Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch is aiming to capitalize on that fact and hoping its drive-through wildlife tour places them in USA Today’s Top 10 Safaris once again.
Wildlife Ranch aims to keep spot in top 10
Being inches away from a staring ostrich or petting an antelope is just a quick drive into the Hill Country away.
Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch is aiming to capitalize on that fact and hoping its drive-through wildlife tour places them in USA Today’s Top 10 Safaris once again.
“It’s something we’ve really tried to dive into the last two years and kind of keep it going,” said Laurel Davies, Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch assistant manager. “It’s really exciting for us. We really try to do some grassrooted efforts here locally, but it also helps to have some traction.”
Voting is open on the “Reader’s Choice 2021” page under Best Safari Parks and closes at 11 a.m. central time on May 24. Winning parks focus on conservation as well as education.
In 2016, the wildlife ranch was only nominated for the top 10. In 2017, they got the popular vote and finally made the list in 2019 and 2020.
They are up against parks like Disney’s Animal Kingdom, B. Bryan Preserve in California, Bear Country USA in South Dakota, Bearizona Wildlife Park, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas.
Nestled in the hills, antelope, giraffes, zebra, rhinoceros and other native and exotic animals graze and curiously peer into customers’ cars. The winding roads lead to different environments, from cliffs and dips to ponds and vast fields.
Kids courageously poke their heads out of the car, reaching out to pet a curious antelope and laughing giddily.
There are more than 40 species and 700 individual animals from all over the world, including their native continents such as Africa, Asia, and Australia.
The park provides a guidebook with pictures and facts about each species, including a map and trivia so customers can learn as they go through.
Around the park are Springbok, small antelopes with short, pointy horns that hail from Africa.
Bigger animals such as American Bison and Watusi, the largest horned animal in the world and look like longhorns, slowly roam around and approach cars.
Ostriches will also shake their feathers and move their long necks as people pass by.
“We take pride in us being a wild and free-roaming park,” Davies said. “What we always coin is ‘You are in your enclosure versus the animals being in theirs.”
The wildlife ranch has been a staple since the early 90s, and just recently celebrated its 35th anniversary.
In 1992, the Texas Department of Agriculture designated it as a Family Land Heritage Property.
This means it is a plot of land 10 acres or more used for agriculture by the same family — the Soechting family — for at least 100 years.
Conservation
The Top 10 list factors in conservation efforts, and Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch is partnered with organizations such as the Source Population Alliance and the Zoological Association of America.
The park is one of the founders of the Save the Giraffes program. Giraffes are considered “least concern” on the endangerment spectrum until the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified them as “vulnerable” in 2016.
Habitat loss is a main cause, specifically the conversion of woodlands into farms or ranches in Africa.
The ranch has one of the largest giraffe herds in the country with 14 so far.
The park is also partnered with the International Rhino Foundation and houses White Rhinoceros. This species is represented by less than 200,000 in its native land of Africa.
The ranch creates grassy fields, rich environments specifically for these rhinos to thrive and reproduce.
Out in the Wild
During the pandemic, the park closed and reopened again. The pandemic did not affect the wildlife ranch too badly but it threw off some programs, Davies said.
“Last year was COVID, so it was kind of spotty,” Davies said. “They started it and then they paused it and then brought it back. So last year was a little rough, like with anything.”
It is slowly starting to bring back programs such as its group rates and several exhibits, such as the white rhinoceros and giraffe exhibits.
A Budgie exhibit for parakeets is in the works for the end of July or early August, Davies said. They are also expecting cheetahs in September.
“We don’t have any predators, but we’ll have to think of something new,” Davies laughed.
After a strange year, Davies said she is confident the park can make the Top 10 list for the third consecutive year.
“We are proud to still be here and thriving,” Davies said. “In nature, it’s a socially distanced and safe activity so we’ve kind of been lucky to open and stay open since that whole thing started.
Our goal is to spark passion in individual people of all ages.”
