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Out of the ordinary
By YILU ZHAO © St. Petersburg Times, published June 23, 2000 It's no African safari, not with roller-coasters shrieking in the background, antelopes that eat out of your hand and giraffes that amble over for a hug. The tour of close-up and friendly wildlife is part of Busch Garden's just-completed revamping of its Serengeti Plain. The Tampa theme park updated one of its oldest attractions after tearing down a monorail that used to give visitors a distant view of animals in more barren settings. The changes are part of the Tampa theme park's effort to boost its sagging attendance, which dropped 9 percent to 3.9-million in 1999. For an extra $15 over the admission price, visitors can take a half-hour truck tour through the 65-acre Serengeti. Park visitors who don't pay extra can see the same animals -- but from a distance -- on a train ride. At most, 200 visitors a day will be permitted to ride the safari trucks and feed the animals, and advance reservations are being taken for one of the five tours that will be conducted daily starting today. The limited capacity adds a touch of exclusivity to the new attraction. That's similar to the 1,000-a-day limit on visitors who will be permitted to swim with dolphins and other sea creatures at the new Discovery Cove at SeaWorld Orlando. Both theme parks are owned by Anheuser-Busch Cos. Most of the African animals on the Serengeti were born on Busch property in Florida, and they have been trained since birth to be friendly to visitors. A few giraffes will even kiss visitors in return for a snack of crispy leaves. The old Serengeti was flat, dusty and sprawling. After eight months of renovation, the replacement hosts many African plants, and the rolling terrain is made to look like the animals' natural habitat. "We try to give the visitors the realism experience," said Glenn Young, the park's vice president of zoological operations. Busch Gardens would not disclose the spending on the new Serengeti nor its financial expectations.
 © St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved. 
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