Florida's Lion Country Safari in running for top safari park in United States
Providing an up-close look at exotic animals since 1967, and believed to be the first cage-less zoo in the United States, Lion Country Safari has recently been named one of the top 20 safari parks in the country.
Chosen as one of the top 20 by zoo and travel experts, the drive-through park in Loxahatchee could soon find itself in the top 10 or even number one in USA Today's "10 Best" Reader's Choice contest.
Lion Country Safari was a pioneer in the zoo world when it opened more than 50 years ago, introducing a new concept in zoology and tourism. It offered families a chance to experience of an African safari at a fraction of the cost and time.
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Lion Country Safari drive-through park has the largest zebra population in the country
From those humble beginnings, the park now features more than 1,000 wild animals from six continents, including lions, wildebeest, giraffes, zebras, ostrich, chimpanzees, rhinoceros, impala, greater kudu, Asiatic water buffalo, white handed gibbon and many more, on nearly 600 acres.
Roaming free, the park's zebra population is the largest in the country and its herd of giraffes is recognized as one of the largest.
The park is known around the world, all the way to the North Pole. On his global December jaunt, Santa makes a regular stop at Lion Country Safari to deliver gifts to the chimpanzees — an event guests can witness annually.
In addition to allowing guests an up-close look at these incredible animals in a natural setting, the park also participates in many conservation and roughly 35 breeding programs (called Species Survival Plans) for threatened species, including rhinoceros, zebra, oryx, siamangs, and more.
These programs help to ensure the survival of a healthy, sustainable population of threatened species in human care and help facilities like Lion Country Safari to act as lifeboats or figurative arks as wild populations decline and face extinction.
The park's employees have been on hand for scores of births from wild donkeys to wildebeests. They have also assisted in one unprecedented surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from a rhino's horn.
Other facilities named in the top 20 safari parks in the country include Bearizona Wildlife Park in Williams, AZ, Buffalo Safari Jeep Tour in Custer, S.D., Disney's Animal Kingdom, Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch in San Antonio, Texas, Safari West in Sonoma, Calif. and The Wilds in Cumberland, Ohio.
Voting for USA Today's "10 Best" Reader's Choice 'Best Safari Park' is open until May 23 and the results will released on June 3.
The voting is open until May 23 and the results will be officially released on June 3.
To learn more about the contest, the other 19 parks, or to vote visit: https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-safari-park-2022/
Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at eritz@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee named a top safari park in U.S.
