Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.88 | The Boys Visit The Wild Animal Park in Chittenango, NY!

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

Exploring 'The Wild' Safari Park: Passion, Expansion, and Innovation In this episode of Good News York, the hosts visit 'The Wild' in Chittenango, a unique zoo and safari experience conceived by an entrepreneur with a passion for African wildlife. The episode dives into the backstory of the park's origin, its progressive expansions including a drive-through safari and luxurious resort experiences, and the founder’s dedication to animal care and conservation. The discussion also touches on logistical challenges, the impact of COVID-19, and the intricacies of managing a large variety of exotic animals year-round. Listeners learn about upcoming attractions, the personal involvement of the founder's family, and the importance of education and conservation in the world of exotic animals. 00:00 Introduction and Field Trip Announcement 00:25 Exploring the Wild in Chittenango 01:03 Personal Petting Zoo Story 03:10 Zoo Expansion and Animal Care 04:19 Winter Care for Exotic Animals 05:27 Animal Interaction and Conservation 07:25 Permits and Family Involvement 11:35 Feeding the Carnivores 13:11 Future Planning and Breeding Programs 14:23 Seasonal Business and Employee Management 16:41 The Haven Resort Expansion 19:30 Finishing Projects and Entrepreneurial Challenges 19:42 Team Effort and Expansion 20:04 Impressions and Reactions 21:08 Growing Up with Wild Animals 21:33 Impact of Tiger King 22:36 Zoo Industry and Personal Experiences 25:38 Future Plans and Innovations 27:05 Challenges with Social Media and Regulations 34:51 Seasonal Events and Unique Experiences 36:21 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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and Unirold's 50th anniversary summer specials. Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Good News York. You might notice that we are not in the studio again today. No. We've been taking lots of field trips lately. Yeah, this one... I feel like we're slacking. Are you not doing your homework? Is that what's...

No, Amanda booked this. I don't know what she's getting us into, but I'm very excited. Yeah, we are at the Wild. here in Chittanango, this place is absolutely incredible from what we were told. There is a zoo, there is a drive-through safari, and there is a resort animal experience we've seen on the brochure. We're really excited to take a look and see what's really happening here. Yeah, I think what are we going to do?

We feed some animals, talk to some animals. Might feed you to an animal? Feed me to an animal. You better not get out of line today, buddy. I always say it all started with like a couple goats. Like, you know, like I had my landscape company. It was a small landscape company. I had an acre land.

And for his first birthday, my excuse is you're kind of weird if you just go buy a bunch of animals and put him in your backyard. But for his first birthday, his birthday present was I built him a petting zoo in my backyard. So. Yeah. Yeah, like a full-blown.

There was even like feed machines, quarter machines. It was all for fun, you know. Like, and we had go to. We had donkeys. We had, then we added, I had zebra over there, like it's weird, so it was an acre of land. And just like slowly, I turn my garage into, like, an indoor area. I had Codamundis, which are like a South American raccoon

and I had reptiles in there. And with opening that for them, I think it was that fall. I started like a small fall festival. And the funny things, I had like no parking. And I think it was $2 to get in. into my backyard. I had an outdoor bar area. We turned into a food area. We had like one bounce house that kids could bounce in and it just started with that. And then the next year for his second birthday, I surprised everyone. I got him a camel for his birthday. So. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's

quite a surprise. Yeah. I had it. I hit at my garage from everybody and then my dad opened up the garage and almost fell over when he saw a camel standing there. But that camel still, to this day, have over on the safari. So he's like the OG. Like he's been around forever and like it's his camel and yeah, we just expanded. Man, so what happens on like the 14th birthday? I mean, you went from a zoo and then a camel. I think you're seeing it. I mean, right? Camaro. I just keep building stuff all for them, you know, like that's my goal is just to build a massive, you know, North Chittendenango kind of take over the area and businesses and it's all for both of my boys. That's incredible. How big property do you have here altogether?

So I have roughly, I have over 300 acres total. Oh, wow. Between all the different properties because I basically, I have the zoo here, which was 15 years ago, opened up. The safari opened up during COVID, and then the Haven, which is another 117 acres. We just opened up this year. And then I have support farms around 100-acre farm where we live that we do all. Like I try to be as self-sufficient as we can, like all our own construction crews. And for the bigger projects, I have to bring other people in.

But we do all our own hay. My father, like, because the farming, he manages like the hay aspect of it. So we have all our own hay equipment. So we have to bail, you know, 20, 30,000 bales of hay on our own. And so it's complex. Like there's a lot of moving parts to it, a lot of different managers, pretty big staff. And yeah, like I said, we have in-house construction crew,

in-house maintenance, everything. So I gotta ask, you got all these incredible exotic animals from all over the world. What do you do with them in the winter? So that's part of like all the properties I have. Most of the animals here at the zoo, aside from like the goats and the stuff around the pond, stay here. They have heated buildings.

Anything that needs heat has heat. My passion is African wildlife. I mean, I have animals from all around the world, but African animals are my passion, so there's more of them, which is challenging because Africa is a lot warmer than here, but if they need heat, they have a heated building. Some animals, the bison, different things don't need heat, but with my support farms and stuff, we move them in the fall once we close down and just everything always has a place to go. And it's all about ensuring.

So our number one goal is to ensure the best lives that animals can have in captivity here. Safety is obviously a top priority, guest experience. Try to create, it's a different style zoo. It's very up close, personal, interactive. And I think people have gotten away from the interactive side of things. I mean, I remember as a kid when they used to do elephant rides at Rosemont Gifford. The thing is, we need to protect the planet, protect the species. lot of species are endangered or threatened and you can only learn so much in a book or the

excitement you don't get from a book they can see it in a classroom that when you interact with these animals it gives you a connection it makes you more likely to save the environment to protect them to contribute to conservation I always say is like conservation through education is like one of our main things is educating people about the animals and the need to protect them but what better way to establish a bond with people whether it's interacting with the baby camel or feeding goats like kids they they form this you know sort of bond you know as they come to the zoo when they get to interact with them and hopefully it carries on and because that's what did it for me was my interaction with animals if I didn't interact with them I probably wouldn't be sitting

here today um but yeah so it's there's a lot speaking of interaction with animals you know you said that you specifically like animals from Africa have you have you traveled to Africa for research? No, that's like my ultimate trip. I've traveled around the world, different places. Africa was, I was supposed to go for my birthday during COVID and then COVID happened. So that kind of changed that,

but that's still gonna be like my ultimate trip is to go there and see them in their natural element. Being a private zoo, we're kind of looked down on because we're not AZA, and that's just accreditation you pay to be a member of. We still strive for high standards of animal care. But it's just we don't feel like our resources are spent on an organization. I'd rather put it into the animals, into the exhibits, into the guest experience.

So do you, I mean, you know, I own a couple dogs. I've owned a couple cats. You have some pretty exotic animals. Can you peel the curtain back a little bit? What do you have to do? You open the zoo. I'm assuming you have to get some crazy permits. Is there a lot of hoops you got to jump?

Oh, yeah. Like we're federally and state licensed. We get randomly inspected. We have to prove that we can care for the animals. They'll show up and we have to go through full inspections. That's enclosures, diets, vet care, public safety, everything. And it's funny because when I first started and my boys were young, my parents, like they were against, everybody was against it when I started and then as I got going they've been some of my biggest supporters and embraced it. My father, works for me full-time does excavation stuff my mother just recently retired per se but she always did my bookkeeping and everything and yeah so it's uh it's it's it's it's it's really a lot but

they've they've embraced it and then my mother or father one of them years ago said you know you can get whatever whatever but as long as it can't eat our grandchildren and yeah well i don't pay attention to anybody and now we have some of the you know most dangerous animals from around the world I mean we have I think that I have probably the largest big cat collection privately in the country I mean we have 10 lions 11 tigers five leopards we have all the different big cat species we've got grizzly bears black bears pygmy hippos you know I think we have 18 alligators what a what's the most dangerous animal in the park um it's hard to say I would say like a

jaguar is pretty legit like I say they're like a leopard on steroids. They're just like solid muscle. And, you know, they're all, like, that's what you have to, like, you can raise them in captivity. We've hand raised all of our cats. And by hand raising them, we bottle feed them as babies. It doesn't affect them in a negative way. But it's just like people. Like, if you're stressed out, it's not healthy. So these animals by us, handraising them doesn't tame them. It doesn't tame them. It doesn't take the wild out. But when they see us, they don't get stressed out. If we have to do vet care, they'll walk over and we can inject them or, you know, it's a lot easier. and they see the public, they don't see them as a three.

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Real-time updates only in iOS mobile app. Like they're not going to be back in the back of the enclosure is scared, but they're also not going to want to kill them. So it kind of makes them have a better life in captivity because none of these animals, they're all born in captivity. None of them are ever going to be released back into the wild. They can't learn to hunt. They never survive.

So with them in captivity, we want to give them the best lives possible, and that's by hand-raising them. And probably one of our biggest compliments is how like most people don't go to zoos where you can see the animals. So up close and they have nice enclosures, but they're right there. A lot of places you go, they're in the back thing closer, they're in the weeds. So it's just a different experience. We're sitting here as these giraffes are like 10 feet away from. Yeah.

It's amazing. I recently heard a survival tactic. I might have talked about this on the show. You're an expert. So now's the time to ask. We're talking about dangerous animals. I was told if you are ever come in contact with bears, what I was told was if it's black, fight back, if it's brown laid down, and if it's white, good night. Is that true? I mean, fairly, like a polar bear is like they're known to actually hunt you.

I mean, like a grizzly is still really serious. I mean, a grizzly can smell a drop of blood from a mile away. That's a black bear. Grizzly, no. Black brown bear. Got it. Black bears are, they're an omnivore. They eat meat, they eat vegetables, they eat everything. They're dangerous, but when you usually hear about bear attacks is either a polar bear, grizzly bear. Polar bears are by far the most dangerous, but grizzlies are definitely dangerous. I mean, if you come across them, I mean, you lay down, you're probably in trouble. You, uh, polar bear, you're definitely in trouble, but I guess you just got to hope that you're with someone and they're slower than you. So you just take off.

That's why I hang out with Matt. He thinks he's fast, but no, I'd take it for him. Along those lines, sort of, I guess, maybe. You talked about hay that you raise here and use for different things. But when we talk about the diet, a lot of these things, I'm guessing, eat meat and things like that. How do you source that sort of thing? So right now with my carnivores that I have,

I probably go through about 7,000 pounds of meat every month. Wow. So, yeah, that's a lot. And I mean, when you think about it, probably your average cow that you butcher, you might get four to 500 pounds out of. So you're talking 20 cows a month. Oh, gosh. But we obviously have to source that and we can't raise cows. It's not feasible.

It wouldn't sustain. So we work with a beef company. We get chicken by just the cases brought in. It's restaurant quality chicken. But you can't also, there's more to it. Like we work with the veterinarians and the diets formulating. You can't just feed them meat because they're not going to get all. the nutrients in the wild they're going to eat the stomach they're going to eat the intestine they're

going to eat the fur they're going to eat the bones you're going to eat everything so part of our diet is adding vitamins to us so we have all this these vitamins supplements we have it's it's pretty extensive it's pretty there's a lot to it but then you go to penguins and penguins eat fish you go to tortoises they eat all vegetables so like our kitchen is is crazy and and like a penguin will eat 20 fish a day per penguin and we have 17, 18 penguins, something like that. So, but we've been fortunate too where we, like, we have penguins that are in endangered species that hatch out chicks. So we're able to contribute to the population and captivity of an endangered species.

And we have a Simang baby, also an endangered species. So we've, we've been pretty successful at breeding things. It's not necessarily a goal, but it's nice to be able to supply other quality zoos with animals or sustain ourselves. That's the challenge like people tend to humanize everything. And that's, they have an outlook of animals being like people. They're not, they're different, everything, but they also have like a shorter lifespan. So my goal with building all this is for my kids to take it over and for it to be theirs. Well, a lot of animals have a 10 year lifespan, 15 year lifespan, 20 year lifespan.

So I have to plan for the future with breeding and setting up breeding pairs in different groups, whether it's off-site so that if we need, you know, more primates that we have them in line or have them off-site or different things to be able to sustain this as a business for years to come for them to take over. So there's a lot involved, just future planning. And that's a nice thing with me having all the different facilities. I'm able to have, I have lions here. I have lions at the safari. I have lions at the haven. I have tigers at all different places. So we have different sites to hold them. So there's, There's a lot to it.

How many people you got on your team now? I would say 60 to 70 employees seasonally because we're a seasonal business. We've expanded our season with we added Christmas lights to we light the whole zoo up. We have a professional guy coming and put Christmas lights up. So it gives us another month and a half of being open to sustain staff because it's challenging because if we're only open from April to October, what do you do with all these employees? And to get them to come back, they're going to find other jobs. So the longer we can extend our season, we're able to keep better employees.

And we do encounters with the animals where you get to interact with otters, sloth, penguins, different things. We do that year-round where people get a one-on-one, two-on-one with a keeper in these animals and interact to learn about them, get educated about them. So the business just keeps expanding. I would say I'm an entrepreneur, but business drives me with a passion for animals. and I try to combine business and animals and conservation. We recently started and we're getting it up and running a non-for-profit called Friends of the Wild. We're going to contribute to conservation. We're going to contribute to the lives of animals in captivity so that, you know, it's kind of a controversial thing.

People say it's a business. You're making money off animals. It's not that. It's my passion, and we want to contribute, whether it's conservation and education, which we've done for years. But now we want to raise money to give back monetarily. enhancing the wild, enhancing captivity, enhancing every aspect of it. So there's a lot to it. So go ahead.

Yeah. We've talked a lot about this incredible place. But as we were walking in, you were telling us about kind of an expansion that's a kind of a whole different concept, right? Little event space, a little Airbnb. Can you talk about that? Yeah. So basically it all started with a traveling petting zoo. And I didn't really get into that.

Like that was the, I had a landscape company started a tour to. traveling petting zoo, traveled around the state doing fairest festivals and was doing everything at once, then opened the zoo. And the zoo got so busy, I had to get out of landscaping, which benefits me because I do all my own landscaping around the zoo and the different properties, and eventually got out of doing the fairest festivals focused on this. And as I said, business is my passion, and my mind never stops. I keep thinking of different things and different ways of, you know, expanding, doing different projects. And the Haven was a dairy farm that, you know, dairy farms, it's tough for them to make it.

Didn't make it. The property came available, was 117 acres a mile away on the road that I live on. So I purchased it and just my mind started thinking about what I could do. And I like to travel. I like to, you know, experience different things. And my goal was to first was an event center. and this and then it kind of expanded it and now it's going to be a full-blown resort called the Haven with lodging with an event center we can do weddings we can do

parties we do outdoor events we recently had an Ashley Cook concert she's an up-and-coming country star I have like a mini outdoor amphitheater with outdoor bar outdoor bathrooms everything and it's utilizing that property for everything we can but it will be a full-blown resort with places to stay pool area spa, everything. Let's say I was going to have a wedding here. I'm already married, but let's say I was. Most people do it two or three times.

That's right. I'm on my first. I'm just kidding. Is there going to be an add-on feature to where you can include the animals in some sort of way? Like maybe... Well, the unique thing about... Our wedding venue is it's unique. I don't know if there's any other one in the country of that style is you get married,

this massive event center that I built it all up, brought in, tens of thousands of yards of fill. It's set on an African Savannah. So out the wedding venue is a big huge area of giraffe, zebra, antelope, ostrich. And then part of the lodging is around that we have luxury African tents that we're working on getting open. And basically you stay. It's built on a deck. These tents are manufactured in Africa. They're high end. They all have bathrooms. They have TV. They have Wi-Fi. They have all luxury interiors and you can rent these rooms and basically wake up, go out on your porch and have a coffee and look at giraffe and zebra right from your room. And we did the same thing with lions and tigers. We're basically outside your bedroom kitchen.

You look into a tiger or lion exhibit. And that's the whole focus is the interaction with animals. Our Thursday night events party on the... It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises L'Week Bali to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been setting there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection with the local communities. Local connections make exploring France easy.

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and you're looking at giraffe wandering around and zebra, and you can also go down to our feeding area. You can feed the giraffe while you're there. So it's just expanding just off of everything. It all started here, and it's just kind of progressed. Yeah, and it's kind of a blessing and a curse that I'm never satisfied. So I finish one project, good, it's done.

Okay, let's move on to the next, which makes it tough to sleep, makes it tough, you know, to slow down. And it's my passion. I don't have the ability. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a blessing and a curse. I mean, it's, we've really, really expanded,

but it's not, like a lot of people will compliment me of how amazing things are. I'm just part of it. Like, you're only as good as the people around you and I'm surrounded by great people. So they all deserve the credit, too, as we go forward, it's way too much for me to do on my own.

Yeah. It's obvious you've done an incredible job. Mike mentioned it the second that we walked in and started looking around. I mean, the place is just immaculate and, you know, from the fixtures to the literally no trash on the ground. So I just just, it's making sense. You're doing a great job the whole team. The landscaping aspect and now it's clicking with me because I had said, you know, I, and no disrespect to other zoos and parks like this. But, you know, you have wild animals around us. It's, it's hard to keep. keep things clean. I mean, this is pristine. They don't have a professional landscape.

Right. It's very impressive. Even the layout, everything's clean. I've got to ask your son, are you, are you still in school? I don't know. I graduated a couple years ago. All right. So when you were in school, I have to ask, what were your classmates' reactions when they would, like, come to hang out? And, you know, what did they think about the park and everything? They just thought it was crazy because I would, I would bring them here sometimes. Like, I'd get them for free and we'd walk around and they would just ask me all about it. Like, it was just awesome.

And, like, I liked, like, the reactions and stuff, and it's pretty cool. And, like, I'll go up and, like, some of the animals know me and stuff like that. And the reactions are just crazy. It's awesome. Yeah, it's kind of unique because, like, they grew up a different lifestyle. Like, literally had lions and tigers in our living room. So, and I was always like, are they going to realize that this isn't normal? And, you know, it's, and I've got two amazing kids.

like just to be able to go to work with your children, like it's the best thing there could be. So, you know, you mentioned you did a big pivot during COVID. And I remember specifically during COVID, the big thing was Tiger King. Yeah. That was a whole cultural thing. Did you guys watch that? Do you have any opinions on that? Yeah, a good helper.

So I watched it out of, you know, what do I have to combat? What are people's opinions? going to be and you know first of all Carol did it yes I mean I mean I hope that she doesn't watch this I'll probably get a cease and desist or a lawsuit but I mean any of the facts of the facts know she's about the most evil human there is but but no I watched it kind of like like how bad is it going to make my industry industry look and it wasn't as bad as I thought I mean it it made her look like the person that she is right but it did kind of bring some negativity to it and you know

I don't I have differing opinions on it I've met a lot of the people in the movie it doesn't represent our industry there's a lot of really professional people in the industry that do amazing things and it kind of you know the movie kind of made a negative

perception of the field but it that's what movies do since I sense sensualization and like yeah they're crazy but But even Joe, you know, I personally haven't been, I've met the guy. Really?

I think he was set up. It was, I mean, who's going to pay $3,000 for a hitman? Right. You know, I mean, he should have done go fund me. The zoo industry probably would have really helped him out with that. No, I'm just kidding. But it's just, I don't know. I think that it was, I don't, I think that it was kind of a setup.

But I did, I had stopped at that facility, and there was probably two, 300 titers, which is insane. When I was there, it was clean. It didn't smell. The animals were healthy. I think that he just let his feud with her, like, just consume his life. And I think it drove him to just, and I don't know him on a personal level or anything, but I think it just pushed him to the point of, like, a little insanity. But I still don't think that that's the full story.

So free Joe Exotic, I guess. Yeah, free him. We can tell. I mean, this is nothing like that at all. I mean, the way you speak about the animals and your staff here, I mean, you can tell that this isn't just a hobby, obviously. It's not even just a career. I mean, it's a lifestyle and it's something that you love.

Yeah. It's infectious, man. And you can see it when you walk around. No, I'm fortunate. You know, I get to, you know, live my dreams. And I mean, I mean, my kids have sacrificed a lot throughout their lives with me because I work all the time and I feel bad. But I mean, like trying to build this for them.

And it's time consuming. But like now it's nice because we have to work together, you know. And it's been an experience and a lot of hard work by a lot of people to get us to this point. And it's kind of like it's like my own little like Disneyland here, Disney World. And that's when like we'll travel to zoos and visit zoos. And we're walking around. And I'm not looking at the animals. I love of the animals.

But I'm looking at the rock work and taking pictures and send it to my construction guys. Being like, can we do our own spin on this? and what can we do to enhance the enclosures? And the enclosures that we built in the beginning 15 years ago, I don't think there's a single one still standing because we're always striving to improve tearing enclosures down that they were okay 15 years ago. But the zoo industry evolves just like everything.

Like we started out with, you know, wood and this. And then we went to a clean metal look that is clean, with more industrialized. So now we're getting away from that. And we're doing more of the natural carved rock work and just trying to evolve with it. But it's challenging too because I've got three different properties we're working on. So you try to spread the time out, keep improving the zoo.

The haven is meant to be very high end. There's, I mean like resort, it's going to have a spa, it's going to have pools, it's going to pickleball, basketball. Basically you go there and everything's there. And I look at like the cruise ship model, I'm trying to come up with basically excursions. When you're on a cruise, you go to a stop. You can add on all these things. Well, I'm trying to come up with all the things, whether it's, you know, the animal encounters or you have a horseback tour or you have ATV tours, stuff like that.

So they come to Chittanango and they can experience the area around and do different things. And it's crazy because we've been fully booked with the Big Cat Bunglos and it's all people from out of state and from New York City from Long Island. We've had two different families fly all the way from Hawaii to stay here. California, Arizona, and my big cat bungalows are the first in the Western Hemisphere. There's only four of them in the world of that style. There's one in Africa, one in England, and one in Australia. So we're the first one. I'm sure now someone will copy me.

But you can't do it anywhere else in this side of the world. You got me thinking, too. It's kind of cool. We're always talking about how technology is changing daily and social media. And there's a lot of industries that are affected by the rapid movement. But I feel like you're kind of protected here. Like no matter how much technology and AI develops, you have your own little world here. Like people are still going to want to come see animals in person.

This is the real life experience. Yeah, to an extent, social media is our greatest ally and our greatest enemy because we're able to like promote like 30 years ago zoos couldn't promote events, couldn't promote new exhibits like you can now. just put it out there and people see it and they'll come. But you also empower radical animal rights people and, and you know, I would say 95% of people love zoos, maybe 98%, 2% despise them. They don't believe in animals in captivity. They don't believe in dogs and cats as pets. Those people are very organized and social media gives a, you know, a platform and I, we get attacked here and there, not a lot because we try to put ourselves like to a different standard, but, you know, somebody behind a keyboard and faceless with a fake you know profile picture they feel pretty

tough when they're typing everything and and they can attack you and you know they're always pushing for new laws to restrict it and make me not be able to have big cats and this and that so it's it's another aspect of my business is we're always fighting we're always contacting congressmen or different people to be like hey this law is like it's really bad for my business it's not there's not it's not valid it does not necessary But those people are effective in raising funds and buying off Congress people and getting you know a New York City politician to pass a law that they have no clue about anything but they just get financing from it so they push it through and we've got to fight it and hope they don't gain steam So it's it's a never-ending battle and we're always facing stricter regulations and new laws and different things

So it's it's a challenge is a whole other aspect of it But yeah, I mean that's the thing too is like kids live on tablet They live on phones. They live on that. Like this gives them an experience to put the phone away, put the tablet away, and just go out and enjoy the animals and experience it and see it,

which is a tough thing to do is to get, kids or even adults to put their phones down at this point. I don't want to take too much more of your time, but I got to ask you one question and see maybe we can get some news. What is the next coming piece that we might see in the zoo? Obviously, we know the spa and all that's coming, but is there another exhibit on deck? or things like that?

We've got some new animals coming in that we're working on, new exhibits. Some, you know, at the haven, we've got a flock of flamingos coming in. It's a unique experience that it's basically we're going to build a flamingo exhibit next to the pool area and do like a tropical Caribbean-type feel where basically you can lay by the pool, lay out in the sun, enjoy the pool of your kids, but look to your right or left, and you see flamingos just hanging out. And then we're going to do encounters with the flamingos where you get to go and interact with them and feed them.

We're going to do Caribbean-style Airbnbs where you can stay looking in on the Flamingo exhibit. And so that's one of the big things coming up, our African tents opening, Wolf Airbnbs, where you get to stay with a pack of wolves outside your bedroom and lit windows, the spa. and then basically a lot more. It'll never stop.

I've got a lot of land. If we do a campground, if we do, you know, we're looking at doing a miniature golf course. Basically coffee shop, ice cream shop, different things. So it never stops. It depends on what I think of and come up with. Your to-do list is going to be. Yeah, it just keeps expanding.

You check one thing off. had four things. So it's like one last question. I mean, I feel like you've answered it in that everything you just named, but you know, just walking in, you get a sense that this place is different than most of the zoos or animal parks that I've been to, not just it being clean, but a lot of the things you're talking about, but maybe you can give a little more detail. What sets you apart from the average zoo, maybe in the area, but maybe even anywhere, what separates you guys? I would say that, you know, it's, there's more of a passion. It's more of like a family run facility.

And these animals aren't just animals to us or exhibits to us. They're like family to us. We recently, and my boys helped me, we raised raccoons. And up until recently, it's crazy. I can get tigers, lions, anything. I couldn't get raccoons. Like, you couldn't get them. You couldn't get them on your permit.

They changed it. And raccoons are where it all started. Yeah, on the farm with me raising raccoons that my parents brought in. We bottle raised them in the house. We never kept them in enclosure or anything, and they would just take off in the fall and go back down to the wild. So, like, it's, you know, and they helped us help me raise the raccoons. So these raccoons, like, they can go in with.

They can walk around the zoo. So, like, the animals, like, their lives are more than just exhibits to us. Like, we truly care. And I feel like my staff truly cares about it. them. And, you know, I have people that have been with me a long time and helped out. And when it started, it was a lot of just family and friends helping out. And, you know, they have, I've got a guy that helps feed out meat and stuff. And he'll walk up to an enclosure and the cats come right over to him because they know them. And, yeah, so it's, there's a lot, a lot to it. And then,

you know, the safari is a whole other place where you, you know, you drive through with the animals in the safari is an interesting story because it was COVID we're looking at possibly being shut down for a year or so and I'm like not being able to sleep thinking of different things to save my business I mean you got 500 animals to feed it's not cheap and if you have no income so like 11 o'clock at night I like had an idea I own this property next door I was like you know I can fence it in I put roads and you know people stay in their cars it's safe for them and we can make money I messaged my buddy that does excavation at like four in the morning

told me to come me he got up he called me like I was like, I want to do this. And he was like, all right, let's do it. And in 12 days, we put over a mile of road in. We put up fencing. I traveled all over the country, stocked with animals, and opened up a safari and had bumper-to-bumper traffic. The whole safari was full and just survived, only to be sued by the town to get to shut

me down because I didn't go through the proper channels because everything was shut down. I couldn't. But we ended up winning and we're good. Now we have the safari. So it's, you know, it's always a fight. but it's a fight that we're always up for you go to zoos and animal parks right and you you take it all in and you enjoy it but you don't really know you never meet who's behind it

I'm genuine when I say I mean you are such an impressive person as an entrepreneur but you really can hear and see how much you love these animals and your passion we really appreciate you no I appreciate it and I mean I think that the whole private sector like through the years like I I'm nobody special but I was like a and nobody in the industry and just I got going, I got meeting people, and there's just so many great people in the private sector industry that have similar goals, similar passions.

So my best friends, I see twice a year, and they own zoos in Minnesota or North Carolina just all over the country, and they share the passion and they do a great job, you know, and it's pretty cool to get to a point where, you know, we can get these animals from other zoos that they entrust us with them, and we send them to quality zoos,

that we trust and it's just coming along ways. That's awesome. The last thing I'll ask is just kind of give us the basic details. Where can people find out the information? And then what is your just seasonal schedule? So basically the zoo itself, our regular season, is April through October. You can find all our information on the Wildpark.com. The haven is the haven of the wild.com.

But like we're, we come up with different ideas, different things. October, we open up for flashlights, Safari and Halloween nights. We've done it from the beginning. We decorate with Halloween. We have antitronics. And you can come and see the animals at night on Fridays and Saturdays. And a lot of these animals are more active at night. And it's all lit up, food, everything.

And it's just, it's a real, we have fire, campfire out there. It's a fun experience. We go through the end of October. We then close for about two, three weeks. We put animals away that can't handle a cold. And then deck the entire zoo out with Christmas lights. Then we're open, I think Thursday through Sundays that's on our website. For Christmas lights, we have Santa here where you can get your picture taken with Santa,

a baby kangaroo, bounce houses are open, gift shop. We have animatronic singing reindeer. It's really, really pretty extravagant. And so they can do that. The Haven, the Big Cat Bungalows are open year-round. We'll have more lodging there that's open year-round. There's just a lot, or animal encounters are year-round. You can find all that on our website.

But yeah. So cool. Yeah, there's a lot to a... What is the website? Thewildpark.com. That's awesome. Yeah. I'll be back with my kids and you have my word on that. Oh, no, perfect. I've been here with my kids and they absolutely love it, but it's been a little while and there's a lot more to see, so I'm excited to get them back here.

This has been awesome. Yeah, no, I appreciate you guys coming out. Taking the time with us. No, I like talking about it and, you know, giving people more of an in-depth insight into it because a lot of people have contributed to it and like people don't necessarily see that just walking in and I'm just fortunate. And I said, nothing better than working with my kids, my dad, my mom. It's just, and it all started with a couple goats and, you know, just reinvested and gotten to the point where we're at and we're not looking back. We're just going to keep pushing forward. You're going to make a lot of aspiring young entrepreneurs run out and grab a goat right now. Yeah, yeah, don't do that.

Just stay outside a hundred mile radius of me or something like that, you know. No, but that's the thing. And, like, kids, you know, they need to realize, like, if you work hard, you. You can have your dreams come true. I mean, this is a different dream, but like I just work and work and work, and I've been lucky that a crazy idea took off, and I'm lucky to be surrounded by the people I'm surrounded by. And, you know, just work hard, and you can do things.

You guys are so inspiring and, you know, you're such great people. Oh, I appreciate it. Your heart comes out in the way that you speak about your family in this place. So I'm wildly impressed, no pun intended. I see what you did there. Yeah, perfect. Well, thank you so much. Thank you guys.

Appreciate it. It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman and Univoreau Boutique River Cruises L'Ig-Bali to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been sailing there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection with the local communities. Local connections make exploring France easy. Tune into the Travels with Darley podcast on Eyeheart and wherever you listen to podcasts, to hear about river cruising and Unirold's 50th anniversary summer specials.

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