gone wild

Have a safari experience in the Magnolia State

- BUSTER WOLFE

Rickey Garrett had a vision for something different that only a few Mississippians had ever seen up close. He had been thinking about bringing an animal experience that is more often seen on the African plains. That was 30 years ago, five years before he met his wife, Brooke.

Now the Garretts have brought those wild animals to northern Mississippi at Safari Wild Animal Park and Preserve. Situated in the Como area, the 466-acre adventure includes giraffes, bison, ostriches, camels, and exotic birds. Visitors can feed giraffes from their vehicles and hold lorikeets on their arms.

“Through the years, we searched for a location that would be easily accessible to the interstate and also close enough to Memphis,” Brooke says. “We wanted a destination out of the city, into the country. We knew that Mississippi had some beautiful pieces of property, and after searching, we found that Como was a perfect little hidden gem.”