Drive-through zoos

elefante said:
It seems cruel to keep polar bears in a safari park without some way to keep them extra cool.
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well they were in Scotland....
 
zoogiraffe said:
Worst Amimals for destroying car tyres used to be the Polar Bears at the now closed Loch Lomand Bear Park!!
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When Knowsley opened in the 1970's they soon reaslised that Tigers where no use as a drive through exhibit as they constantly punctured tyres, and since then have been kept fenced off from the road. Longleat manage to have a Tiger drive through successfully though.
 
Pootle said:
When Knowsley opened in the 1970's they soon reaslised that Tigers where no use as a drive through exhibit as they constantly punctured tyres, and since then have been kept fenced off from the road. Longleat manage to have a Tiger drive through successfully though.
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that reminded me of this recent news story!
Tigers attack tourist bus in China- reports | News.com.au
3 February 2012


A GROUP of tourists visiting a wildlife park in eastern China had a narrow escape after Bengal tigers attacked their bus, puncturing its tyres and destroying the windscreen, state media said.
A worker in charge of the enclosure at Jinan Wildlife World in Shandong province was at lunch when the incident happened last Saturday and it took officials 10 minutes to open a gate so the tourists could escape, reports said.

None of the 27 tourists on the bus were injured, but the driver's hand was hurt when the tigers jumped on the vehicle and broke the windscreen, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Terrified visitors hid under their seats as a group of up to eight tigers bit the vehicle's tyres, destroyed its windshield wipers and broke windows, the Global Times reported.

Attempts to call police failed because there was no mobile phone reception, it added.



"We are deeply sorry for the accident," Wu Yanfei, deputy manager of Jinan Wildlife World, was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

The park has launched an investigation into the attack and compensated the tourists, Xinhua said.

China says it has nearly 6000 endangered tigers in captivity, but just 50 to 60 living in the wild in its northeast.

In the 1980s, China set up tiger farms to try to preserve the big cats, intending to release some into the wild. But the farms have come under the international spotlight, with some conservation groups saying they use the cats for their body parts, while media reports have exposed poor conditions at zoos and animal parks.

A number of attacks on humans by captive tigers have been reported in recent years.

Last year, a tour bus driver was mauled to death by a Siberian tiger at a breeding centre in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang after he got out of his vehicle to check on a mechanical problem.

In 2010, a zoo keeper was killed by a Bengal tiger at Shanghai Zoo after apparently forgetting to lock the animal's cage.
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elefante said:
It seems cruel to keep polar bears in a safari park without some way to keep them extra cool. In Bear Country USA you can drive amongst the black bears and wolves but the mountain lions are fenced off.
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From your comments I take it you have never visited the Loch Lomand area of Scotland in the United Kingdom,because if you had you would know its not the warmest place in the UK even at the height of summer!That said its also one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland as far as I'm concerned.
 
zoogiraffe said:
From your comments I take it you have never visited the Loch Lomand area of Scotland in the United Kingdom,because if you had you would know its not the warmest place in the UK even at the height of summer!That said its also one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland as far as I'm concerned.
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Never been to the UK. It's on my bucket list.
 
elefante said:
It seems cruel to keep polar bears in a safari park without some way to keep them extra cool. In Bear Country USA you can drive amongst the black bears and wolves but the mountain lions are fenced off.
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I recall an article from a few years ago about how one of the zoos in Ohio I think it was the Columbus Zoo, chilled the water down to 60 degrees F for the polar bears. The big sissies refused to go into it until it was warmed back up.
 
Lion Country Safari in Florida is drive through. The lions are kept in fenced in areas however rhinos and other critters run free. There are plenty of employees around to make sure you keep your windows up.

Lion Country Safari - a set on Flickr

The Wilds in Ohio is drive through but you have to take their bus.

The Wilds - a set on Flickr

My favorite places for drive through wildlife observation are Viera wetlands:

Viera Wetlands - a set on Flickr

Merritt Island:

Merritt Island Animals - a set on Flickr

Dinner Island Ranch WMA:

Dinner Island Ranch Wildlife Management Area - a set on Flickr

You won't see any really dangerous critters in any of those 3 locations but you will always see something interesting.
 
Have you guys seen this? Lion Country Safari (in Florida, AZA accredited) hosted the Google maps camera truck thing and now you can virtually drive through the park! Pretty cool.

Google Maps (link takes you directly to them...)
 
designingzoos said:
Have you guys seen this? Lion Country Safari (in Florida, AZA accredited) hosted the Google maps camera truck thing and now you can virtually drive through the park! Pretty cool.

Google Maps (link takes you directly to them...)
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Hmmm... the link doesn't seem to work for me. It goes to a normal Google Map.
 
Stopped at the entrance :(

Wouldn't you think a company with the money Google has would have paid for a drive around so we could have played spot the lion. :)
 
Pootle said:
Stopped at the entrance :(

Wouldn't you think a company with the money Google has would have paid for a drive around so we could have played spot the lion. :)
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You swung a left, but you were supposed to continue straight. I made it into the enclosures. :D
 
Yeah, you can totally drive through the whole safari and be sure to use the pan feature to look all the way around to see the animals!
 
designingzoos said:
Yeah, you can totally drive through the whole safari and be sure to use the pan feature to look all the way around to see the animals!
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Well, I took a wrong turn, will have another go again sometime. I will check out a few British Safari parks and if you can have a go round them will post for you. Can't see any being like that though from the UK.
 
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