![]() ![]() It has an enormous western town settled on the property that is a spectacular event venue, and each vacation home rental has fantastic views of the surrounding Bosque County Hill Country.Ĭonveniently, there is a grocery store with a deli, bakery and a pharmacy five minutes away. One thing that we can stand firm in is that our animals are given the best life here at the Exotic Resort Zoo because they are truly an extension of our ever-growing family.Ĭreate some memories that will last a lifetime with us.Camping doesn´t get much better than at this expansive park of nearly 1000 acres in the Northern part of the Texas Hill Country that contains over 600 exotic animals including zebras, gazelles, and buffaloes. Luckily, captive exotics can see a life expectancy more than triple the typical expectancy, so such loss is few and far between. Unfortunately, in this line of work, we see loss. Visitors over the years may also remember a few more special critters loved and lost throughout our many years in the business: Omar and Humphrey the Camels, Olivia the Oryx, Tiny Tim the Watusi, Albert the Kangaroo and even Sue the North American Bison. We have also since lost our precious Dottie due to old age, but her incredible spirit remains an inspiration and testament of all that we are here at the Exotic Resort Zoo. Our animals adapted beautifully and were not shy at all when it comes to visiting with our guests from their vehicle! We are eternally thankful for our Drive-Through visitors, but very excited to have returned back to normal operations, our Guided Tours, and we would love to see you!ĭennis and Marilyn are still found at the center of it all – however, now with the help of their son, Donavan, and a few more loyal employees to keep up with the abundance of work that running a safari park entails. Now, our tractor-trams can hold a whopping 40 visitors at a time and we have a total of 5 trams! During COVID times, we allowed our visitors to take it back old school by taking their own vehicle through the park. Over time, the couple enlarged their tour vehicles as more and more people visited the park. ![]() Dennis and Marilyn truly worked their tails off. All the while, continuing to develop the property by clearing the land to add roads, fences and buildings. ![]() He personally toured seven people at a time through the park. Dennis quickly purchased an old Bronco Scout, cut the top off and gave it some hand-painted zebra stripes. That’s when Dennis struck the idea of a lifetime: A public safari park. The resources were growing thin when it came to taking care of these precious animals. Now, we’ll be the first to tell you that animals eat a lot of food. The animals were brought to the States years and years ago to live on private ranches like ours and be treated like kings and queens! Now, when you visit us, you are likely to see some of our original bloodlines! So, most of the animals these days have been born and raised on our property! ![]() After a few short months, the couple had collected over 100 exotic animals! These animals may be originally native to other continents like Africa, Asia and Europe – however, our animals have been born and raised in the United States. She soon inspired Dennis and Marilyn to travel the United States to acquire more animal friends to keep her company. Dennis and Marilyn Bacque found the perfect retirement getaway here in Johnson City – the sprawling 137 acres was only supposed to be a private retreat… However, their plans changed after Marilyn brought home a baby Canadian Elk named Dottie.ĭottie quickly became the center of attention. The Exotic Resort Zoo was established in 1995, after a couple of crazy cajuns fell in love with the Texas Hill Country. ![]()
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