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400-acre California wildlife preserve to become nonprofit after 50 years

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Safari West is shifting from a private enterprise to a nonprofit public benefit corporation to cement its conservation goals. The 400-acre Sonoma County preserve currently provides sanctuary to more than 900 animals representing species such as cheetahs, flamingos, giraffes, and rhinoceroses. Regular public operations will persist without disruption, maintaining wildlife education programs, open-air tours, and overnight tent accommodations. While state filings list layoffs for 134 current workers during the corporate shift, the new nonprofit entity plans to rehire them.

Key points

  • Transitioning to a nonprofit public benefit corporation will permanently safeguard the wi…: Transitioning to a nonprofit public benefit corporation will permanently safeguard the wildlife sanctuary's long-term operations.
  • The preserve's founders intend to leverage the organizational shift to broaden scientific…: The preserve's founders intend to leverage the organizational shift to broaden scientific research and wildlife conservation initiatives.
  • Daily guest experiences including guided vehicle tours and overnight lodging will continu…: Daily guest experiences including guided vehicle tours and overnight lodging will continue uninterrupted under the existing leadership team.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Giraffes graze in the open grasslands in the hills of Sonoma County. Rhinos pad around their enclosures. Flamingos add a splash of color to the scenery. For over thirty years, Safari West has been bringing a taste of the African wilderness to California. But behind the popular wildlife attraction is the story of one man's passion for exotic animals, a family's dedication to conservation and one nite when everything they had built almost came to be lost. Now the 400-acre preserve is set for another transformation, from private to nonprofit stewardship, to secure its future.

Fascination was turned into a life mission

According to Visit California, the Safari West story starts in the 1970’s when Peter Lang, owner of a cattle ranch in Beverly Hills, became interested in exotic animals. In the 1980s he bought a former cattle ranch in Sonoma County to enlarge his private collection of animals. With his wife, the zoologist Nancy Lang, he began to make better use of the property, setting up a captive breeding program with the main goal of conservation. In 1993 the…

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