October 8, 2023

VIRGINIA SAFARI PARK

220 Safari Ln, Natural Bridge, VA 24578

“Virginia's largest and only drive-thru zoo! See and feed over 1,000 free-roaming animals out of your car window on a 180-acre preserve.” – Virginia.org

To be honest, I almost skipped this site. I watched a couple videos on YouTube about the park and was uncomfortable with what I saw, but then decided to check it out for myself. The welcome in the park’s brochure states, “The Virginia Safari Park opened in the Spring of 2000 because we felt there was a need and desire for people to be able to see wild animals in a much more natural environment than had previously been available.” I admire that philosophy, however, it then goes on to explain they “encourage interaction by allowing visitors to feed the animals with our specialty grain” because the experience is virtually impossible to describe. To me the two statements are almost contradictory, seeing a bull elk eating out of a visitor’s hand is not natural. Animals purposely stepping in front of cars to stop them, hoping for some grain, is not natural. I realize these animals are not going to be released into the wild and so that behavior will probably never threaten their lives, however, the young children and adults I witnessed feeding the animals may some day think it is ok to approach an elk in say Yellowstone park because they could in this park. Google “stupid people in Yellowstone” and see what happens when you approach an elk or bison in the wild. That is the problem I have with this park. In the park’s defense they do ask visitors to feed only from the buckets and not from their hands, but people don’t follow that rule.

I’ll get off my soapbox. After I made it through the first gauntlet of cows, llamas, ostriches, and other animals begging for food, I was impressed with the variety of animals in the park. The animals all looked healthy and stress-free. After the drive-through portion I visited the Safari Village quickly as closing time was fast approaching. There were monkeys, penguins, tigers, kangaroos, and cheetahs, among other animals. The park boasts being the only place in the United State where one can see a King Cheetah, a cheetah with a rare mutation affecting the cat’s coloring.

In conclusion, I admit I am not a fan of parks that allow visitors to feed the animals. I doubt I will return to this park, even if I am in the area, but won’t discourage you from visiting, especially if you have children.