Absolute animal attraction

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today’s column includes the second of a two-part series on Great Adventure’s safari wonder, along with its new kid area, Wiggles World.
As we were slowly driving through the safari, veterinarian William Rives, director of Six Flags Safari Park, explained some interesting facts about various animals.
"Some of the antelope that are from North Africa such as the scimitar horned oryx and addax are basically extinct in the wild," he said. "We are trying to breed them really well in captivity. In the future, we really want to start establishing herds so that we can start reintroducing them into the wild."
A neat fact: certain species of these antelopes have cooling mechanisms in their brain where, when they are breathing, it actually helps the arteries cool the brain. That is how they are set up from their nasal system.
Did you always wonder why only one type of bear in the safari is fenced in? The answer was quite easy. Brown bears are more dangerous than black bears. That is the main difference. Black bears are dangerous, but the brown bear is much more powerful.
The European brown bears are in the grizzly family and are currently on the endangered species list. Their weight can range from the 500s to the high 600 pounds. The brown bear section has a lot more territory than the black bear section.
"We have the warden and two gate guards here, we have one-hundred percent coverage, visually and driving wise," Dr. Rives said. "The brown bears have been fenced in for over twenty years. They actually have a tunnel under the road so that they can go from one side to another."
What type of person works at a safari? Someone who is on call all the time. Dr. Rive’s philosophy, "If an animal needs help, this is what we are here for. If I have to spend my time, or my staff has to spend thirty-six to forty-eight hours straight here without sleep, taking care of one animal, it is a small price to pay from our standpoint."
If a giraffe is really sick and is given around-the-clock service, if the staff is successful that animal will live for another 20 years.
"So, those moments are critical and can extend an animal’s life to the fullest," Dr. Rives noted.
I was curious to know how do they determine when to breed the different species? What was explained is that the way they breed the species is each species has a target number that they would like to have. They do this because they do not want to have more than what they can take care of.
"Certain species we will not breed for three or four years," said the vet. "You take the males and separate them from the females. You must be responsible how you manage animals."
Presently, they are breeding zebras. In a few years, they will breed llamas. They go through an animal collection plan each year, which figures out which species to breed.
Other trivia: The safari does not hand-raise animals unless it is an emergency; Cousin, a Rhino, has a horn growing the wrong way. They are constantly cutting the horn so it does not hurt her. Did you know that the horn is made from keratin, which is a compound that makes up our hair and nails? If you see black-headed vultures and seagulls, they are freeloaders at the safari. Smart birds!
Female ostriches have gray plumage, while the males have black plumage; dama gazelle, from North Africa are an endangered species. They are the largest gazelle in the world and run up to 40 mph; they are expecting 10 to 15 zebra following this year; life expectancy of lions in the wild is 12 to 15 years. They have two lions; one is 19 the other is 22. Asian water buffaloes grow very slowly.
You may remember in last week’s column I mentioned when animals are sick it will be very subtle because basically all of these animals are wild. They have retained all of their survival instincts. In order for survival, some animals will mask signs of illness. One of the 104 baboons was discovered to be diabetic from a blood test, because she was losing her hair.
The bottom line, if you take one thing from this column, according to Dr. Rives, it should be, "One of the great things about the safari park is that we have enough animals that we can use our resources to help animals in the wild as well. That is the epitome of conservation."
They have a new area called the Wild Safari Exploration Station, as you exit the safari. It is an interactive area where you journey through six continents of exotic animals. Also they have VIP tours through the safari, where if the animals are not out they pull off the road to go to them. How cool!
Wiggles World, a new children’s area, had its grand-opening ribbon-cutting on April 2.
Special guests at the event included Mark Kane, the current president of all three Six Flags properties in New Jersey; Jackson Township Mayor Marc Seda and Jackson Township Administrator William Santos.
According to Mr. Kane, "Wiggles World is based on the most popular entertainers in the world for children at this time, the Wiggles. This is an important addition to our lineup at Great Adventure, because it certainly demonstrates our continued focus on adding family entertainment value to our property. In addition to our unique and demonstrative world-class coaster lineup and thrill rides, this provides us with four devoted areas for families with younger children, children under seven or so. This continues to help us balance our entertainment value for something for all ages."
Wiggles World new area features specialty theme rides and attractions including: the Big Red Car Ride, the Big Red Plane Ride, Dorothy the Dinosaur’s Race into the Rainbow balloon ride, Bouncin’ with Wag’s ride and the S.S. Feathersword Pirate Ship play area.
The Wiggles’ cast of supporting characters, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword, Wags the Dog and Henry the Octopus, will be there to say hi. They will be doing a new kids show this year called Get Ready to Wiggle. The Wiggles have performed to more than 1 million audience members a year, and have sold more than 22 million DVDs and videos and more than 5 million albums worldwide. Anthony, Murray, Jeff and Sam will actually be at the park on May 27.
For more information, call 1-732- 928-2000 or visit www.sixflags.com ••
Columnist William Feldman can be contacted by e-mail at wmkidscolumn@aol.com