CullmanTimes.com, Cullman, Alabama

Local News

May 28, 2009

Animals on display at shopping center

By Tiffany Green

The Cullman Shopping Center is hosting a free “Jungle Safari” of live exotic animals now through Sunday.

The exhibition will be from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day and 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday.

“People can come see something like this without going to the zoo,” said Robert Engesser, owner of Jungle Safari.

There is a petting zoo with animals children can pet and feed. There are big cats, monkeys, baby lions, tigers, a black leopard, lemurs, capuchin monkeys, a camel, goats, a kangaroo, a belted galloway calf, ponies and more.

People can watch the big cats be fed dinner each evening at 7:30 p.m.

“The best part of this zoo is that it’s free to see,” said Don Morgan, property manager for the shopping center, in a press release.

Engesser said all the dangerous animals are kept safely behind fences and cages.

“The petting zoo animals are safe,” he said. “The big animals are just there to look at.”

For a fee, people can have pictures made with the baby lion cub and baby tiger, ride a pony or ride a camel.

“We enjoy what we do,” Engesser said. “It’s a good thing for the community and enables us to care for the animals. It’s not really a job, it’s a lifestyle.”

Riley Roberts, 7, from Good Hope was enjoying seeing the animals. He said his favorite was the lemur.

“The little baby goats are my favorite,” said his 11-year-old sister Rachel. “They are so cute.”

Jungle Safari supports a breeding farm in Florida and has donated animals to zoos all over the United States over the past 30 years. Engesser has been in the family business for more than 23 years and travels with the animals up to six weeks at a time.

‰ Tiffany Green can be reached by e-mail at tgreen@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 221.

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