Sustainable Safari at Maplewood Mall

NSU42

NSU42

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
So this place just popped up on my Facebook feed. It appears to essentially be a zoo, mainly a petting zoo, inside a mall. I don't know who would ever have this idea, but it looks as bad as a SeaQuest, if not worse. I am out of town currently, but will likely visit when I return home just to see it for myself. The website does say all of there animals are rotated in and out to a farm they own nearby as well.

Here is the website. They changed there name recently from Cock-a-Doodle Zoo to Sustainable Safari recently.

Sustainable Safari Twin Cities MN Childrens Petting Zoo - Sustainable Safari

EDIT: Looking at the reviews on Google, this place has a camel living inside the mall.
 
Last edited:
NSU42 said:
So this place just popped up on my Facebook feed. It appears to essentially be a zoo, mainly a petting zoo, inside a mall. I don't know who would ever have this idea, but it looks as bad as a SeaQuest, if not worse. I am out of town currently, but will likely visit when I return home just to see it for myself. The website does say all of there animals are rotated in and out to a farm they own nearby as well.

Here is the website. They changed there name recently from Cock-a-Doodle Zoo to Sustainable Safari recently.

Sustainable Safari Twin Cities MN Childrens Petting Zoo - Sustainable Safari

EDIT: Looking at the reviews on Google, this place has a camel living inside the mall.
Click to expand...
Interesting, entering their website it says they have Ringtail, Badger and African Porcupine. I can't imagine how that species can live in that mall.
 
I have not been to Sustainable Safari but did read an article about it earlier this year which I can't find now unfortunately. The owners operate a traveling petting zoo/animal display, and it sounds like the mall location is a way for them to display some of their animals when they are not at fairs or other events.
 
Gondwana said:
I have not been to Sustainable Safari but did read an article about it earlier this year which I can't find now unfortunately. The owners operate a traveling petting zoo/animal display, and it sounds like the mall location is a way for them to display some of their animals when they are not at fairs or other events.
Click to expand...

That os essentially what their website said.
 
I recently visited this facility. It is located in a former mall store space, perhaps 15,000 square feet or so. The overall setup is 100% petting zoo, with enclosures constructed barn-style using livestock fencing, plywood, metal stock tanks, etc. Basically everything except for primates, carnivores, and herps can be hand petted and fed. I was pleasantly surprised by the staffing and cleanliness -- pens typically had wood shaving bedding and at least one staff member was seemingly always on "poop patrol" with 3-4 others also in the exhibit area the whole time I was there.

For it's size the collection was surprisingly diverse, with about 40-50 species on view. Many were of the standard petting zoo variety (pet store herps, budgies, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs) or the super common exotics (ring-tailed lemur, bennett's wallaby, kinkajou, etc.). However, there were a few real surprises. Among those were a baby Nyala, Thomson's Gazelle, Tayra, Kusimanse, and two species that I'd never seen anywhere before: Greater Grison and Seven-banded Armadillo (Dasypus septemcinctus). Unfortunately the armadillo was sleeping in a hollow rock and I couldn't see enough of it to tell whether it might have been mislabeled and was actually another large armadillo species (i.e., six-banded or nine-banded). The zoo's website also lists a few other real rarities including Palawan and Sunda porcupine, but neither of those was present when I visited. It seems that animals regularly rotate between the mall and the owners' farm, which is good because the setup at the mall obviously isn't conducive to permanent housing, especially for the hoofed animals.
 
Gondwana said:
I recently visited this facility. It is located in a former mall store space, perhaps 15,000 square feet or so. The overall setup is 100% petting zoo, with enclosures constructed barn-style using livestock fencing, plywood, metal stock tanks, etc. Basically everything except for primates, carnivores, and herps can be hand petted and fed. I was pleasantly surprised by the staffing and cleanliness -- pens typically had wood shaving bedding and at least one staff member was seemingly always on "poop patrol" with 3-4 others also in the exhibit area the whole time I was there.

For it's size the collection was surprisingly diverse, with about 40-50 species on view. Many were of the standard petting zoo variety (pet store herps, budgies, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs) or the super common exotics (ring-tailed lemur, bennett's wallaby, kinkajou, etc.). However, there were a few real surprises. Among those were a baby Nyala, Thomson's Gazelle, Tayra, Kusimanse, and two species that I'd never seen anywhere before: Greater Grison and Seven-banded Armadillo (Dasypus septemcinctus). Unfortunately the armadillo was sleeping in a hollow rock and I couldn't see enough of it to tell whether it might have been mislabeled and was actually another large armadillo species (i.e., six-banded or nine-banded). The zoo's website also lists a few other real rarities including Palawan and Sunda porcupine, but neither of those was present when I visited. It seems that animals regularly rotate between the mall and the owners' farm, which is good because the setup at the mall obviously isn't conducive to permanent housing, especially for the hoofed animals.
Click to expand...

Nyala and thomson's. In a mall????

Edit: JFC Sustainable Safari on Instagram: "Oh, deer!"
 
TinoPup said:
Nyala and thomson's. In a mall????

Edit: JFC Sustainable Safari on Instagram: "Oh, deer!"
Click to expand...
Believe me, not what I was expecting to see. I can only assume it's a short-term nursery-type situation as there's no way to safely restrain and handle an adult male nyala for one, never mind the space/grazing concerns. For example, the deer fawns that are also in the photo you linked were not there when I visited last week, presumably because they'd already outgrown the pen and had moved back out to the owners' farm.
 
Gondwana said:
Believe me, not what I was expecting to see. I can only assume it's a short-term nursery-type situation as there's no way to safely restrain and handle an adult male nyala for one, never mind the space/grazing concerns. For example, the deer fawns that are also in the photo you linked were not there when I visited last week, presumably because they'd already outgrown the pen and had moved back out to the owners' farm.
Click to expand...

I saw photos of a bunch of adult deer as well, and the nyala has been there for months :(
 
Gondwana said:
I recently visited this facility. It is located in a former mall store space, perhaps 15,000 square feet or so. The overall setup is 100% petting zoo, with enclosures constructed barn-style using livestock fencing, plywood, metal stock tanks, etc. Basically everything except for primates, carnivores, and herps can be hand petted and fed. I was pleasantly surprised by the staffing and cleanliness -- pens typically had wood shaving bedding and at least one staff member was seemingly always on "poop patrol" with 3-4 others also in the exhibit area the whole time I was there.

For it's size the collection was surprisingly diverse, with about 40-50 species on view. Many were of the standard petting zoo variety (pet store herps, budgies, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs) or the super common exotics (ring-tailed lemur, bennett's wallaby, kinkajou, etc.). However, there were a few real surprises. Among those were a baby Nyala, Thomson's Gazelle, Tayra, Kusimanse, and two species that I'd never seen anywhere before: Greater Grison and Seven-banded Armadillo (Dasypus septemcinctus). Unfortunately the armadillo was sleeping in a hollow rock and I couldn't see enough of it to tell whether it might have been mislabeled and was actually another large armadillo species (i.e., six-banded or nine-banded). The zoo's website also lists a few other real rarities including Palawan and Sunda porcupine, but neither of those was present when I visited. It seems that animals regularly rotate between the mall and the owners' farm, which is good because the setup at the mall obviously isn't conducive to permanent housing, especially for the hoofed animals.
Click to expand...

they claim its a 6-banded armadillo on their website:

Safari Species - Sustainable Safari
 
Gondwana said:
I recently visited this facility. It is located in a former mall store space, perhaps 15,000 square feet or so. The overall setup is 100% petting zoo, with enclosures constructed barn-style using livestock fencing, plywood, metal stock tanks, etc. Basically everything except for primates, carnivores, and herps can be hand petted and fed. I was pleasantly surprised by the staffing and cleanliness -- pens typically had wood shaving bedding and at least one staff member was seemingly always on "poop patrol" with 3-4 others also in the exhibit area the whole time I was there.

For it's size the collection was surprisingly diverse, with about 40-50 species on view. Many were of the standard petting zoo variety (pet store herps, budgies, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs) or the super common exotics (ring-tailed lemur, bennett's wallaby, kinkajou, etc.). However, there were a few real surprises. Among those were a baby Nyala, Thomson's Gazelle, Tayra, Kusimanse, and two species that I'd never seen anywhere before: Greater Grison and Seven-banded Armadillo (Dasypus septemcinctus). Unfortunately the armadillo was sleeping in a hollow rock and I couldn't see enough of it to tell whether it might have been mislabeled and was actually another large armadillo species (i.e., six-banded or nine-banded). The zoo's website also lists a few other real rarities including Palawan and Sunda porcupine, but neither of those was present when I visited. It seems that animals regularly rotate between the mall and the owners' farm, which is good because the setup at the mall obviously isn't conducive to permanent housing, especially for the hoofed animals.
Click to expand...
do you have any pictures?
 
Smaggledagle said:
they claim its a 6-banded armadillo on their website:

Safari Species - Sustainable Safari
Click to expand...
Right, I saw that but the website species list has lots of species that weren't there when I visited, so for me it's an open question. For the record, this is a list from memory of what I saw, probably missing a handful of herps:

red kangaroo
Bennett's wallaby
screaming hairy armadillo
seven-banded armadillo?
tamandua
rabbit
guinea pig
mara
capybara
chinchilla
black-tailed prairie dog
African crested porcupine
ring-tailed lemur
common marmoset
greater bushbaby
common kusimanse
greater grison
tayra
kinkajou
binturong
alpaca
Reeve's muntjac
miniature zebu
goat
Thomson's gazelle
nyala
zedonk foal
cape barren goose
chicken
budgie
sulcata tortoise
softshell turtle
red-eared slider
green iguana
blue-tongued skink
ball python
cornsnake
American alligator
African bullfrog
White's treefrog

PossumRoach said:
do you have any pictures?
Click to expand...
I didn't take any photos but if you look at the social media post linked by @TinoPup the whole place looks pretty much the same as that.
 
Gondwana said:
Right, I saw that but the website species list has lots of species that weren't there when I visited, so for me it's an open question. For the record, this is a list from memory of what I saw, probably missing a handful of herps:

red kangaroo
Bennett's wallaby
screaming hairy armadillo
seven-banded armadillo?
tamandua
rabbit
guinea pig
mara
capybara
chinchilla
black-tailed prairie dog
African crested porcupine
ring-tailed lemur
common marmoset
greater bushbaby
common kusimanse
greater grison
tayra
kinkajou
binturong
alpaca
Reeve's muntjac
miniature zebu
goat
Thomson's gazelle
nyala
zedonk foal
cape barren goose
chicken
budgie
sulcata tortoise
softshell turtle
red-eared slider
green iguana
blue-tongued skink
ball python
cornsnake
American alligator
African bullfrog
White's treefrog


I didn't take any photos but if you look at the social media post linked by @TinoPup the whole place looks pretty much the same as that.
Click to expand...
Common Kusimanse!, Greater Grison!, Seven-Banded Armadilo! I have to get to this place stat!
 
Visited this place earlier today, and I found out the so-called "Seven-Banded Armadillo", was actually just another Screaming-Hairy. Even the employees noted the dubious signage when I asked about it.
 
Dhole dude said:
Visited this place earlier today, and I found out the so-called "Seven-Banded Armadillo", was actually just another Screaming-Hairy. Even the employees noted the dubious signage when I asked about it.
Click to expand...

thanks for the catch, did you happen to notice any other unusual species while you were there?
 
Dhole dude said:
Visited this place earlier today, and I found out the so-called "Seven-Banded Armadillo", was actually just another Screaming-Hairy. Even the employees noted the dubious signage when I asked about it.
Click to expand...
Still a rare species in North American zoos though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top