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Gator park & zoo now open

dimebag1980

By dimebag1980
in Shreveport-Bossier City

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dimebag1980 Metropolis

dimebag1980

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Gators & Friends alligator park & zoo opened today just west of Greenwood, literally feet from the Louisiana/Texas state line along Hwy. 80.

How I missed this article in yesterday's Times is beyond me, but I just saw a story about it on KTAL 6 and decided to do some searching online. I've known about this for a while now, as they've been advertising it heavily. And no doubt with the lack of a zoo in metro Shreveport-Bossier, word will travel fast about this place.

Hopefully it will catch on quickly and rake in the dough, so that it may be expanded beyond the initial 16 acres. For reference, Tyler's Caldwell Zoo started out at a mere 8 acres and now covers 85 acres.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...0301/0/ELECTION

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dimebag1980 Metropolis

dimebag1980

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Thats some really good news. Thanks for posting this Brian. :thumbsup:

I was suprised to find out the SBC did not have a zoo for an area that large; I definitely think the metro area deserves one for sure. It should hopefully work-out great!

Yeah the closest thing we ever had to a zoo was a small petting zoo that eventually became the now-defunct Hamel's Amusement Park. I always figured if a zoo were to be built around here it would be on the fringes of the city, near one of the smaller towns. Sure enough, that's what has happened here. This is a small zoo, but hopefully in time it will grow to something larger and nicer.

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dimebag1980 Metropolis

dimebag1980

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That's exactly how the Greater BR Zoo came about. It started small and continues to grow. It's also located on the edge of the city to the north near Baker. So I'll be sure to follow the sucess of the Gator Park & Zoo.

Cool. I didn't know BR had a zoo but I figured it must. Shreveport was one of the largest cities I knew of without a zoo until now. Even Tyler, TX (100,000 pop,) Alexandria (50,000 pop,) and Monroe (50,000 pop) have decent zoos!

I'll be in Texarkana this Saturday, but if I get a chance and my wife and I want to pay $17 for a couple, we might have to stop in there on Sunday. If not Sunday, very soon still!

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Good to hear Brian. I'mn hoping my own metro can follow this example. We have something called a Wildlife Safari not too far from the state border. It's one of those that you just drive through and see the animals out in the 'wild'. Although many of them are actually in cages near the driving path. I'm curious to see some pics whenever you go.

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  • 4 weeks later...
dimebag1980 Metropolis

dimebag1980

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I had an opportunity to go out to Gators & Friends Alligator Park and Exotic Zoo yesterday and was VERY impressed. It was larger than I'd imagined, laid out well, and had many different animals. I recall many deer of different types, lemurs, goats (the baby goats were adorable,) 2 camels, 1 baby zebra, rams, kangaroos, a wallaby, coatis, ostritches, Scottish Highlands cattle, etc etc. Our group of 4 was very pleased and found it to be well worth the $8/person admission.

To my surprise the animals were the largest attraction, but the gators were nice as well. When you first arrive inside the park you come to a gator feeding area, and then you come to the animals. On the way back to the entrance area you come across a gator pond full of gators. I thought it would be mostly a gator-oriented attraction but was very happy to see that it was mostly a decent zoo. This is something that has been needed in the SBC area for a long time, and I hope the community embraces this attraction so that it may grow to include more animals and attractions.

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