A safari park is also known as a wildlife park where animals reside in their habitual residences, i.e., in the wild. The Briarwood Ranch Safari Park is also like a zoo with a tourist drive-on facility. Tourists can either use their own vehicles or the vehicles given by the authorities to roam freely through the park and observe the animals in their natural habitat. A safari park is smaller than a game reserve but larger than a zoo.
Briarwood Ranch Safari Park
The Briarwood Ranch Safari Park was started in 1990 by Ron Nease, who ran the park along with his wife, Debbie. He has operated this park very smoothly for many years, and the tourists have enjoyed their stay there. In the digital sphere, one can see that most people have positive reviews about the park, and it is ideal for short-term family vacations.
However, the park has come into conflict with the ALDF (Animal Legal Defense Fund). This is a California-based organization that has asked for federal laws to be used to impose sanctions and stiff penalties on the safari park.
According to ALDF, the park management has shown negligence on several fronts. Not providing proper shelter, not providing adequate veterinary care to animals, lack of consistent, portable water, and also not having adequate no of employees which is required to maintain such an establishment. Also, the Briarwood Ranch Safari Park is the home to about 70 exotic species of animals, all who have special needs and requirements.
The lawyers from the ADLF have stated that the fact that inspecting officials visit the park on multiple instances in a single year is itself an indication that the park is violating regulations.
The park has remained short-staffed since 2013, and as of the official record, there was only one full-time working employee down there to cater to about 100 animals which are really far from adequate. Also, records show that the performance of the park is far from adequate in the inspections which have been conducted in recent years, which is really a considerable red flag for the park.
However, Ron Nease, the owner of the park, has been adamant in his media statement, saying that the park was not under any active investigation and they always have complied with the guideline of the legal bodies, and whenever they were instructed to do something they have completely abided by it.
According to Nease, the park now employed about 4 to 5 people on a daily basis for the smooth functioning of the establishment. These employees consist of a professional and fully-trained zookeeper who works on a full-time basis, a gift shop manager, and a group of volunteers. However, if officials are to believed the park is under constant supervision which could result in a hefty fine or revocation of the license by a federal judge.
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Why is Briarwood Ranch Safari Park closed?
The safari park was facing an uphill battle with the legal bodies for some time now. There have been talks of imposing fines, revoking licenses, and many other such disputes. The staffing has also remained a concern; the no of employees working at the park is far from the bare minimum which is required to operate the park in a smooth manner.
This has been an area of concern for the legal bodies and the legal organizations as the park has several exotic species of animals who have specialized needs on a daily basis and that demand proper quantity as well as proper quality of staff. Also, the park was undergoing certain renovations in the recent past to build adequate shelters for the animals in accordance with the prescribed guidelines of the governing organizations. For these reasons, the park was closed for quite a long period of time.
These renovations had to take precedence over the pleasure of the tourists as the future of the park itself was in question; indeed, a dire future faced them if they had not made certain accommodations and adjustments. The park however, duly opened in 2017, but Ron Nease had died, so now the day-to-day operations of the park was handled by his wife Debbie, who had to change the license to her anme via legal procedures.
Briarwood Ranch Safari Park Prices and tickets
The park has some fixed rates as per pricing goes. For different packages, the prices are different for different age groups. As mentioned earlier, tourists can either use their own cars or drive the wagons given by the park. In the case of self-driven vehicles, the rate for adults is 17$, and for children, it is 12$.
In the case of wagons, the prices are 24$ for adults and 19$ for children. However, to avail of the services of the wagon, tourists have to book the services via appointment. The park accepts payment in all forms, whether it be cash or check or via digital methods such as cards or other digital payment options.
The park provides special rates if a group comes to visit, that is in case of an educational trip by students from the schools. A group discount is granted in such cases. The usage of picnic pavilion carries an extra cost, which, if availed, will be incorporated in the package. According to sites, the students have given an excellent rating to their experiences which they have in the park.
Briarwood Ranch Safari Park coupons
Various attractive coupons are offered to the tourists in order to pump up the sales. Special discounts are given to children, senior citizens, students. Various coupons enable the tourists to access the various facilities of the park, such as the wagons and the unrestricted usage of the picnic pavilion. These coupons are granted on special occasions, mainly during the holiday season, as that is the time for peak sales, such as Christmas and New Year. These coupons can be used by single individuals or by a group of people also, as there will be special discount charges in case of a group.
Conclusion
Briarwood Park is quite a tourist attraction. Animals belonging to 6 continents can be found here involving numerous exotic species. All the tourist ratings are extremely favorable. If one were to search for the park experience on the Internet, they would find that the tourists have been immensely happy with the service, have enjoys the animals, and have had memorable vacations.
It is quite the tourist hotspot in the state of Tennessee in America. The pricing system is composite and ensures that the park is a feasible vacation plan for people belonging to all economic groups. Although despite the customer satisfaction, the various legal battles faced by this establishment have been its Achilles heel.
In order to extinguish all these legal problems, the park had to be closed for a considerable period of time which affected its profits as well as its goodwill. The constant poor performance at routine inspections blames animal cruelty, and many other such violations have landed this park in extreme controversy.
Although they did manage to find some alternate means to find solutions still the entire matter is on thin ice. A single more encroachment or violation on the part of the park might lead to its license being revoked or it being shut down forever. Currently, due to the covid-19 pandemic, the park is closed, but one might hope that when it reopens, it will have solved all the disputes and conflicts and again regain its former glory.