Lion Country Safari, a revered wildlife sanctuary and tourist attraction in Palm Beach County for nearly six decades, has been sold to a foundation controlled by Oracle co-founder and billionaire Larry Ellison.
The reported price: $30 million. The sale was announced on the sanctuary’s website.
“After 58 years of leadership and dedication to wildlife, conservation and education, Lion Country Safari is saying farewell to the last members of its founding family, as ownership transitions to the Larry Ellison family who has a longstanding commitment to wildlife conservation,” management said in a statement posted on the attraction’s website.
“Our proud history and exemplary record in animal care, welfare and preservation will continue to be a core focus in the future,” the statement added. “Operations will continue as normal, and our commitment to engagement, guest experience and wildlife conservation remains unchanged.”
An Ellison foundation representative could not be immediately reached for comment.
Tourism, conservation, research
Over the years, Lion Country Safari has emerged as a multi-purpose attraction that has afforded millions of visitors a chance to observe hundreds of wild animals, and researchers opportunities to study their habits and tendencies.
Last year, the drive-through wildlife park in Loxahatchee was named the “Best Animal Encounter” in Newsweek’s 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards. In 2019, it opened a newly expanded water park.
This past summer, 12 lions became the subject of a study by Princeton University, the High Meadows Environmental Institute and National Geographic Society, which sought to learn how the powerful animals chase prey. The exercise had the subjects “racing through their enclosure after zebra-striped paper lures,” according to an account by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The 254-acre park, which opened in 1967, is located west of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, and north of Okeechobee Boulevard. Besides lions, according to the attraction’s website, 80 species reside at Lion Country Safari, including chimpanzees, giraffes, lions, ostriches, rhinos, zebras “and much more.”
Ellison, 81, who maintains a home in North Palm Beach, is reported by Forbes to have a net worth of $248.4 billion.
Wildlife conservation is one of many causes that benefits from Ellison’s philanthropic efforts. Earlier this year, a conservation center bearing his name opened in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains dedicated to helping sick and injured wildlife.
Located in Saratoga, California, The Larry Ellison Conservation Center for Wildlife Care is operated by the Peninsula Humane Society and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
