let's roar draft all
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IN THIS ISSUE:
♦ Director’s View
♦ New Initiatives
♦ The Collection
♦ What it takes…
♦ Heartbeats
♦ Film Clips
♦ Getting Involved
Director’s View
There is always some kind of excitement going on at
Hollywild and of course 2014 showcased that in many
ways.
We had multiple new family members born, including
three new bear cubs in January. I’ve had the pleasure,
alongside our staff and visitors, of watching Cyrano, Terra,
and Princess Fiona, grow from their few ounces at birth to
their well over 100 pounds each now. Because we have
adult bears and the cubs’ sister, Syriana, on site, as well
their three other sisters who will turn 3 in January,
Hollywild is one of the few places where visitors can see
bears at so many stages of development. Thanks to our
many Habitats for Hollywild donors, we’ve added new
bear “bedroom” habitat areas, part of our Bear
Necessities/ Habitats for Hollywild campaign.
We built a new animal exhibit area in anticipation of the
arrival of a new animal family member, who, will now be
on site in March for the start of our 2015 Park Season.
We also have a few other new animal family members, but
you’ll have to read on a bit more here to read about them.
Hollywild has grown from a small backyard
zoo to a nearly 100 acre facility that
responds to its community, providing
unique educational opportunities and
incredible experiences for all ages that
make an impact. I look forward to the
continued growth in everything Hollywild
has to offer in 2015.
David R. Meeks
Executive Director
Hollywild Animal Park
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Let’s Roar! A digital magazine sharing all the exciting news for Hollywild Animal
Park, YOUR Animal Park for family friendly fun, education, and all things animals!
1
New Initiatives and Expansions
In 2014 we continued development of our Intern program,
welcoming four animal staff interns and one marketing intern,
all of whom successfully completed rigorous project-based
training programs. The program, established initially for
summer interns has expanded to include our first group of
winter interns who start their duties in January. Long-term, we
plan to build the program into a year-round intern program
with housing.
We built an incredible new habitat/exhibit and are looking
forward to you meeting the great new family member who will
soon be making his home there… oops, did we say “his?”
The Safari Bus ride is a signature element of the Hollywild
experience from March through October when the park is
open for its “zoo” season. A Safari Bus Campaign was
launched in the summer, raising $4,000 that helped support
the rising maintenance of our Safari buses. Though our goal
remains purchase new buses, the designated support received
helped keep our buses running.
We also started new animal encounters and interactive tours,
providing an added layer of fun and education to the
Hollywild experience.
For the 24th Annual Holiday Lights Safari Benefit, we added 30
new lights displays, bringing in exciting features like the
snowfall (made with dozens of “snow tubes”) and animated
elements like a giraffe and birds along with LED brilliant
elephants, butterflies, ostriches and more. Our giant whale, a
favorite display many look for year after year, was outfitted
with thousands of new LED lights, making him visible even by
airplanes flying into the Greenville Spartanburg Airport. What
fun we had hearing that!
The HLSB season also launched the “Christmas for our Critters”
campaign, where we printed, distributed, and published a
current list of “toys” requested by our animals through their
keepers. Many enjoyed bringing gifts of all shapes and sizes
knowing that they would provide numerous hours of fun for
our animals as part of the enrichment program at Hollywild.
As we head into 2015 we expect many new and exciting
programs to begin or expand and look forward to you being a
part of it all!
2
The Collection – in the Park
What can you see? Who can you meet
during your visit to Hollywild? The
animals on this list are seen in visitor
areas inside the walking areas of the
Park from March through October
each year. We have over 500 animals
in the collection.
*Addax
African Crowned Cranes
African Lions
*Alpaca
Aoudad (sheep)
Baboons
Bears – Syrian, Grizzly, European
Black Leopard
*Camels
Caucasian Turs
Chickens (various ‘exotic’ species)
Chimpanzees
Cougars
*Donkeys (miniature Sicilian)
Ducks
Geese
*Goats (multiple species- Boer,
Nubian, Pygmy)
Parrots
Guineas
*Horses/Ponies
Ibex
*llamas
Lemurs
Macaws (rainbow and scarlet)
Mangabeys
Peacocks
*Pigs
Rhea (ostrich family)
Siberian Tigers
Siberian Tiger (White)
Sheep
Walleroo
Wolf Hybrids - New for 2015!
*Zebra
*Zedonk, aka “Zonkey”
3
The Collection – On Safari
African Watusi*
Alpaca*
Bison*
Donkeys*
Emu
Fallow & Sika Deer*
Gemsbok
Llama*
Scottish Highlanders*
Watusi/Buffalo cross: “Waffalo”*
White Buffalo*
White Rhino
Yaks*
Zebra*
Zedonks aka “Zonkeys”*
Safari Animals are on view during our
signature Safari Bus Ride during our
March – October Park Season. Animals
noted (*) are also in Visitor areas
during the Holiday Lights Safari
Benefit.
4
73,000 pounds of grain
900,000 pounds of hay
52,000 trailer loads of bread
43,000 pounds of meats
520 truckloads of produce
2500 pounds of bird food
2,300,000 gallons of water
Many specialized foods/dietary supplements
Numerous hours of vet care
Endless construction, repairs, maintenance, and habitat upgrades
45 Summertime Team Members
Hundreds of Volunteer Hours
120 Team Members during the Holiday Lights Season
120,000 Visitors
30% Tourists, 70% Locals
including…
6,000+ school-age children 3,000+ pre-school age children
Dozens of Scouts/Pathfinders
with…
1,600 Safari Bus Rides
Hundreds of birthday/group parties
Pre-Vet Internships
Jr. Zookeeper Summer camps
Homeschool Days
Outreach Programs
Personal Encounters
Special Events
Thematic programming: International Earth Day,, Photography Days,
Astronomy Nights, and more!
What It Takes . . . to care for the animals
And provide an amazing experience for:
5
Wolves return…
When Cheyenne (pictured at left with director David
Meeks) passed away a couple of years ago after a long, full
life, everyone felt a void. Visitors would often ask when
we’d have wolves again. We looked, but finding wolves or
wolf hybrids is not as easy as it may sound. People ask
about the origin of wolves in captivity and hybrid crosses.
Crosses between wolves (cannus lupus) and domesticated
dogs (cannis lupis familiaris) is common. Some
professionals call them “Ambassador Wolves” relating to
their use in conservation education programs.
The world of zoos, and animal parks like ours is built on
positive networking between like-minded professionals
with a passion for animals. Word-of-mouth and
handshakes still makes magic happen. There was an elderly
couple who had been raising wolves and hybrids together
for decades. The wife died and the husband decided he
couldn’t care properly for their collection without her. He
knew of other caring keepers who knew of Hollywild and
the magic took hold. A few months ago a call came in.
Could Hollywild give “Sam” and “Maggie” a good home?
The answer was a resounding yes. And so the pair came to
the park not long after park season ended. But they came
with a surprise. Within a couple of weeks, six healthy pups
were born. And so now, as part of our excitement for
2015, visitors will get to meet Sam, Maggie, and their pups.
We look forward to you meeting them!
Hollywild Heartbeats
Hollywild’s Board of Directors, Team/Staff members, and volunteers work by heartbeats – they simply fall in
love with the animals who call Hollywild home. They get the inside stories about the animals. Here we share
a few of those behind-the-fences stories that keep our Hollywild hearts beating.
6
A Limping Diamond
Diamond, a white Siberian tiger, joined the Hollywild
family this year. He is on loan to us from another
facility. Diamond walks with a limp.
Is he hurt? Is he cared for properly?
Those are questions visitors ask.
Here’s the rest Diamond’s story:
The limp Diamond has now was from an injury he had
Many years before coming to Hollywild. In some facilities, a cat with
such a condition might be euthanized or moved away
from public exhibit areas. Not so here. First, we don’t
believe in euthanizing animals just because they might
not look ‘perfect.’ Diamond learned to limp many years ago, in response to his old
injury. Here, Diamond receives medication to help make he is not in pain from that
old injury. So why the limp and how do we know he’s really okay? Diamond’s
keepers have noticed him jumping and climbing, and being quite athletic using
the leg he ‘limps’ on, suggesting that his limp may be more of a habit behavior
than due to any actual discomfort, but to be sure, he does receive care to make
sure the underlying injury and its possible effects are addressed properly.
Diamond came her because of the same type of connection that brought the
wolves back to Hollywild. It’s all about the right people knowing that animals can
find a good home here where their personalities are important and their needs
can be met.
We know it can cause concern to see Diamond limp, but moving him to a non-
public area would not be a good option for Diamond either. He likes to be
around people. He “chuffs” his hello when people come by, a friendly gesture of
greeting and pleasure.
Because Diamond has spent his life around people, he would not thrive in an
environment where he couldn’t see people. It’s his personality. It would seem like
punishment if we moved him off exhibit just so park visitors didn’t see a limping
tiger. The close association with people makes him happy. And so, just as some
of us wear glasses to see better; some of us are tall or short, or have other special
needs or characteristics that make us who we are, we ask you to love Diamond,
just like we do, just as he is, limp and all.
Toward the end our 2014 summer season, we were delighted to have visitors
come all the way from Austrailia. They stopped to watch Diamond. He came right
up to the fence and greeted them with his happy chuffs, then proceeded to roll
around and show them how happy we was they had stopped by. “He’s just
gorgeous,” they said.
Hollywild Heartbeats continued
Read on to find out why “imperfect” to some is perfect for us!
7
Movie Clips
Many people ask about the movie reference in Hollywild’s
name and the star signs throughout the park. Do the
animals still “work” in the film industry? What movies can
we see them in?
Hollywild’s Executive Director and founder, David Meeks is
the one whose talent with animals had film makers calling
back in the 70’s. Many of the animals in park’s 40+ year
history, and some still here now, have extensive film/photo
credits. David still gets the calls but doesn’t have as much
interest in doing movies that take him away from his family
and all the other animals for film shoots that can last for
months. So much of the film work does with ‘workable’
animals at Hollywild happens here, nearby, or with trips of
short distances and durations. Though there are fun and
interesting stories behind all of his film experiences, when
asked about his favorite, David says it has to be Prancer,
released in 1989. The touching story, responsive young
actors, and the behind the scenes details…
Hollywood magic and heart at its best!
This year, many ad agencies worked with David and
Hollywild animals for photo shoots and videos for national
advertising campaigns, calendar shoots, and more.
The most recent filming was done on-site with actor Alan
Ritchson who stars in Blue Mountain State: “Rise of
Thadland”, a comedy set to be released in 2015
A calendar shoot at Hollywild’s waterfall
area also featured our cub
“Cyrano.” at 7 months old
David gave actor
Alan Ritchson tips
before he headed
in for one-on-one
encounter with
“Tank” our rare
white rhino and
again as he stepped
in to visit Cyrano
who was 10 months
old and seemed
more interested in
his grapes and becoming a movie
star! We look forward to seeing how
Alan’s time at Hollywild plays out in
the movie!
8
2
Supporting Hollywild’s Mission:
Hollywild Animal Park is committed to providing an interactive and enlightening
experience for our visitors, as we continually improve the lives of our animals
in an enriching and respectful environment.
You may also support the work of Hollywild Animal Park, through the
Friends of Hollywild Animal Park General Fund, a component fund of
The Spartanburg County Foundation that was established in 2001 to help
support the mission of the Hollywild Animal Park. Please make checks
payable to the “Friends of Hollywild Animal Park General Fund” c/o The
Spartanburg County Foundation, Contribution Lockbox, PO Box 60402,
Charlotte, NC 28260-0402.
There are many ways to support Hollywild and its operations which benefit the hundreds
of animals who call Hollywild home. We are currently looking for business/corporate
sponsors for various elements of our 2015 Park Season as well as sponsors for our 25th
Annual Holiday Lights Safari Benefit “Silver Anniversary” celebration.
Season Memberships help provide support and give members great savings, discounts,
and advanced noticed about many special programs. You can call and put your name on
our Volunteer Roster, select and purchase items from our animal-staff generated Wish
List, posted on our website, www.hollywild.org, or give a cash donation.
Hollywild is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, your gifts are tax-deductible.
Gifts can be made securely online through the DONATE button on our webpage, our
Facebook page Donate Now tab, by calling in your donation to the park office, (864)472-
2038, which is open 9 AM – 4 PM, Monday-Friday and is located at 2325 Hampton Road,
Wellford, SC or by mail to our PO BOX 683, Inman, SC 29349. Gifts donated these ways
will support all areas of park operations, including animal care (food, veterinary care,
supplies). If you would like to make a designated gift, such as to our Habitats for
Hollywild or our Safari Bus campaigns, or toward care for a particular animal, you can
note that on/at the time of your donation.
9
Don’t forget to come Experience YOUR Hollywild in 2015!
Hollywild Animal Park is located on nearly 100
acres in the beautiful South Carolina Upstate.
General Admission includes access to the walking
areas of the park, a Safari Bus ride, and scheduled
Creature Feature programs in our amphitheater.
2015 Park Season
opens on weekends in March.
Daily hours begin Wednesday, April 1 and run
through Labor Day.
After Labor Day, the Park is open only on weekends
through Saturday, October 31.
Park Season General Admission:
$12 adults, $10 students and military with ID, $ 8
children ages 2-12, infants admitted free.
Visitors are welcome to bring their own picnics to
enjoy on the grounds or in our many picnic areas,
or they may purchase concessions on site.
And don’t forget to consider our:
Birthday Parties
Group Events/Company Parties
Summer Camps
School/Scout trips/Special Programs
Hollywild Animal Park is located on nearly 100
acres in the beautiful South Carolina Upstate.
Our physical address is 2325 Hampton Road,
Wellford, SC.
Our mailing address is PO Box 683, Inman, SC
29349.
Our Park office is open Monday-Friday from 9
AM – 4 PM. (864)472-2038
Learn more online at www.hollywild.org
Get Social!
Follow us on Facebook and
Twitter (HollywildParkSC)
for the latest news. We love to have
you share your pics and Hollywild fun
with us online too! And don’t forget to
watch our webcam, “Eyes on
Hollywild” through our website at
www.hollywild.org!