Desmond holding a handwritten fundraising poster.

Desmond and Foxy

Conservation Heroes! Our mission, here at Safari West, is to introduce our guests to the wonders of wildlife. We want to entertain the curious crowds that come through our gates, but more than that, we want to educate them. It is our fervent hope that our work will help inspire and nurture a new generation of […]

Photo of ostrich

All About Ostrich

Our Feathered Friends Perhaps the most intimidating creature at Safari West might be the ostrich (Struthio camelus). While birds in general aren’t generally considered particularly frightening, there are exceptions. Surely some of you have had a regrettable pond-side encounter with a swan, or run afoul of a flock of geese. I myself was once ambushed […]

Firefighters at Safari West

Conservation Corner: Fire on the Mountain

You hear a lot of talk about invasive species. You see signs about them all over these days. Drive anywhere near a lake and you’ll find notices about zebra mussels. Drive through Napa County and pass billboards about the glassy-winged sharpshooter. Each year, the list of invasive species grows longer and after a while, it’s easy to grow […]

Plastic bottles, lots of them

Conservation Corner: A Disaster in Plastic

Water, Water, Everywhere Plastic. What an amazing material. These days, we use it in virtually everything. Reading this on a computer, phone, or tablet? You can thank plastic. Wearing synthetic fabric? You’re actually wearing plastic. Eating right now? There’s a good chance something—utensils, a straw, maybe the food containers themselves—plastic. Ubiquitous and everywhere, plastic is […]

Penguins. "Invest in the nest"

Conservation Corner: Invest in the Nest

Something big is coming up this month and it’s kicking off on Wednesday the 17th. It’s called Invest in the Nest and it marks the very first collaboration between the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and that famous funder of everything from rock albums to the restoration of Neil Armstrong’s space suit. I’m talking […]

Water feature photo

Conservation Corner: Biomimicry

Once upon a time, the Wilbur and Orville Wright were hard at work inventing the airplane. Many of their fellow aviation pioneers imagined that controls for an airplane could and should work just like those in a carriage or ship. An aircraft, they imagined, should remain level and steady in the air while a rudder […]