. Giraffe. Gabriel is her husband. They got "married" last February. The zoo is waiting to see if she's pregnant but the gestation period is 18 months so she might no show for a while.

Goat in the petting area. He was shy, probably because we did not have any food ! Look at the rectangle pupils.

Kim loves lambs like this one.

Do not know the name of these guys. Anyone know? 

There was a large area for the ostriches to run around in.

Sandhill Cranes are so noisy. You'd think it was a very large elephant when you hear them from across the zoo.

A very colorful bird in the tropical area but I did not get the name.

Solitary cat...cannot remember it's name.

Beautiful small fox.

There were four gators....all sleeping. You would think they're not real because they don't move at all. It's winter for them too. They don't eat for months in the winter.

Close up of the giraffe leg markings.

Close up of the giraffe body markings.

Leopard waiting for feeding time.

Marmoset. Fast little guys.

...and here are those porcupines.

This zoo had one of the best reptile exhibits. At least a dozen boas behind glass.

The other nice thing about the zoo is that there are many species of birds flying around so, for someone like me who's getting into birding, is was great. I saw male and female Cardinals, Grackles, Mocking Birds, Crows, and a number of ones that I'm working on identifying.

A very satisfying zoo to visit. We recommend it highly.

http://www.zooofacadiana.org/