6/22/2023 0 Comments Wildlife safari san antonio texas![]() ![]() Verano assembled about 2,500 acres for a reported $65 million in 2006 and then donated 700 acres for the A&M campus. Getting development started on the Verano land has been a slog. “It’s something we’d love to engage in - a conversation - but probably not to the newspaper,” DeSimone said of the safari plan. Joe DeSimone, a Verano managing member, recalled speaking with Gilroy, possibly about a year ago. He intends to look to Wall Street to finance the land purchase and park construction. He’d like to acquire the property by the end of this year, then work on a business plan before going to the city for approvals. Gilroy has his eye on land owned by Verano Land Group. “It takes a certain skill set to do what I do,” he said. He placed $100 million of investment capital in various exploration projects in the U.S., WildLife Partners’ website says.Ĭiting his background in putting deals together and his knowledge of the “wildlife business,” Gilroy said he wasn’t concerned about revealing his plan for the safari park before it’s solidified. It also owns ranches in Goliad, near Pearsall and in Mountain Home in the Hill Country.īefore starting WildLife Partners, Gilroy founded an oil and gas exploration company. The company breeds and sells about 50 species of exotic animals, including dama gazelles, Grévy’s zebra and scimitar oryx. The proposed project comes as Gilroy closes in on the acquisition of 4,000 acres for San Antonio-based WildLife Partners’ fourth ranch - this one in Carrizo Springs. To be sure, Gilroy’s plan is in the preliminary stages, and he likely faces hurdles executing it. On : Breeder: Exotic animals ‘no different that own Ferrari’ It’s just not my thing,” he said, before reconsidering. Gilroy envisions a tram, part air-conditioned and part open-air, moving park visitors along a 6-mile route to view a collection of wild animals - from primates to Sichuan takin (a goat-antelope) to various kinds of duiker, closely related to antelopes. “No one is stepping up in revolutionizing the zoo industry,” he added. “People want to see zoos in a different way, and they want to see wide-open spaces, less walls, less fences. “Realistically, I’m hoping to be at the point of executing a contract on a piece of land before the end of the year or the first quarter” of next year, Gilroy said.“The world is crying for a new zoo,” Gilroy said. WifeLife Partners and Relevant Strategies are evaluating “numerous locations”on the South Side where they hope to secure more than 1,000 acres for the park. The feasibility study is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year. On : Texas breeder of exotic animals says they’re ‘no different than owning a Ferrari’īiddle’s company has retained Philadephia’s CLR Design, a zoo and habitat design firm, to bring “innovation, technology, and out-of-the-box thinking” to the safari park project, WildLife Partners said in a statement. In the 1980s, he worked as chief operating officer at the Philadelphia Zoo. He has been a consultant to the zoo and aquarium industries for about 30 years. “We share Brian’s enthusiasm for looking at a new model and some new experiences, both for the visitor and for the animal,” Biddle said. Relevant Strategies & Solutions founder and managing partner Rick Biddle described the safari park as a “pretty exciting” concept. “We’re just trying to reevaluate what is the best way to do this, what is the best way to interact and provide an educational and an entertainment experience while at the same time honoring wildlife.” “We’re trying to address what is the best way … to present wildlife to the public, because clearly the public wants to be able to experience wildlife and go to the zoo and interact with animals. ![]() “I’m assembling a team of people that are creative minds and we’re bringing them in with the mindset of recreating the entire way in which zoos are presenting animals,” Gilroy said Wednesday. He expects to spend at least $250,000, but possibly as much as $1 million, on this initial phase of the project. Now, Gilroy is devoting nearly half his time to the safari park. On : Exotic-animal breeder plans $500M safari park on San Antonio’s South Side It manages more than 7,000 acres of ranch land in Mountain Home, Goliad, near Pearsall and Carrizo Springs. His company is best known for breeding and selling more than 50 species of non-native and exotic wildlife in Central and South Texas. Brian Gilroy, WildLife Partners CEO, has said he intends to “revolutionize” the zoo industry. ![]()
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