donald bale

to 29yrswithaGApass, i was wondering if you have a section that has safari members listed, not just wardens but gate guards and others that worked in the confines of the safari, it occured to me when dave barnes signed up that others could be members from the safari section but using screen names. i joined in my name just so past friends could find me easily, i'm pretty sure that's why gary joined in his name too. how about adding a safari members section if you don't already have one.

we wore hats not helmets, at least not in the first two years of the safari park. if you go thru pictures of the safari posted by the safari people you will see what they look like. j.c. wilson doesn't sound familiar to me but some of the others might know.

hey Jake it is good to hear from you. i was wondering if any of the old crew would find this site and please keep it up with the stories, it really brings on a smile when i hear from and about the safari in the old days. by the way the bear guy that was a jackson cops son was Bob Barry. take care and keep in touch also get some of the old crew on this site if you can.

It has, i still have a big smile on my face.

Not only 29 elephants but 16 rhinos too, to watch, feed and clean up after, day in and day out. But it was one heck of an experience that not very many people can comprehend.

I worked there in 74 and these pictures really capture how great the park was it's first season. keeping the elephants in line was a real trip and watching the rhinos gallop across the section, stop on a dime and turn directions was an amazing sight to see. all of the animals in the park really stood out the best the first couple of years.

Gary, one person you or Ed didn't mention is Tommy Lear. i remember him well but for the life of me i can't remember which section he worked in. maybe you know which.

Gary that is you, i could tell by your stance and when you expand the picture out you are wearing your hat.

I didn't get over to the theme park very often with working 6 days a week in the safari but i do remember going there just to see Maiden Voyage - the all girl band- play. They played good music but i enjoyed watching them even more.

Harry, those are some great pictures of the animals and i'm real glad to see so much green grass in the sections, the animals can really do a number by eating and trampling on it.

If i can butt in here i am pretty sure it was 73 because in early 74 is when Gary and i left Florida to New Jersey.

Thanks for the safari construction pictures, they are great and i hope you post more. I saw pictures of a few people i haven't seen since i left there in 76. one i believe is Brian Vidor, he's in a few pics with Butch. One has Leonard Denault in it, and i think one of the other fellas is Robert Chandler. great pictures.

Gary thanks for the flashback today. thinking of Butch reminds me of the day the rhino got loose. To let others know, in between the elephant/rhino section and the african plains section is a small strip of woods that lead up to the rhino barn and the giraffe barn. A rhino got out the swing gate at the end of the holding pen and made it into this set of woods, where Butch, Gary, myself and a few others traveled up and down these woods and fence line in the dark trying to get him out. It took most of the night, a tractor with headlights and a noisy engine and lots of walking and running but we finally got him back where he belonged. It could have gotten dangerous out there but it was a great experience. Thanks Butch where ever you are.

great picture. boss and another small one named bongo really thought they ruled the place.

That is Gary with the elephants, and your previous question's answer is the elephants wrer transported by plane. I don't know how many stops from africa they made but their last stop before getting here was in England.

Gary will have to tell you about the capturing of the elephants, he was sent to africa to help capture them and to care for and feed them on their trip to to america. A crew of us went to Kennedy airport to meet up with Gary and bring the elephants to the park. Each elephant was in a seperate crate, loaded onto flatbed trucks, secured down and tarps were drapped over and tied down. they were transported to the park but on the way you could see some of them sticking their trunks thru the tarp flaps and the peoples reactions especially the kids was something I will never forget. At the barn a forklift was used to unload the crates into the barn where they were released one at a time into their pens.

These pictures look like about the first few days the elephants were allowed into the section. The pond had so much undergrowth and sapplings around it you could not see beyond the opposite tree line, as you can tell in the pictures. They also loved playing in the mud and water. When all of the small trees were gone and the bark stripped off the large trees, the large ones were protected by wiring sapplings to the big trees and keeping the elephants away from them.

I've watched the first two so far and they were awesome. I had forgotten how much fun it was to interact with the animals and to just sit back and watch them play and chase each other. Thanks Gary for letting me relive a part of my youth, it really was great.

i would like to hear from any wardens, past and present, or from anyone else who might know or might have known any wardens, any gate guards, past or present, would be good to hear from too. are any of these people presently members of this site?