Adventure Escapades - Outdoor Adventures in South Africa - Snake & Animal Parks

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Snake & Animal Parks - Aquariums: 25 listings
HartbeesPoort Dam Snake and Animal Park Hartbeespoort, NWP Click here to enquire.	Owl & Oak Trading Post Dullstroom, MPU Click here to enquire.	Hanna's Farm Guest House Zululand, KZN Click here to enquire.	Cango Wildlife Ranch Klein Karoo, WC Click here to enquire.
Pretoria Zoo Pretoria, GAU Click here to enquire.	West Coast Ostrich Ranch West Coast, WC Click here to enquire.	The Hazyview Elephant Sanctuary Hazyview, MPU Click here to enquire.	Monkeyland Garden Route, WC Click here to enquire.
Crocodile Creek Dolphin Coast, KZN Click here to enquire.	Perrys Bridge Reptile Park Hazyview, MPU Click here to enquire.	Butterflies for Africa Pietermaritzburg, KZN Click here to enquire.	Birds Of Eden Garden Route, WC Click here to enquire.
Monkey Town Helderberg, WC Click here to enquire.	Garden Route Game Lodge East Rand, GAU Click here to enquire.	Drakenstein Lion Park Winelands, WC Click here to enquire.	Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre Garden Route, WC Click here to enquire.
Born in Africa Midlands, KZN Click here to enquire.	Crocworld South Coast, KZN Click here to enquire.	Croc City Crocodile Farm Johannesburg, GAU Click here to enquire.	The Elephant Sanctuary, The Crags Garden Route, WC Click here to enquire.
Montecasino Bird Gardens Johannesburg, GAU Click here to enquire.	African Reptiles & Venom Johannesburg, GAU Click here to enquire.	Lawnwood Snake Sanctuary Garden Route, WC Click here to enquire.	Two Oceans Aquarium Cape Town, WC Click here to enquire.
Choose Life Adventures Brits, NWP Click here to enquire.

Credit: Sea World

South Africa has such an abundance of Wildlife in it's natural environment, that it may seem strange that there are many Animal Parks, Aquariums and Snake Parks. However, as with any other country, the function of these Parks and Aquariums, is to provide access to these creatures to everybody at reasonable rates.

Secondly, they are a vital educational tool for both young and old alike, and one of the best ways of instilling an awareness of why conservation is so important.

Animal Parks can be broken down into two categories, Zoo's and Animal Farms. There are unfortunately not many of the former left as government funding has dried up in the last ten years. Animal Farms, which are smaller and more orientated to the younger generation, are mostly privately owned and seem to be flourishing. Children are usually allowed to interact with the animals and some operators offer rides and parties as well.

South Africa has two amazing Aquariums. The first is at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town and is mostly an indoor facility. The second, and newest Aquarium, is Ushaka in Durban. The Aquarium is part of a huge multi purpose water park and is situated on the beachfront. Ushaka also has several outdoor arenas for seal and dolphin exihibitions, as well as shark cage diving and a water park.

Unfortunately the Durban Snake Park has just been closed as the land is to be used to build yet another beachfront development. Luckily there are still many excellent Snake Parks in South Africa. Most of these Snake Parks also offer Snake Courses for people who are likely to come into contact with Snakes in their day-to-day activities. These courses are usually broken down into three different categories; snake awareness, snake handling and snake bite treatment. The dedicated people at these Snake Parks go a long way to dispelling the myth that "the only good snake, is a dead snake".

	A word on Snake & Animal Parks - Aquariums:
	“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” - Mahatma Ghandi “If you are bitten by a snake, what's the best thing to do? Remain calm, separate the poison from the rest of your body, suck the poison out. Worst thing to do: get upset, chase and kill snake. Same when someone strikes out at you verbally. Remain calm, don't try to strike back at the other person. Don't let the poison spread throughout your system.” - Anon

Equipment:

Animal Parks and Aquariums require large areas of land and are generally expensive to run. Some rely on the help of volunteers to assist in the upkeep of the animals and the facilities.

Aquariums in particular need large tanks for all of the different marine species that they exhibit. These tanks need to be regularly cleaned, maintained and monitored. An oversight in one of the local aquariums led to the death of a number of fish and measures have now been put into place to prevent this happening again.

Python:
Credit: Hartebeespoort Dam Snake Park

Safety:

Animals, Reptiles and Fish are normally separated from the curious human onlookers, but as with everything in life, it is still important to observe these creatures with caution and show them the respect that they deserve.

Never tease or aggravate these creatures, as the results can be fatal. Obey all signs and listen to all instructions given by staff members.

If you are doing a Snake Course, your instructor will have years of experience handling snakes and will never put you in any danger. It is important to make sure that you do the course through an approved an accredited institution.

Aninal Farm:
Even the Rabbits need some attention

Gallery
Aquarium Credit: Ushaka Marine World	Petting Zoo Children love getting close to animals
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