Lion Country Safari (California)

Lion Country Safari was opened in 1970 by South African entrepreneur Harry Shuster. The park attained over 1 million visitors during its first year of operation.^[1]

Lion Country Safari's most famous resident was Frasier, an elderly lion that was given to the facility in 1970 from a circus in Mexico.^[2] Already 18 years old, the lion was toothless, ill, and arthritic.^[3] He became a major attraction at the park when, despite his advanced age, he fathered litters totaling 35 lion cubs by the park's pride of six lionesses.^[4] As a result, T-shirts, watches, and other souvenirs were made featuring a photo of Frasier, which quickly became popular merchandise.^[2]

Frasier died of pneumonia on July 13, 1972. He was buried at the park, with a sendoff by the Frasier clan of Scotland, which had adopted Frasier as its mascot.^[3] After his death, Lion Country Safari tried to capitalize on their star with a 1973 feature film called Frasier the Sensuous Lion. The film featured a song, by the same title, performed by Sarah Vaughan.^[5] However, the film was a major flop, financially and critically, being roundly panned for using a different lion in Frasier's place and for employing a voice actor for Frasier to fictionalize the story.^{[citation needed]}

In 1978, a pregnant hippopotamus named Bubbles managed to escape three times in short succession.^[2] During the last of these escapes, Bubbles evaded capture for 19 days by hiding in a drainage ditch on the property.^[1] After numerous failed capture attempts, park rangers would attempt to tranquilize her. Bubbles collapsed in such a way that her internal organs crushed her lungs, and she suffocated to death.^[6]

On October 23, 1982, a two-year-old boy named Anthony Stopani was mauled by an escaped Siberian tiger. Stopani was ultimately paralyzed by the event, and the park had to pay $1.5-2 million in a later settlement.^[7] In March 1983, a chimpanzee attacked one of the park's zookeepers.^[8] Later that year, an Asian elephant named Misty escaped, killing park warden Lee Keaton and causing a traffic jam on Interstate 405 before being recaptured.^[1][8]

The park perpetually suffered from low attendance after Frasier's death, which was compounded by negative publicity surrounding animal escapes and insurance claims from visitors injured by the animals.^[1] Lion Country Safari closed in 1984, with the owner still holding 13 years of the original 29-year lease, which he then subleased to the operators of the Wild Rivers water park, the Camp Frasier (later Camp James) summer camp and the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.^[9] The water park and summer camp closed in 2011, with the land turned into a housing development.^[9] The same fate befell the amphitheatre in 2016,^[10] such that the original Irvine-based Lion Country Safari land is now a 3,700-unit housing development.^[11] A bronze historical marker commemorates the former site of Lion Country Safari.^[12]

The park's main attraction was a four-mile drive through open enclosures containing primarily African wildlife. These included lions, tigers, African and Asian elephants, hippopotamus, giraffes, Dromedary camels, white rhinoceroses, and ostriches.^[1][2][13]

After the drive, guests could explore a "safari camp" with rides, a petting zoo, a bird show, and replicas of African villages. Rides included African Express Train, Hippo Pedal Boats, a boat ride that passed by live animals, and a children's treehouse.^[1][13] A cheetah captive breeding program operated on a more distant part of the property.^[14]

33°38′35″N 117°45′10″W / 33.64306°N 117.75278°W / 33.64306; -117.75278