1973-09-28 Sight-Seers Increase.jpg

By late September of 1973, 35 Zebras and rare birds had already arrived on park property.  As a result, local residents on horseback began to show up on the site hoping to get a glimpse of the animals and the entire park complex under construction.  Hardwicke did it's best to discourage visitors to the site and ultimately hired some of the park's first security personnel.   Their job was to keep people and their horses safely away from the property, which was filling up with large machinery, construction and fencing materials, and road building equipment.