 |
|
|
|
|
 |
St. Tammany Parish:
|
|
|
|
Ride on the Wild Side |
| |
by Kimberly Sanders Vanderbrook
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be eye-to-eye with a giraffe? Feel the nuzzle of a llama as she eats from your hand? Or the wiggly humps of a Bactrian (two-humped) camel? At Global Wildlife Center in Folsom, you can experience all this and more.
Located just north of I-12 near Folsom, Global Wildlife is the largest totally free-roaming park in the United States. It offers an up-close-and-personal experience with more than 3,000 hoofed animals, including giraffes, camels, bison, zebra, endangered Father David deer and other exotic animals. With new animals being born constantly, the center is home to more hoofed animals than all Louisiana zoos combined.
Is this Africa or Louisiana? It’s easy to forget where you are as you travel through the more than 900 acres of savannah, rolling hills and ponds at Global Wildlife’s park. Unlike regular zoos, here the animals roam free and the people are contained—aboard custom-built covered wagons. There is no set path through the preserve. Instead, your safari guide brings you to the wildlife and allows unparalleled interaction between man and beast. The safari wagons stop occasionally to allow visitors to feed the animals, which enthusiastically approach the wagons for a snack.
Global Wildlife’s mission is to provide learning through touch. Unlike a traditional zoo, you will not have to consult a booklet or plaque to identify and learn about these wild animals. Instead, your safari guide teaches you about each animal and explains its natural behaviors on a 90-minute safari tour. Because seventy-five percent of the animals in the park were born here, your guide is familiar with each animal’s personality and origin. He shares anecdotes of amusing animal behavior throughout your tour and is uniquely qualified to deal with some of the “indelicate” natural behaviors that may occur on the tour, be it a turf war between two spitting llamas or the impromptu mating session of two love-struck deer.
See tiny antelope bounding gracefully across the plains and learn that the darkest-colored antelope are the leaders of the herd. Watch a baby zebra, only two weeks old, whose stripes are still newborn brown. Feed North American bison and African Watusi cows right from your cup as they hungrily open their mouths and swish their giant tongues in anticipation. Enjoy the rare sight of mama and baby kangaroos hopping along happily in their habitat. Cuddle with a giraffe and nuzzle a llama as they mosey right up to your wagon for a snack.
You never know what will happen on your safari tour at Global Wildlife. A group of school children was lucky enough to observe a mother giraffe, Kameel, give birth to her baby giraffe, Seemore. Another group witnessed the first steps of a newborn baby llama. On our tour, we saw a showdown between a frothy-mouthed camel and the largest of the giraffes. Each eyed the other as they approached opposite sides of the covered wagon, vying competitively for our attention and feed cups.
Global Wildlife Center is conservation at work; it is committed to securing the future of threatened and endangered wildlife and providing a place where adults and children alike can embrace the values of active conservation through hands-on education. All proceeds from the safari adventures are applied to this mission. The park provides protection to some of the world’s endangered species, including the Father David deer, which is extinct in the wild. Of the 2,000 Father David deer that remain in the world, more than 100 make their home at Global Wildlife.
Be sure to bring your camera on your trip to Global Wildlife, as priceless photo opportunities abound. You will treasure a picture of you getting a kiss from a giraffe, and the look of wonder on your child’s face as she feeds the animals from her own hand. Few adventures short of a trip to Kenya will provide these photos of a lifetime—or the priceless experience of meeting these incredible animals face to face.
Global Wildlife Center is located at 263889 Hwy. 40 in Folsom. For information, call 624-WILD, or visit www.globalwildlife.com.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Copyright 2006, M&L Publishing, all rights reserved. |
|
bigeasyonline.net |
Home | Advertising Information | Archive of Past Issues | Contact Us