IN THIS ISSUE:

♦ Director’s View

♦ New Initiatives

♦ The Collection

♦ What it takes…

♦ Heartbeats

♦ Film Clips

♦ Getting Involved

Director’s View

There is always some kind of excitement going on at

Hollywild and of course 2014 showcased that in many

ways.

We had multiple new family members born, including

three new bear cubs in January. I’ve had the pleasure,

alongside our staff and visitors, of watching Cyrano, Terra,

and Princess Fiona, grow from their few ounces at birth to

their well over 100 pounds each now. Because we have

adult bears and the cubs’ sister, Syriana, on site, as well

their three other sisters who will turn 3 in January,

Hollywild is one of the few places where visitors can see

bears at so many stages of development. Thanks to our

many Habitats for Hollywild donors, we’ve added new

bear “bedroom” habitat areas, part of our Bear

Necessities/ Habitats for Hollywild campaign.

We built a new animal exhibit area in anticipation of the

arrival of a new animal family member, who, will now be

on site in March for the start of our 2015 Park Season.

We also have a few other new animal family members, but

you’ll have to read on a bit more here to read about them.

Hollywild has grown from a small backyard

zoo to a nearly 100 acre facility that

responds to its community, providing

unique educational opportunities and

incredible experiences for all ages that

make an impact. I look forward to the

continued growth in everything Hollywild

has to offer in 2015.

David R. Meeks

Executive Director

Hollywild Animal Park

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Let’s Roar! A digital magazine sharing all the exciting news for Hollywild Animal

Park, YOUR Animal Park for family friendly fun, education, and all things animals!

1

New Initiatives and Expansions

In 2014 we continued development of our Intern program,

welcoming four animal staff interns and one marketing intern,

all of whom successfully completed rigorous project-based

training programs. The program, established initially for

summer interns has expanded to include our first group of

winter interns who start their duties in January. Long-term, we

plan to build the program into a year-round intern program

with housing.

We built an incredible new habitat/exhibit and are looking

forward to you meeting the great new family member who will

soon be making his home there… oops, did we say “his?”

The Safari Bus ride is a signature element of the Hollywild

experience from March through October when the park is

open for its “zoo” season. A Safari Bus Campaign was

launched in the summer, raising $4,000 that helped support

the rising maintenance of our Safari buses. Though our goal

remains purchase new buses, the designated support received

helped keep our buses running.

We also started new animal encounters and interactive tours,

providing an added layer of fun and education to the

Hollywild experience.

For the 24th Annual Holiday Lights Safari Benefit, we added 30

new lights displays, bringing in exciting features like the

snowfall (made with dozens of “snow tubes”) and animated

elements like a giraffe and birds along with LED brilliant

elephants, butterflies, ostriches and more. Our giant whale, a

favorite display many look for year after year, was outfitted

with thousands of new LED lights, making him visible even by

airplanes flying into the Greenville Spartanburg Airport. What

fun we had hearing that!

The HLSB season also launched the “Christmas for our Critters”

campaign, where we printed, distributed, and published a

current list of “toys” requested by our animals through their

keepers. Many enjoyed bringing gifts of all shapes and sizes

knowing that they would provide numerous hours of fun for

our animals as part of the enrichment program at Hollywild.

As we head into 2015 we expect many new and exciting

programs to begin or expand and look forward to you being a

part of it all!

2

The Collection – in the Park

What can you see? Who can you meet

during your visit to Hollywild? The

animals on this list are seen in visitor

areas inside the walking areas of the

Park from March through October

each year. We have over 500 animals

in the collection.

*Addax

African Crowned Cranes

African Lions

*Alpaca

Aoudad (sheep)

Baboons

Bears – Syrian, Grizzly, European

Black Leopard

*Camels

Caucasian Turs

Chickens (various ‘exotic’ species)

Chimpanzees

Cougars

*Donkeys (miniature Sicilian)

Ducks

Geese

*Goats (multiple species- Boer,

Nubian, Pygmy)

Parrots

Guineas

*Horses/Ponies

Ibex

*llamas

Lemurs

Macaws (rainbow and scarlet)

Mangabeys

Peacocks

*Pigs

Rhea (ostrich family)

Siberian Tigers

Siberian Tiger (White)

Sheep

Walleroo

Wolf Hybrids - New for 2015!

*Zebra

*Zedonk, aka “Zonkey”

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The Collection – On Safari

African Watusi*

Alpaca*

Bison*

Donkeys*

Emu

Fallow & Sika Deer*

Gemsbok

Llama*

Scottish Highlanders*

Watusi/Buffalo cross: “Waffalo”*

White Buffalo*

White Rhino

Yaks*

Zebra*

Zedonks aka “Zonkeys”*

Safari Animals are on view during our

signature Safari Bus Ride during our

March – October Park Season. Animals

noted (*) are also in Visitor areas

during the Holiday Lights Safari

Benefit.

4

73,000 pounds of grain

900,000 pounds of hay

52,000 trailer loads of bread

43,000 pounds of meats

520 truckloads of produce

2500 pounds of bird food

2,300,000 gallons of water

Many specialized foods/dietary supplements

Numerous hours of vet care

Endless construction, repairs, maintenance, and habitat upgrades

45 Summertime Team Members

Hundreds of Volunteer Hours

120 Team Members during the Holiday Lights Season

120,000 Visitors

30% Tourists, 70% Locals

including…

6,000+ school-age children 3,000+ pre-school age children

Dozens of Scouts/Pathfinders

with…

1,600 Safari Bus Rides

Hundreds of birthday/group parties

Pre-Vet Internships

Jr. Zookeeper Summer camps

Homeschool Days

Outreach Programs

Personal Encounters

Special Events

Thematic programming: International Earth Day,, Photography Days,

Astronomy Nights, and more!

What It Takes . . . to care for the animals

And provide an amazing experience for:

5

Wolves return…

When Cheyenne (pictured at left with director David

Meeks) passed away a couple of years ago after a long, full

life, everyone felt a void. Visitors would often ask when

we’d have wolves again. We looked, but finding wolves or

wolf hybrids is not as easy as it may sound. People ask

about the origin of wolves in captivity and hybrid crosses.

Crosses between wolves (cannus lupus) and domesticated

dogs (cannis lupis familiaris) is common. Some

professionals call them “Ambassador Wolves” relating to

their use in conservation education programs.

The world of zoos, and animal parks like ours is built on

positive networking between like-minded professionals

with a passion for animals. Word-of-mouth and

handshakes still makes magic happen. There was an elderly

couple who had been raising wolves and hybrids together

for decades. The wife died and the husband decided he

couldn’t care properly for their collection without her. He

knew of other caring keepers who knew of Hollywild and

the magic took hold. A few months ago a call came in.

Could Hollywild give “Sam” and “Maggie” a good home?

The answer was a resounding yes. And so the pair came to

the park not long after park season ended. But they came

with a surprise. Within a couple of weeks, six healthy pups

were born. And so now, as part of our excitement for

2015, visitors will get to meet Sam, Maggie, and their pups.

We look forward to you meeting them!

Hollywild Heartbeats

Hollywild’s Board of Directors, Team/Staff members, and volunteers work by heartbeats – they simply fall in

love with the animals who call Hollywild home. They get the inside stories about the animals. Here we share

a few of those behind-the-fences stories that keep our Hollywild hearts beating.

6

A Limping Diamond

Diamond, a white Siberian tiger, joined the Hollywild

family this year. He is on loan to us from another

facility. Diamond walks with a limp.

Is he hurt? Is he cared for properly?

Those are questions visitors ask.

Here’s the rest Diamond’s story:

The limp Diamond has now was from an injury he had

Many years before coming to Hollywild. In some facilities, a cat with

such a condition might be euthanized or moved away

from public exhibit areas. Not so here. First, we don’t

believe in euthanizing animals just because they might

not look ‘perfect.’ Diamond learned to limp many years ago, in response to his old

injury. Here, Diamond receives medication to help make he is not in pain from that

old injury. So why the limp and how do we know he’s really okay? Diamond’s

keepers have noticed him jumping and climbing, and being quite athletic using

the leg he ‘limps’ on, suggesting that his limp may be more of a habit behavior

than due to any actual discomfort, but to be sure, he does receive care to make

sure the underlying injury and its possible effects are addressed properly.

Diamond came her because of the same type of connection that brought the

wolves back to Hollywild. It’s all about the right people knowing that animals can

find a good home here where their personalities are important and their needs

can be met.

We know it can cause concern to see Diamond limp, but moving him to a non-

public area would not be a good option for Diamond either. He likes to be

around people. He “chuffs” his hello when people come by, a friendly gesture of

greeting and pleasure.

Because Diamond has spent his life around people, he would not thrive in an

environment where he couldn’t see people. It’s his personality. It would seem like

punishment if we moved him off exhibit just so park visitors didn’t see a limping

tiger. The close association with people makes him happy. And so, just as some

of us wear glasses to see better; some of us are tall or short, or have other special

needs or characteristics that make us who we are, we ask you to love Diamond,

just like we do, just as he is, limp and all.

Toward the end our 2014 summer season, we were delighted to have visitors

come all the way from Austrailia. They stopped to watch Diamond. He came right

up to the fence and greeted them with his happy chuffs, then proceeded to roll

around and show them how happy we was they had stopped by. “He’s just

gorgeous,” they said.

Hollywild Heartbeats continued

Read on to find out why “imperfect” to some is perfect for us!

7

Movie Clips

Many people ask about the movie reference in Hollywild’s

name and the star signs throughout the park. Do the

animals still “work” in the film industry? What movies can

we see them in?

Hollywild’s Executive Director and founder, David Meeks is

the one whose talent with animals had film makers calling

back in the 70’s. Many of the animals in park’s 40+ year

history, and some still here now, have extensive film/photo

credits. David still gets the calls but doesn’t have as much

interest in doing movies that take him away from his family

and all the other animals for film shoots that can last for

months. So much of the film work does with ‘workable’

animals at Hollywild happens here, nearby, or with trips of

short distances and durations. Though there are fun and

interesting stories behind all of his film experiences, when

asked about his favorite, David says it has to be Prancer,

released in 1989. The touching story, responsive young

actors, and the behind the scenes details…

Hollywood magic and heart at its best!

This year, many ad agencies worked with David and

Hollywild animals for photo shoots and videos for national

advertising campaigns, calendar shoots, and more.

The most recent filming was done on-site with actor Alan

Ritchson who stars in Blue Mountain State: “Rise of

Thadland”, a comedy set to be released in 2015

A calendar shoot at Hollywild’s waterfall

area also featured our cub

“Cyrano.” at 7 months old

David gave actor

Alan Ritchson tips

before he headed

in for one-on-one

encounter with

“Tank” our rare

white rhino and

again as he stepped

in to visit Cyrano

who was 10 months

old and seemed

more interested in

his grapes and becoming a movie

star! We look forward to seeing how

Alan’s time at Hollywild plays out in

the movie!

8

2

Supporting Hollywild’s Mission:

Hollywild Animal Park is committed to providing an interactive and enlightening

experience for our visitors, as we continually improve the lives of our animals

in an enriching and respectful environment.

You may also support the work of Hollywild Animal Park, through the

Friends of Hollywild Animal Park General Fund, a component fund of

The Spartanburg County Foundation that was established in 2001 to help

support the mission of the Hollywild Animal Park. Please make checks

payable to the “Friends of Hollywild Animal Park General Fund” c/o The

Spartanburg County Foundation, Contribution Lockbox, PO Box 60402,

Charlotte, NC 28260-0402.

There are many ways to support Hollywild and its operations which benefit the hundreds

of animals who call Hollywild home. We are currently looking for business/corporate

sponsors for various elements of our 2015 Park Season as well as sponsors for our 25th

Annual Holiday Lights Safari Benefit “Silver Anniversary” celebration.

Season Memberships help provide support and give members great savings, discounts,

and advanced noticed about many special programs. You can call and put your name on

our Volunteer Roster, select and purchase items from our animal-staff generated Wish

List, posted on our website, www.hollywild.org, or give a cash donation.

Hollywild is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, your gifts are tax-deductible.

Gifts can be made securely online through the DONATE button on our webpage, our

Facebook page Donate Now tab, by calling in your donation to the park office, (864)472-

2038, which is open 9 AM – 4 PM, Monday-Friday and is located at 2325 Hampton Road,

Wellford, SC or by mail to our PO BOX 683, Inman, SC 29349. Gifts donated these ways

will support all areas of park operations, including animal care (food, veterinary care,

supplies). If you would like to make a designated gift, such as to our Habitats for

Hollywild or our Safari Bus campaigns, or toward care for a particular animal, you can

note that on/at the time of your donation.

9

Don’t forget to come Experience YOUR Hollywild in 2015!

Hollywild Animal Park is located on nearly 100

acres in the beautiful South Carolina Upstate.

General Admission includes access to the walking

areas of the park, a Safari Bus ride, and scheduled

Creature Feature programs in our amphitheater.

2015 Park Season

opens on weekends in March.

Daily hours begin Wednesday, April 1 and run

through Labor Day.

After Labor Day, the Park is open only on weekends

through Saturday, October 31.

Park Season General Admission:

$12 adults, $10 students and military with ID, $ 8

children ages 2-12, infants admitted free.

Visitors are welcome to bring their own picnics to

enjoy on the grounds or in our many picnic areas,

or they may purchase concessions on site.

And don’t forget to consider our:

Birthday Parties

Group Events/Company Parties

Summer Camps

School/Scout trips/Special Programs

Hollywild Animal Park is located on nearly 100

acres in the beautiful South Carolina Upstate.

Our physical address is 2325 Hampton Road,

Wellford, SC.

Our mailing address is PO Box 683, Inman, SC

29349.

Our Park office is open Monday-Friday from 9

AM – 4 PM. (864)472-2038

hollywildanimalpark@gmail.com

Learn more online at www.hollywild.org

Get Social!

Follow us on Facebook and

Twitter (HollywildParkSC)

for the latest news. We love to have

you share your pics and Hollywild fun

with us online too! And don’t forget to

watch our webcam, “Eyes on

Hollywild” through our website at

www.hollywild.org!