The Wilds (lots of photos)

[RobiLee]

Yesterday I visited The Wilds. It use to be an old strip mining area and has been turned into a wildlife conservatory. It is now almost 10,000 acres of gorgeous land and animals. Definitely a wonderful way to spend your day. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. Couldn't have asked for better weather. The scenery was AWESOME. This is as close as I will ever come to a real safari and it was so cool to see the animals have as much freedom as they did. Loved when they would roam around our safari truck checking us out.

The road to enter
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Beautiful scenery
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You can also do some zip lining
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And see some wonderful creatures
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[RobiLee]

You might even get to see Jack Hanna while he is filming there. See the baby camel.
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[RobiLee]

Baby Rhino!
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Loved seeing this big guy on the move.
http://youtu.be/uFBX82gkdFg

Thanks for letting me share and there are lots more photos if you feel like taking a look
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v154/Robilee/The%20Wilds/

[Cataholic]

Robin- where is this? Maybe J and I should take a trip there!! Very beautiful photography.

[phesina]

WOW! Stunning.. beautiful... Thank you.

[Karen]

So amazing - loved the Rhino running video. It's great the animals have so much room, too! Whereabouts in Ohio is it?

[RobiLee]

Karen and Johanna, it's located in Cumberland, Ohio which is outside of Zanesville. Johanna, I looked it up real quick and I think it would be a 3 to 3 1/2 hour trip for you. If you and J like road trips I would say go for it. I think J would really like it. There were several kids on our tour bus and they seemed to really enjoy it or else they were just really well behaved children..lol...because I didn't hear any complaining from them. It is pretty pricey but I'm sure it takes a lot of funds to keep that place going. We did the "open air tour" and I believe that the price was the same for everyone. No discounts for children. There was a tour that was a bit cheaper and I think it did have a discount for children. Like I said though, I'm sure it's the closest I will ever get to a real safari trip so I guess I can take the price for it.

Karen, if you ever come back to Ohio you and Paul will have to put that on your "to do" list while you are here.

[Alysser]

Beautiful!! Did you do the zipline?! :p

I love the Giraffe and Rhino shots, but you got so many nice pictures. I am so glad they conserved the land for the animals, it looks like an amazing experience. It certainly looks like it was worth whatever you paid. I have something similar about 15 minutes away from me at a theme park where you drive your own car and the animals can come up to it, although you can't feed them of course or even open the window. But it's always nice to go through, this place must be even better.

[shais_mom]

great pics Robin! might have to check that out sometime!

[chocolatepuppy]

That looks like a great place Robin! Thanks for sharing.:)

[Karen]

How close did you get to the animals, Robin? Some of your shots are amazing!

Imagine the fun a Pet Talk trip through it would be? ;)

[mrspunkysmom]

Stunning Photography. Beautiful animals.. I think it's great they get to roam! This is a temptation for me.

[momcat]

How absolutely wonderful it is to see animals living as they're supposed to - free to roam around in wide open spaces! What a wonderful place, your visit there must have been awesome. I really enjoyed looking at all your pictures, they came out great and it felt like I was actually there.

We need more places like this. Do you know of an address where donations can be sent to keep it up and running?

[krazyaboutkatz]

This place looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing your pictures with us.:)

[Karen]

Do you know of an address where donations can be sent to keep it up and running?

The website is here: http://www.thewilds.org/ and there are ways to "become a member" but you could probably contact them about a straight donation through the website.

[RobiLee]

Alyssa, no ziplining that day. I would love to do that. The ziplining was pretty expensive and I don't think you would get to see the animals as well as you do when you take the open air safari.

Karen, we had camels, zebras, wild ponies and rhinos right beside our safari bus. Up close and personal. The giraffes were pretty close too. We even had to stop while 2 rhinos ..uhh..did their potty business right in front of us. Even that fascinated me LOL. Along the journey I noticed a couple of huge piles of manure and wondered why or if the crew had scooped it up like that. Well, when we had to stop for the Rhinos doing their potty business I learned that they mostly make their "deposits" right on top of everyone else's. I thought that was kind of considerate of them to keep it all in one place...lol.

[Taz_Zoee]

Those are amazing photos!! I kept saying...oh, I love the pic of the giraffe, oh I love the pic of the cheetah, oh I love the pic of the zebra, oh I love the pic of the baby rhino. So let's just say I loved all of them!! :D

About 10 years ago (or more) we went to a wildlife safari park in Winston, OR. It was one where the animals can come right up to your car. It was a lot of fun!! :)

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. And I'd be up for a Pet Talk trip through there. Hee hee :D

[ramanth]

Loved the video of that Rhino! Gorgeous pics too. I would definitely love to visit.

[Laura's Babies]

What a great adventure! LOVED all the pictures and I am so glad you shared them with us!

[redbird]

These are absolutely gorgeous, thanks so much for sharing. It looks like a fun day.