By Pearce Hungate
GENTRY, Ark.—Visitors of the Wild Wilderness Safari were shocked when they noticed what appeared to be a bear attacking a pony in its exhibit, where other ponies and goats were being kept. Zoo-goers took a video and posted it to their Facebook page, where it quickly gained traction.
The video shows a bear pinning down one of the ponies, later identified as Piper the Pony. While visitors initially thought the pony had been killed, representatives from Wild Wilderness Safari said Piper was seen by a vet the same day and would make a full recovery.
According to Business Manager Linda Hook, the goats and ponies were being used to graze the grass around the bear exhibit, a practice that they’ve been doing for years without issue.
“Wild Wilderness Safari does not put ponies and donkeys in with the bears or big cats. The bears and big cats are moved to a different enclosure. Then ponies are put in the empty enclosure to graze the grass. Ponies and donkeys are the only animals in any enclosure at any given time. The above statement is our policy,” Hook said.
The Wild Wilderness Safari is a drive-through zoo operating in Gentry, Arkansas. According to their website, the zoo sits on 400 acres and is home to a menagerie of exotic animals, including big cats, a hippo, a wide variety of apes, emu, ostriches, and every animal in between. In addition to the drive-through section of the zoo, Wild Wilderness Safari also offers a walk-through section and a petting zoo, where other small animals can be found, including monkeys, pigs, kangaroos, and more.
Wild Wilderness Safari has run afoul of safe animal practices in the past. Back in March of 2019, The US Department of Agriculture alleged 68 separate instances of rule violations from 2012 to 2016. These violations include failure to provide sufficient veterinarian care, using inadequate fences, and not keeping enough distance between animals and visitors. The Safari’s license was given a 60-day suspension and they were ordered to pay a $75,000 fine, but they reopened following a period of maintenance and USDA examinations.
Many NWA residents have been to the Wild Wilderness Safari at least once, many of whom have a story to tell.
“When I went to the Gentry Zoo I was just a small child and they let me into a caged area where there was a baby black bear. The bear walked up to me and proceeded to scratch my leg with its bear claws and I started bleeding,” said Bobby Potts, junior.
Another zoo-goer, Lorenzo Rocci, said that his father had been allowed to go into an exhibit with baby bears, where they promptly began to bite his ankles. As a child, he also held a large boa constrictor snake.
Many people’s negative stories of Wild Wilderness Safari hinge on them not properly following the rules. Wild Wilderness Safari prohibits people from driving with their windows down or feeding the animals, and numerous signs are posted along the trail reinforcing this. However, it is hard to police such a long stretch of road, and many visitors flout the rules.
But for every negative review, there is a positive one. The Wild Wilderness Safari’s Facebook page is awash with glowing reviews from visitors, praising the zoo’s low price, it’s large selection and the condition and general health of the animals.
Wild Wilderness Safari remains open to the public.