donald bale

This picture is in the pad next to the barn.

i just read the story- going on winter safari- and clicked on the picture slideshow, in it was a picture of a rhino called squeak. when gary and i worked there he was called squeaker. he was the gentlest rhino there. he loved being rubbed behind the ears like most of them did. i walked many a day in the the elephant and rhino section with him or near him. there were times when i would put my safari hat on his short horn and let him walk around with it on. it always amazed me that he would leave it on there. as for the post card of the elephants, it looks like the pond and elephants, but gary hill could tell for sure. he probably has one of them, he was a lot smarter than i was about keeping memorabilia like that. all i have is pictures i took and a couple of patches from back then.

The article was great, I hadn't seen that in a long time, thanks. Yes on the names, Gary already had them named by the time he got back. I don't remember most of them but a few of them I'll never forget. the smallest one was named Boss, he thought he was king of the hill and as gentle as he could be, he loved being petted and was very playful. One a little bigger was Bongo, he was a lot of fun too, he thought he was in charge. He always threw up his trunk, ears out, and charge towards you for a few feet. You could find him pretty easily in the pack because when he ate he would hum and pretty loudly. Panya I won't forget about,she was only about 4 feet tall but very skiddish. Once while cleaning her pen with her still in it I crossed through by the door and she charged and pinned me with her trunk. I only had enough breath to get out half of Gary's name and he came a running and scared her away. I never made that mistake again. I don't know if the pond is still in the section but when the elephants were first let into the section from the barn area they headed strait for the pond and trees around it. Starting out you could hardly see the pond from the road, after a week all small trees and vegetation were gone, only the large trees remained and those had no bark left on them for as far as they could reach. From this point and through the first season the park was open most of my job was to walk around with the elephants in the section and keep the rhinos away so they could eat their own food. They usually stayed between the lake and the feeder you can see in the photo you posted. Will add more later.

Thanks for asking, I'll tell you as much as I can, first off I worked there for around two years, but it is two of the best years of my life. I worked with so many good people there I didn't realize how much I would miss them and the animals I worked with. I wouldn't change my life but I do miss that part of it. Gary and I moved there from working with Ringling bros. circus world, this was about 3 to 4 months before the park opened. Gary went to Africa and helped capture the elephants and bring them back. On their return Butch, Charlie, Karen and I drove to Kennedy airport to meet Gary and the elephants. The animals were in individual crates that were loaded onto flatbed trailers and covered up with tarps. Now getting these animals to the safari park was priceless, just imagine tarp covered semi's going down the road and seeing 2 to 3 feet of an elephant's trunk sticking out of the flaps of the tarps and just swinging about and sniffing around. after we arrived at the elephant barn the pain staking process began, unloading the crates, unbolting the doors an herding the elephants into their pens. we had 27 elephants in 4 large pens and soon we had 16 rhinos for the other half of the barn. I was 19 years old at the time and had a job that few people knew was great. I do have pictures of my time there ( somewhere boxed up in this house) if I can scan them or put them on a disc I will. The next time i write I'll tell a few more things about the animals.

i am donald bale and i worked in the safari park from early 74 to early 76. i started before the park opened even before some of the animals arrived. i'm looking for some old friends i worked with. i worked with the elephant and rhinos which was a trip all by themselves. butch, david, ronnie, jake, wolfe? any of you guys out there anywhere? any of you reply and i'll give you my e-mail and let gary know.