Leaving WV for The Wilds

9/28/08 - On Sunday, we gathered with a small group of friends for meeting and then went out for lunch with them. Kevin has wanted to visit a place called The Wilds in southeast Ohio, so we stopped there on the way home. It is a wildlife conservation center. It is located on nearly 10,000 acres and home to rare and endangered species from around the world living in natural, open-range habitat. We boarded a bus with a tour guide and entered the "animal yards." It was neat to see the animals roaming around with no obvious fences and cages. The animals are used to the bus, so they would walk right next to it.

Here are pictures of some of the animals. These two colorful "animals" were allowed to walk around the visitor center and even ride the bus with us.

Masai giraffe

Persian onager

Bactrian Deer

Bactrian camel

Scimitar-horned oryx

Banteng Rothchild's giraffe

Southern white rhinoceros

Greater one-horned rhinoceros

The cheetahs and the African wild dogs were kept in non-accessible yards (for our own safety). Their "yards" are about 2 miles from the other "yards", so these predators don't stress out the other animals. It was feeding time when we arrived - such aggressive animals.

Kevin's best shot of the day! (Grevy's zebra)