Drive Thru Safari Stays at The Wild Animal Park After Town Drops Lawsuit

It was a long, hard fought battle, but it's finally over. The lawsuit against The Wild Animal Park in Chittenago has been dropped and the drive thru safari will stay.

Park owner Jeff Taylor was sued for violating town code and zoning laws in June 2020 and ordered to shut down the safari. "We busted our asses building the drive thru and invested a lot of money as a last ditch effort to save the business we have dedicated our lives to building."

The lawsuit was put on hold a few days later while Taylor got the proper permits to operate the safari which was Taylor's way of keeping his gates open during the coronavirus pandemic.

A special meeting between the Town of Sullivan board and Taylor was held Wednesday, January 27th to finally allow the safari to stay in operation. "Thank you to all of our amazing supporters as we are certain without you this wouldn’t have gone in our favor," said Taylor.

The park is currently closed for the season but you can still visit the animals in a number of encounters.

Meet and feed Jase and Jasmine, the two giraffes at the park.

Or Stella and Stanley for a sloth encounter.

Snuggle up with two new baby otters, Otto and Octavia.

Flip over penguins.

Or how about a baby hippo? Yeti is a 1 year-old Pygmy Hippo that loves to eat sweet potatoes. You can help feed him and learn all about Pygmy Hippos during your encounter with a trained keeper. You'll even get a painting to take home, crafted by Yeti himself.

Each half hour long encounter is $150 for 1 to 2 people. 3 to 4 people costs $200. Each additional person over 4 people is $50.

You can book your half hour up close and personal encounters. You can even purchase a gift certificate for that animal lover on your Christmas wish list.