Site search
sponsored by
Home
News
ENLARGE
Guests feed lettuce leaves Thursday to J.T., a Rothschild giraffe, from a custom vehicle used during animal-feeding tours at Winston's Wildlife Safari.
If you go ...
WHAT: Wildlife Safari, a 600-acre drive-through animal park
WHERE: 1790 Safari Road, Winston. From Roseburg, head south on Interstate 5. Take Exit 119 for Winston. Follow Highway 42/99 about two miles. Turn right on Lookingglass Road and follow the signs on the right.
WHEN: Park hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
COST: $17.99 for adult; $11.99 for children aged 4 through 12; $14.99 for people 60 years old and older; children 3 and younger are free. Specialty tours, like the giraffe tour, have an additional fee.
INFORMATION: 541-679-6761
WHERE: 1790 Safari Road, Winston. From Roseburg, head south on Interstate 5. Take Exit 119 for Winston. Follow Highway 42/99 about two miles. Turn right on Lookingglass Road and follow the signs on the right.
WHEN: Park hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
COST: $17.99 for adult; $11.99 for children aged 4 through 12; $14.99 for people 60 years old and older; children 3 and younger are free. Specialty tours, like the giraffe tour, have an additional fee.
INFORMATION: 541-679-6761
The giraffe meandered warily toward the flatbed truck filled with people.
“If you guys hold it up, hold it up real high; he'll come over and eat out of your hand,” Wildlife Safari guide James Simmons said to kids holding up lettuce leaves and bananas.
J. T., the 19-year-old giraffe, bent his head down and grabbed the end of a large leaf of lettuce a girl was holding in her hand. He devoured it in seconds. Then he closed his large mouth over a banana offered by another girl. He quickly chowed it down, skin and all.
The children, all relatives of Wildlife Safari employees, were taking part in a test drive of a new attraction at the animal park in Winston on Thursday afternoon. The Giraffe Bus is one of many attractions park staff members are getting ready for an expected influx of children during spring break.
The giraffe tour is an outgrowth of similar tours that Wildlife Safari started offering during spring break last year, said Dan Van Slyke, the animal park's executive director.
“We piled hay bales on the back of a trailer,” he explained. “And then we set a bucket of carrots out” that guests handed out to animals in the part of the park reserved for Asian animals.
“The animals just surrounded the rig,” Van Slyke said. “It was just a hoot. It was really, really fun.”
From there, Wildlife Safari painted an open-sided, white bus with black stripes, creating the Zebra Bus. The vehicle offered up-close-and-personal encounters with the park's deer and bears.
This year's addition, the Giraffe Bus, is a flatbed pickup outfitted with a row of wooden benches. Tall walls made out of a lattice of wire surround the sides of the flat bed. The walls are tall enough to keep passengers safe, yet still provide a good view of the animals, Van Slyke said.
On Thursday afternoon, the Giraffe Bus took visitors through the African section of Wildlife Safari. A handful of Cape eland, the largest antelope in the world, roamed on one hillside. A half dozen zebras lounged on the other side of the road. A hippo wallowed in a pond.
When the bus stopped in front of the main attraction, J. T., Simmons told the visitors about the long-legged creature as the visitors fed him. He said giraffes can eat up to 75 pounds a day, can run up to 35 miles an hour and weight between 2,500 and 3,000 pounds. On average, they stand about 18 feet tall.
The visitors also learned one of the animal's quirks. “They don't like having their faces touched,” Simmons said. Despite that, J. T. seemed to have no problem sharing his tongue with the visitors.
After the tour, Kalika Gonzalez, 10, said she thought the tour was “real cool.” One of the highlights, she said, was “I touched its tongue.”
Her sister, Kyra Gonzalez, 8, also mentioned the giraffe's tongue in her assessment of the tour. Her favorite part, she said, was “how long their tongues are and they're purple.”
The giraffe tour offers benefits to the animals as well as to the guests, Van Slyke said. “It's what we call enrichment ... It keeps them stimulated too. It gives them something to do.”
“It's fun to come out and see the animals,” Van Slyke added, “but there's nothing like feeding them. This is going to be a great thing for the summer.”
He said the Giraffe Bus tour will cost $10 and will be offered once a day.
• You can reach reporter Kathy Korengel at 541-957-4218 or by e-mail at kkorengel@nrtoday.com.
“If you guys hold it up, hold it up real high; he'll come over and eat out of your hand,” Wildlife Safari guide James Simmons said to kids holding up lettuce leaves and bananas.
J. T., the 19-year-old giraffe, bent his head down and grabbed the end of a large leaf of lettuce a girl was holding in her hand. He devoured it in seconds. Then he closed his large mouth over a banana offered by another girl. He quickly chowed it down, skin and all.
The children, all relatives of Wildlife Safari employees, were taking part in a test drive of a new attraction at the animal park in Winston on Thursday afternoon. The Giraffe Bus is one of many attractions park staff members are getting ready for an expected influx of children during spring break.
The giraffe tour is an outgrowth of similar tours that Wildlife Safari started offering during spring break last year, said Dan Van Slyke, the animal park's executive director.
“We piled hay bales on the back of a trailer,” he explained. “And then we set a bucket of carrots out” that guests handed out to animals in the part of the park reserved for Asian animals.
“The animals just surrounded the rig,” Van Slyke said. “It was just a hoot. It was really, really fun.”
From there, Wildlife Safari painted an open-sided, white bus with black stripes, creating the Zebra Bus. The vehicle offered up-close-and-personal encounters with the park's deer and bears.
This year's addition, the Giraffe Bus, is a flatbed pickup outfitted with a row of wooden benches. Tall walls made out of a lattice of wire surround the sides of the flat bed. The walls are tall enough to keep passengers safe, yet still provide a good view of the animals, Van Slyke said.
On Thursday afternoon, the Giraffe Bus took visitors through the African section of Wildlife Safari. A handful of Cape eland, the largest antelope in the world, roamed on one hillside. A half dozen zebras lounged on the other side of the road. A hippo wallowed in a pond.
When the bus stopped in front of the main attraction, J. T., Simmons told the visitors about the long-legged creature as the visitors fed him. He said giraffes can eat up to 75 pounds a day, can run up to 35 miles an hour and weight between 2,500 and 3,000 pounds. On average, they stand about 18 feet tall.
The visitors also learned one of the animal's quirks. “They don't like having their faces touched,” Simmons said. Despite that, J. T. seemed to have no problem sharing his tongue with the visitors.
After the tour, Kalika Gonzalez, 10, said she thought the tour was “real cool.” One of the highlights, she said, was “I touched its tongue.”
Her sister, Kyra Gonzalez, 8, also mentioned the giraffe's tongue in her assessment of the tour. Her favorite part, she said, was “how long their tongues are and they're purple.”
The giraffe tour offers benefits to the animals as well as to the guests, Van Slyke said. “It's what we call enrichment ... It keeps them stimulated too. It gives them something to do.”
“It's fun to come out and see the animals,” Van Slyke added, “but there's nothing like feeding them. This is going to be a great thing for the summer.”
He said the Giraffe Bus tour will cost $10 and will be offered once a day.
• You can reach reporter Kathy Korengel at 541-957-4218 or by e-mail at kkorengel@nrtoday.com.
