Safari North Wildlife Park Safari North

NSU42

NSU42

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
So this Zoo doesn't seem to have a thread yet on here and it is fairly new (past decade or so), but someone posted in another thread that a company called "Vogel Exotics, Inc" from Brainerd, MN had a Brown Howler Monkey. That seems to be the owner's of this zoo.

Anyways, as I was trying to confirm that, this article popped up and made me curious. In the article, it says the "exotic bear" that escaped is a Syrian Bear. Does anyone know if that is true or how it came into their possession? Are there any other Syrian Brown Bears in the U.S? I know this could also just be a claim by the owner as well. When I visited the zoo back in August of 2018 I do not recall seeing a brown bear with noticeably lighter fur, but that doesn't mean much. I did see the Wildlife Center of Virginia treated one back in 2013 and that ine appears to now be at the International Exotics Animal Sanctuary in Texas.

Feds fine owner of exotic bear that escaped outside Minnesota restaurant

EDIT: Safari Niagara's website says it has 2 of these bears as well.

EDIT 2: Here is an article that gives a little more insight into the mater.
Zoo bear cub escaped as northern Minn. man snacked
 
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The USDA seems to list all Eurasian brown bears as being Syrian, I think; or at least, the ones I have visited on this list have Eurasian, but are listed as Syrian. Some seem to genuinely claim they have Syrian, though, which I highly doubt.
My current list from USDA:
Bailiwick Animal Park, NY
Bearadise Ranch, FL
Garlyn Zoo, MI
Orphaned Wildlife Center, NY
Plumpton Park Zoo, MD
Ralph Mitchell Zoo, KS
Rosaires' Bears, FL
Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary, WI
Single Vision, FL
Space Farms Zoo, NJ
The Bear Store, MI
The Wild Animal Park, NY
The Wild Animal Sanctuary, CO
Tiger World, NC
Vogel's Exotics, MN
Wildlife Waystation, CA
Zootastic Park, NC
(Don't have an inspection for several places, including Safari Niagara)
 
TinoPup said:
The USDA seems to list all Eurasian brown bears as being Syrian, I think; or at least, the ones I have visited on this list have Eurasian, but are listed as Syrian. Some seem to genuinely claim they have Syrian, though, which I highly doubt.
My current list from USDA:
Bailiwick Animal Park, NY
Bearadise Ranch, FL
Garlyn Zoo, MI
Orphaned Wildlife Center, NY
Plumpton Park Zoo, MD
Ralph Mitchell Zoo, KS
Rosaires' Bears, FL
Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary, WI
Single Vision, FL
Space Farms Zoo, NJ
The Bear Store, MI
The Wild Animal Park, NY
The Wild Animal Sanctuary, CO
Tiger World, NC
Vogel's Exotics, MN
Wildlife Waystation, CA
Zootastic Park, NC
(Don't have an inspection for several places, including Safari Niagara)
Click to expand...

Interesting that they list all Eurasian Bears as Syrian. I would say looking at the one at Garlyn when I visited last year I would say it's not. I did not see the bears at Shalom so can't say.

Do they still have animals at Wildlife Waystation? I was under the impression that the animals were moved out because it closed, but could very well be wrong.
 
I was at this zoo a day or two ago, and posted seven pages worth of photos to the gallery. It’s was a pretty interesting place to say the least. Most of the exhibits were wooden cages with a few climbing structures, food & water dishes, and a rock or two.
The worst exhibit I’m my opinion was the otter exhibit, which was just a concrete slab with a small climbing structure and a murky pool. The prairie dogs had also figured out how to escape, and if not dealt with could become a serious environmental problem.
There were many geographical inaccuracies though, with Asian & African animals in the North American section, barely any South American animals in the South American section, and North American & Asian animals in the African section. There was also lemurs with macaws, whooper swans with capybaras, hyraxes with a white-crested laughing thrush, and A slough of inaccuracies in the savanna exhibit.
On the plus side, there were quite a few rarities, like the aforementioned Syrian brown bears (which looked like were most likely Syrian), lowland anoa, booted macaque, and Asian palm civet.
 
Dhole dude said:
I was at this zoo a day or two ago, and posted seven pages worth of photos to the gallery. It’s was a pretty interesting place to say the least. Most of the exhibits were wooden cages with a few climbing structures, food & water dishes, and a rock or two.
The worst exhibit I’m my opinion was the otter exhibit, which was just a concrete slab with a small climbing structure and a murky pool. The prairie dogs had also figured out how to escape, and if not dealt with could become a serious environmental problem.
There were many geographical inaccuracies though, with Asian & African animals in the North American section, barely any South American animals in the South American section, and North American & Asian animals in the African section. There was also lemurs with macaws, whooper swans with capybaras, hyraxes with a white-crested laughing thrush, and A slough of inaccuracies in the savanna exhibit.
On the plus side, there were quite a few rarities, like the aforementioned Syrian brown bears (which looked like were most likely Syrian), lowland anoa, booted macaque, and Asian palm civet.
Click to expand...

That tends to happen a lot in more roadside type zoos, both the geological inaccuracies (why do they even do geography regions?) and the mixing. Thanks for confirming their palm civet! A couple of crap places now have anoa, it's odd. They're not exactly an attractive species to most.
 
TinoPup said:
That tends to happen a lot in more roadside type zoos, both the geological inaccuracies (why do they even do geography regions?) and the mixing. Thanks for confirming their palm civet! A couple of crap places now have anoa, it's odd. They're not exactly an attractive species to most.
Click to expand...
So many places have anoa now because the owner of Timbavati and Shamba Safari has been breeding them.
 
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