NORTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY (First Alert 4) – The St. Louis Zoo’s WildCare Park is about a year from welcoming guests to a safari experience that will allow people to get up close with animals.
Dozens of animals are getting familiar with their new surroundings at WildCare Park in Spanish Lake. The park currently has 124 animals on the property, with a goal of 200 to 250 animals when it opens in 2027.
WildCare Park Executive Director Sabarras George gave a tour of the 425-acre property that used to be a golf course and union headquarters for the plumbers and pipefitters. Since the first animals started to arrive in 2023, work has been happening to transform the land into two separate safaris — a 63-acre safari and a larger 100-acre safari, both guided tours on vehicles.
Safari experiences and animal habitats
“One safari will have the most recognizable animals, zebras and giraffes, there’s a lot of exotic antelope that you don’t typically see in zoos because they need the space to run,” George said. “You might see them sparring, you might see them breeding, sleeping, running, you know, but whatever they do in nature, they’re going to be able to do out here.”…