Lion Country Safari facts for kids
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| Date opened | 1967 |
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| Location | Loxahatchee, Florida |
| Coordinates | 26°42′58″N 80°19′20″W / 26.7160778°N 80.3221278°W |
| Memberships | AZA |
Lion Country Safari is a cool place in Loxahatchee, Florida, where you can see amazing animals up close! It's a special kind of zoo called a safari park. It opened way back in 1967 and was the first "cageless zoo" in the United States. This means many animals roam freely, just like they would in the wild. In 2009, a travel guide even said it was one of the best zoos in the whole country!
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About Lion Country Safari
A group of people wanted to create a place where families could feel like they were on an African safari. South Florida was a perfect spot because of its warm weather all year.
When the park first opened, it had its own small train called the Everglade Express. This train was later moved to a museum. Today, you can even ride it at the Veterans Memorial Railroad in Bristol, Florida!
Lion Country Safari in Florida is the only one still open. There used to be other parks in places like California, Texas, and Ohio, but they have all closed over the years.
Exploring the Park
The park has over 1,000 animals! You can explore it in two main ways: a 4-mile drive-through safari and a walk-through amusement park.
The Drive-Through Safari
When you visit, you drive your own car slowly through the park. You can listen to a recorded story about the animals on a CD. Many animals, like giraffes, southern white rhinoceroses, and zebras, walk around freely. They might even cross the road right in front of your car! Other animals, like lions or chimpanzees, are kept in separate areas with fences or water.
It's super important to drive slowly and carefully. You should never stop too close to an animal. Also, for your safety and the animals' safety, you must never open your car doors or windows. The lions used to roam freely with cars, but in 2005, they were separated by a fence. This was because some visitors didn't follow the rules and opened their car doors.
Chimpanzee Islands
One really special part of Lion Country Safari is the chimpanzee exhibit. The chimps live on a system of islands. They move to a different island every day, which is like how they live in the wild. They also live in big family groups, just like wild chimps. This makes Lion Country Safari a great place for scientists to study how chimps behave.
The park is also a retirement home for chimps who used to be in research labs or entertainment. One famous chimp named Little Mama lived here. She was one of the oldest known chimps and passed away in 2017.
Safari World Amusement Park
After your drive, you can visit Safari World. This is a fun theme park area with lots of things to do! You can see more animal exhibits, watch an animal show, visit a petting zoo, play mini golf, or go on paddle boats. There are even two water slides and a small water park to cool off. You can also feed the giraffes, which is a very popular activity! If you get hungry, there's a restaurant too.
Animal Species You Can See
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Las Pampas Ruaha National Park
Kalahari Bushveldt Gir Forest |
Gorongosa Reserve Serengeti Plains Hwange National Park |
Frasier the Famous Lion
The Lion Country Safari park in Irvine, California, which is now closed, once had a very famous lion named Frasier.
Frasier was an old circus lion from Mexico. He was about 18 years old, which is like being over 80 for a human! He was even toothless and not very healthy. But when he came to the park in 1970, something amazing happened. Despite his age, Frasier became a dad to 35 lion cubs with the park's six lionesses!
Because of this, Frasier became a huge star. People bought T-shirts and other souvenirs with his picture. In 1973, a movie called Frasier the Sensuous Lion was even made about him, but it wasn't very popular.
Frasier the lion died in 1972 from pneumonia. He was buried at the park. After he passed away, fewer people visited the Irvine park, and it eventually closed in 1984.
