Strafford, Missouri: Wild Animal Safari

Exotic Animal Paradise has come under new management... again. A lady on our tour reported that it has changed management five times in recent years. It is now called Wild Animal Safari, and if you want to drive through the park in your own car, you are not allowed to roll down your windows or feed the animals. If you want to feed the animals, you have to ride a bus.

The "safari" (bus tour) is not much fun. Picture 30 other people throwing food out of windows continually while yelling and screaming. None of the timid animals, such as deer, will come up to the bus -- nor do they need to do so with all the food being thrown at them. Any animals that do come up to the windows have to be tall if you want to be able to reach them (cattle, bison, camels). If they are not tall (miniature donkeys, pot bellied pigs) you have to just drop the food on the ground from your window.

For my family of four it cost around $100 to do the "safari:" $19.95 each to ride the bus, plus food.

Exotic Animal Paradise closed on October 1st and all the animals were auctioned off on October 13th. No cameras or video were allowed, so news reports consisted of stock footage of animals and one lone Missouri official stating that he was there to make sure purchasers were legally entitled to possess exotic animals. The property had already been sold off before the auction to a land developer and will become a golf course and housing tract. Once again something interesting has been removed and replaced by something tedious.