Walk On The Wild Side

Walk on the wild side at Briarwood Ranch Safari Park

By Eric Rhodes

It’s not often you see a zebra in East Tennessee, but Briarwood Ranch Safari has that and much more. Nestled on Briar Thicket Road, less than a mile off highway 160 in Bybee, Briarwood Ranch houses a variety of animals from six continents, right outside your car window. The park offers $3 food buckets to feed the animals from your car, but they recommend feeding directly from the bucket, rather than from your hand, as many of the animals can accidentally nip when eating. Guests can interact with zebras, yaks, goats, ostriches, and other animals that freely roam the property. Guests can even take pictures and videos, and submit them to the park’s Facebook page. “We like to use the guest’s pictures because it lets people know what the experience is like,”said Youlanda “Yo” Haney, the park’s manager. “It is such a unique experience that we have out here, where you can feed these animals right from your car. Upon arrival at the park, guests will see a large green building, which acts as the ticketing office and gift shop. On the other side of the road, the iconic orange fence mural, painted with silhouettes of some of the animals inside the park, greets guests. The trail that circles through the park is about four miles long. Just through the gate is a sit-down picnic area, Easter Lilly Park. In this area, guests can see a few of the exotic birds and small mammals that are kept separate from the trail. Unlike a zoo, most of the animals are not confined to specific enclosures. Often, the animals will follow guests’ vehicles through the park, hoping to be fed. At each end of the trail there are penned petting animals like pygmy goats and silkie chickens, but throughout the drive, guests will experience up-close

From page 32 encounters with exotic animals from places like Africa, Asia and Australia, as well as familiar North American animals. The park is even home to several American bison, including the rare White Buffalo. “People like the White Buffalo a lot, because they’re so rare. They used to be 1 in 10 million. They were almost extinct,”said Haney. “Right now we have four White Buffalo in the park, seven buffalo total.” “The first one was from North Dakota, the owner of the park went up there and got him. We named him ‘Custer. Right now our oldest is Comanchy, and she

Continue on page 34

Jefferson-Cocke County Utility District

JCCUD

Home Heating Gas Appliances Sales & Service Professionally-Trained Technicians Propane Sales & Delivery Industrial Sales & Service 24-Hour Emergency Service LP Cylinders Filled

(Newport Offi ce Only)

Clean, Dependable Natural Gas

Jefferson-Cocke County Utility District

122 US Highway 25E Newport, TN (423) 623-3069

243 E. Broadway Blvd. Jefferson City, TN (865) 475-7911

From page 33 was born here in the park,”said Haney. As much as the park is about the animals, the experience is also about the people. The park was built and opened by the late Ron Nease. He purchased the property in the 1980s and finally opened the park in 2006. The Nease family has provided this service to the community for over a decade, and even since

Ron’s passing in 2016, they continue to care for the animals and for the community. The park was closed for a short time due to the expiration of the park’s USDA permit following Nease’s death. After nine months of work from the community and cooperation from former Congressmen Phil Roe and Senator Bob Corker, the permit was reinstated and the park reopened in September of 2017. “I came on in 2013,” said Haney. “I actually moved into [Nease’s] rental home, which was on the property, and from there I ended up getting the job. I’ve always been an animal lover,”she said. Briarwood Ranch was featured on Daytime Tri-Cities in the early 2010’s, when hosts Morgan King and Amy Lynn took a trip through the park on one of the wagon rides. The safari is open from noon to 4 p.m. each day, and the last safari starts one hour before closing to give guests plenty of time to enjoy the trip. Tickets are $17 for adults, $12 for children ages 3-12, and $15 for adults over 60. Wagon rides, available by appointment only, are an additional $7 per ticketed person. Children under three years old ride for free. Guests can travel the park as long and as often as they like on a single ticket, so long as they are out of the park on time. Because the path through the park is a dirt road, the park will often restrict which vehicles they allow on the path if it is muddy. The park’s Facebook page has updates regarding vehicle restrictions and closures due to weather. The park also accepts monetary donations from the public to help provide food, bedding, and medical care to the animals.

Donations can be made through their website, briarwoodsafari.org.