PORT CLINTON — It’s been a while since they've seen the slow but steady line of vehicles meandering through their enclosure, but the four-legged residents haven't forgotten what it means: They know to mosey up to the open windows, nose for kibble and veggies and mug for Instagram.
It means a new season at Port Clinton's African Safari Wildlife Park. And for caretakers at the park, it means things “just feel a little more normal,” director Kelsey Keller said.
The African Safari Wildlife Park reopened to the public on May 14, welcoming animal-lovers back for what is essentially the first time since a fire devastated the community on Thanksgiving. The fire was an abrupt and tragic end to the season, leaving staff and patrons to mourn the deaths of 10 animals, and related repairs this winter pushed the seasonal opening date from February to March – just about a week before state officials issued a stay-at-home order.
What: African Safari Wildlife Park
When: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily; last car admitted at 6 p.m.
Where: 267 S. Lightner Road, Port Clinton
Admission: $23.95 for adults, $15.95 for children ages 3-6
Information: africansafariwildlifepark.com
This month’s reopening of the drive-thru safari came with the approval of the local health department, Ms. Keller said, even as a subsequent state order barring public venues like zoos from reopening remained in effect. While gloves and animal-printed face coverings bear visual testimony to the precautions that safari staff are bringing to their new season, Ms. Keller said they also find that their drive-thru experience was already pretty well suited to social distance; the adjustments they've made so far have been relatively minimal.
“We were kind of set up to do this,” she said.
It’s one of the reasons they’re hopeful for a good season at the park.
“We had a pretty large outcry of community support after the fire in November, and we've just continued to see a lot of positivity coming from our local community,” Ms. Keller said, recalling the numerous phone calls from eager safari-goers in recent weeks wondering when they would be open. “We’re hoping that we can turn all of this into a positive year for us.”
The African Safari Wildlife Park is home to some 600 to 700 animals, who are spread out between a drive-thru safari and a complementary walk-thru safari that the director said is expected to reopen later in the season. That includes a new open-air macaw exhibit, which is to be the most recent element of a continued update to the walk-thru experience.
An Aviary Adventure opened in the walk-thru during their 50th anniversary season in 2018, its budgies alone significantly increasing the total number of animals onsite.
While older visitors might recall its early days as the African Lion Safari, in its 52rd season in Port Clinton, the park is home to a diverse collection of critters from six of seven continents, Ms. Keller said. There are no longer lions onsite, but there are zebras and giraffes to represent Africa; the director said they tend to be crowd favorites. Likewise for the alpacas and bison.
Ms. Keller expects all the animals to be on display as soon as the weather is consistently warmer. Just over 400 animals can be spotted in the drive-thru.
Wayne and Sandy Jarvis noticed the giraffes weren’t yet out in their first visit of the season, just a day after the park reopened on May 14. They and their daughter, Dara Templeton, brought her son out for his first trip to the safari park – a welcome outing for a cooped-up toddler.
A curious herd of llamas, alpacas and guanacos were the favorite for Jarvis Templeton, they said, stopping to chat outside the gift shop before a second trip through the drive-thru. They were among the first species to poke their noses through their vehicle windows that day, hopeful for some of the snacks proffered by the 2½–year-old and his family.
One, Serene, sat unbothered in the roadway with her new baby at her side.
(May and June are baby season at the park, Ms. Keller said. It’s usually a good time to visit.)
A couple of hulking bison weren’t so appealing to the youngster, his family said, although, in another vehicle, Morgan Salim, 7, said these shaggy critters were some of her favorites. She got a kick out of the less brave reactions of some of her younger sisters and their babysitters, Melena Jacinto and her friend, Mykal Jones, who brought the girls to the park from the Cleveland area.
But who could fault a safari-goer for feeling a bit intimidated beside the bison, really? As large if not larger than the SUVs that slowly drive past them, they hardly seemed attuned to the idea of social distance the day the girls visited, pushing their snouts toward passengers in search of kibble in some vehicles and hopefully pressing snotty kisses to rolled-up windows in others.
That kind of interactivity is the highlight of the trip for most patrons, Ms. Keller said; it’s what sets the safari park apart from the more traditional zoo.
“You get a lot more of an up close and personal experience,” she said.
The African Safari Wildlife Park does not yet have a memorial in place for the animals that died when a fire broke out in one of the park's barns on Nov. 28, although one is in the works, Ms. Keller said. It’s one of several projects, including a barn to replace the one that was destroyed in the fire, that was slowed down in light of the pandemic.
The African Safari Wildlife Park announced a memorial donation in the lost animals’ honor of $10,000 to Giraffe Conservation Foundation in February. Three giraffes, three red river hogs, three bongos and a springbok died in the fire, for which a cause was not able to be determined.
Authorities did not suspect foul play.
“I don't know that we’ll ever be the same,” Ms. Keller said. “That was a very traumatic event for all of our staff, but we have an amazing group of people that work here year-round and they have just embraced taking care of all the animals that they do have and really, on the day-to-day, they have embraced each and every day as if they may not have another one.
“The animals have really benefited from that mentality, and we’ve built way better connections with our animals that we have here,” she continued. “Our staff have really just poured all their love into the park as well as their animals.”
She said the staff were excited to open their gates again, welcoming an estimated 80 vehicles in their first day – quite a few considering that day's steady rain, Ms. Keller said. They might see anywhere from 100 to 400 vehicles on a typical day, although their admissions ebb and flow through a lengthy season based on a variety of factors.
With a model that happens to lend itself well to this season’s pandemic circumstances, they're looking forward to welcoming plenty more.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had cars coming through and guests coming through,” Ms. Keller said. “So it's nice to kind of get back to a normal day-to-day.”
First Published May 23, 2020, 5:34 p.m.
