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NOVA Wild

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Coordinates: 38°34′54″N 77°11′06″W / 38.5817°N 77.1850°W / 38.5817; -77.1850
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NOVA Wild is a 30-acre (12-hectare) family zoo located at 1228 Hunter Mill Road in Reston, Virginia.[1] Visitors can enjoy a self-drive-through Safari with zebras, bison, llamas and more, a walking tour with cheetahs, capybaras, kangaroos, sloths, and more, camel rides, and a bird aviary. The zoo has over 50 species of animals.[2][3]

History

In 1975, local developer and entrepreneur Mack Slye "Jack" Crippen Jr. opened the Pet-A-Pet Farm on a 60-acre (24.28-hectare) parcel he owned near Lake Fairfax Park, which he had developed in the 1960s and later sold to Fairfax County.[4][5] Crippen had been a collector of exotic animals for a few years, and the closing of ABC's 280-acre (113.31-hectare) Largo Wildlife Preserve in Prince George's County, Maryland and the availability of its menagerie was the trigger for his venture.[4][6]

After operating Pet-A-Pet for a few years and losing nearly $200,000 in the venture, Crippen decided to close it in 1978, selling off or giving away most of the 500 animals at the petting zoo.[4] The last animal to be rehomed was a 17-year-old female Asian elephant named Topsy, who originally supposed to be sent to the Portland Zoo in February 1979, but the deal fell through and Topsy instead wound up in a circus, where she was euthanized after injuring a trainer.[4][7]

However, Mark Smith, an employee of the Zoological Consortium, a professional management group which had been brought in by Crippen to help dispose of all the animals at Pet-A-Pet, decided to try to reopen the park.[4][8] Smith was able to find a financial backer in Loudoun businessman Robert D. Johnson, and the new zoo, now named Pet Farm Park, opened in the spring of 1980.[8]

In 1993, Pet Farm Park was renamed Reston Animal Park.

In 1994 Johnson and his wife, Shirley, sued Mack Crippen for violating an agreement over the rental of the park property, but eventually reached an agreement that would allow the couple to continue to rent the property, now reduced to 30 acres (12 hectares), for the next five years.[9][10]

When the lease ran out in 1999, the Johnsons were not able to reach a new lease agreement with Mack Crippen and moved Reston Animal Park to a rented location on the Sunshine Farms in Loudoun County.[11] Eventually, Johnson would change the name to the Leesburg Animal Park in 2001.

As the zoning for the location required that it be used as either a zoo or become open space, Crippen leased the location to Eric and Janet Mogensen, who moved in new animals and opened the Reston Zoo in the spring of 2000.[12] Following Mack Crippen's death in 2006, the Mogensens bought the property from Crippen's estate in 2009.[13]

In 2012, the Reston Zoo was embroiled in controversy when its director, Meghan Mogensen, was found guilty of illegal possession of animal anesthesia and animal cruelty after drowning a wallaby in a bucket. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail.[14] After appealing a guilty verdict, Mogensen pleaded guilty in January 2013. Part of her plea agreement prohibited her from overseeing animal euthanization.[15]

Prior to opening for the season in March 2016, the Reston Zoo was purchased by Vanessa Stoffel and Jacob Roer, who changed its name to Roer's Zoofari.[16][17]

On the afternoon of Monday March 8, 2021, a fire burned one of the large two-story barns, killing two giraffes.[18]

On December 30, 2022, local Tara Campbell Lussier purchased the land and Zoo and reopened it as NOVA Wild in the Spring of 2023. [19] NOVA Wild is dedicated to animal welfare, education and conservation and their team has made many improvements and renovations to revitalize Reston's beloved local Zoo. [20]

Animals

References

  1. ^ Masterson, Sarah K. (30 September 2008). DC Baby: Revised Second Edition. DC BABY, Revised 2nd Edition. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-9774494-1-5. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  2. ^ {{cite web|url=https://novawild.org/visit-the-zoo/2021
  3. ^ {{cite web|url=https://novawild.org/meet-the-animals/
  4. ^ a b c d e Collins, Dennis (8 February 1979). "Topsy: From the Big Top to a Children's Petting Farm, Elephant Bids Triumphant Farewell to Stardom". The Washington Post. ProQuest 147088490.
  5. ^ Sullivan, Patricia (16 February 2006). "'Jack' Crippen; Storied Operator Of 'Stump Dump,' Animal Farm". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  6. ^ Diehl, Jackson (16 November 1978). "Zoo to Bring Animals Within Visitors' Reach". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  7. ^ Green, Alan (1999). Animal Underworld: Inside America's Black Market for Rare and Exotic Species. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1586483746.
  8. ^ a b Johnson, Janis (10 July 1980). "Antlers Aweigh! Pet Farm Is Back, Full of Soft Touches". The Washington Post. ProQuest 147135570.
  9. ^ Mariano, Ann (5 February 1994). "But What Would Dr. Doolittle Think? Family Sues Over Lease of Reston Pet Farm". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  10. ^ Lipton, Eric (3 December 1994). "Animal Park Won't Roam From Reston". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  11. ^ Hedgpeth, Dana (10 October 1999). "Animal Park Finds Room to Roost". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  12. ^ Branigin, William (28 July 2000). "Roamin' Empire Fights Sprawl". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  13. ^ Zeidner, Rita (15 October 2011). "A suburban home where buffalo, zebras and peahens roam". The Washington Post. ProQuest 898376475.
  14. ^ MacDonald, Gregg (5 January 2013). "Reston Zoo Director pleads guilty to animal cruelty". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  15. ^ Goff, Karen (3 January 2013). "Zoo Director Pleads Guilty in Wallaby Death". Reston Patch. Patch.com. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  16. ^ Goff, Karen (14 March 2016). "New Name, New Ownership for The Reston Zoo". Reston Now. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  17. ^ "Reston Zoo to Reopen With New Name, New Owners". NBC Washington. NBCUniversal Media. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  18. ^ Blitz, Matt (21 March 2021). "Roer's Zoofari has reopened, days after a fire killed two giraffes". Reston Now. Local News Now LLC. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  19. ^ "Former Reston Zoo sells to serial entrepreneur, will reopen as Nova Wild".
  20. ^ "NOVA Wild About".

38°34′54″N 77°11′06″W / 38.5817°N 77.1850°W / 38.5817; -77.1850

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