“Is this for real?” one might inquire when perusing internet and social media photos of penguins, sloths, capybaras and a menagerie of exotic animals intermingled with humans in the North Georgia mountains. A Lakeside News tour of the North Georgia Wildlife & Safari Park in Cleveland verified its reality: yes, it’s real and offers some of the most fascinating experiences in the region.
Hope Bennett holds a sloth as a visitor gives it some food.
A dissonant chorus of whoops, squawks, squeals, brays, bleats and maws greets visitors arriving at a cluster of rustic enclosures tucked into wooded hillsides and valleys on 60 acres in Georgia wine country. Alpacas and llamas seem to smile “hello, please pet me” as they extend their fluffy heads toward curious hands. Kangaroos, including a young albino, hop unafraid as visitors stop by. A tiny fennec fox, with ears protruding like windmill spokes, voices its high-pitched song at the tour guide’s prompt. Three sloths slumber in a windowed enclosure waiting for visitors to bring them a pillow. Want to meet them? Visitors can get up close and personal in meet and greets with sloths, lemurs, and capybaras, plus get splashed in waist-deep pools with African penguins, Asian otters and kune kune pigs (Memorial Day through Labor Day).
“We’re not a zoo … we’re more of an experience, a full immersive experience,” said Hope Bennett, who founded the park 30 years ago on three acres on winding Paradise Valley Road. She and husband, Tom, first acquired a petting zoo permit for folks to mingle with their farm animals. They added exotic animals and hit the road with “animal ambassador” programs at churches, schools and corporations, conducting more than 600 programs annually before the economy crashed in 2008. They invited stressed-out metro-Atlantans to visit and “get away from life and all its worries.” They expanded the territory as more land became available and accommodated 300 animals. Many more currently make their homes there, including some injured native species that Georgia wildlife officials classify as “Do Not Release” because they cannot survive in the wild.
A family from Milton fed a capybara named Peaches, in an animal experience.
Hundreds of animals representing more than 80 species reside in shady creekside or meadow habitats or in climate-controlled structures replicating their natural homes. On a four-hour tour led by park social media coordinator Riley Knight, a Lakeside reporter observed close, even loving connections between animals, staff and visitors; petted a baby African crested porcupine; got splashed by a kune kune pig; and hand-fed kale to a capybara named “Peaches.” The experience felt almost surreal in a landscape that looked natural but seemed somehow unimaginable in rural White County.
It’s almost unbelievable “even for me,” Bennett said, adding that she sometimes questions, “Wow … how are we able to do this?” She answers herself: “God knew and went before us and prepared the way.” The park’s mission, “To bring people and animals together to glorify God so no life goes untouched,” is exemplified but typically unspoken to tourists who marvel at the connections in the animal kingdom.
Knight, the media specialist, said park staff spend hours with animals developing trusting relationships. The most social animals get chosen as “front facing” hosts. “Ninety-nine percent were born here or at other zoological facilities,” she said, so they are accustomed to being around people, whom they associate with treats and kindness. USDA and wildlife experts regularly evaluate the facility and animals, plus the park partners with local, national and international animal conservation organizations.
Hannah, Brooke, Rainbow, and Noah – all Asian small-clawed otters.
Park staff, including Knight, know each animal by name and personal preferences, such as whether it likes men or women best, what treats it craves, and what triggers it to put on a show. Before interactive experiences, keepers carefully instruct participants how to stroke or feed each animal they will encounter. The staff of about 55-60 includes lead and assistant keepers, commissary workers, guides, and others on the retail and hospitality side. “We work together as a team. We’re super big on culture,” said Bennett, who expects team members to “love each other, learn and lead.” Dedicated employees pulled unpaid all-nighters during last winter’s ice storm and heavy rains, putting the animals’ needs before their own. Bennett and her husband live at the park with their two children.
Wilma the Warthog
The park’s founder added she does not have an “animal degree.” When seeking staff she prefers experience over a piece of paper. Prospective employees without years of boots on the ground “won’t make it scooping poop.”
Speaking of … it happens. Visitors may fall in love with their furry, feathered, or scaley new friends, but that intimacy has its downsides. Expect to get muddy, wet, sweaty, and to see poop when communing with animals. A family visiting from Maryland frolicked in a pool with a squealing kune kune pig on a boogieboard when a small grassy wad appeared. The lead keeper calmly dipped it out and the fun continued.
A pre-teen feeding kale to capybaras with her parents and sister from Milton groaned about green slobber on her new white sneakers. Her mom consoled her, “Getting dirty is part of the special experience.”
A trio of ladies from Marietta enjoyed splash-time with Thorin, an Asian small-clawed otter.
A trio of ladies from the Birmingham area fell in love with Thorin, a squealing small clawed Asian otter who passed a plastic boat to each, nosed a shell into their hands, and posed calmly on their palms. “You can feel his heartbeat and his warm, soft belly,” said his keeper. “I want to take him home,” one signed.
In Meet the Babies at the park nursery, the lead keeper brought out a tiny, red-eyed albino wallaby for its first showing. Snuggled into a cloth pouch, the little one occasionally poked his head out to see who was petting him. A Marietta family, who earlier got to feed a bison from their car in the adjacent Safari Park, raved about the diversity and the up-close encounters they experienced.
Bennett has seen special connections between humans and animals melt away stress. “I’ve watched as guests forget about all their worries when they stroke a camel or capybara, everything falls off. It’s way bigger than just touching an animal,” she said. “We go through so many filters just to have a conversation,” she added, animals are non-judgmental. “Put a little rabbit in a kid’s lap and there is no judgment. They can feel their heartbeat, their fur. There is no worry, no hate. The animal is simply a living being God created.
Photos: by Jane Harrison, except Otter photo, by Riley Knight, NGWSP
On-site tours, experiences available
North Georgia Wildlife & Safari Park offers numerous on-site tours and experiences, while its affiliate organization, Wildlife Wonders, takes animals on tour. Here’s a look at opportunities to meet the animals:
Tours: Include Shadow a Zookeeper, overnight adventures, VIP tours, seasonal camps and group tours.
Experiences: Lemur, sloth, capybara, Scottish Highland cow and penguin meet/greets/experiences; other experiences with foxes, owls, kangaroos, primates, wolves, honey badgers; splash experiences with penguins, otters and pigs through Labor Day, plus Meet the Babies in park nursery.
Safari: Drive through to feed bison, wildebeest, alpacas and other animals from your car window.
Special occasion: Proposal and bachelorette experiences, birthday celebrations.
Animals on tour: Wildlife Wonders brings the zoo to you and includes activities such as Penguin Yoga coming to NoFo Brew Company in Gainesville on Aug. 23.
Next big thing: This fall the park expects to bring a giraffe to a new habitat being completed in August.
Information: www.northgeorgiazoo.com, www.wildlifewonders.com, 706-493-7210.
Get ‘wild!’ at Elachee’s Wildlife Festival
A child touches a tortoise shell during an Elachee event.
Come celebrate with Elachee Nature Science Center at their biggest event of the year – the Annual Wildlife Festival.
It’s one day only, Saturday, Sept. 12, from 10 am to 2 pm.
Adults and children alike can meet live animals, talk with wildlife experts and conservation organizations. Groups like Georgia Mountain Falconry, Georgia Reptile Society, Boy Scouts of Northeast Georgia and Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia are just some of the organizations who will be present.
Experience the wild outdoors in comfort with food trucks, face painting and more.
Purchase tickets online at www.elachee.org.
Tickets are limited and prices increase on the day of the event. Proceeds benefit hands-on science programs, live animal exhibits and more.
Photo: courtesy Elachee Nature Science Center
