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A roadside zoo and traveling menagerie previously known as Barn Hill Preserve has changed its name to try to “rebrand” after over a decade of animal exploitation—but there’s nothing new about it. At both the facility’s main location in Ethel, Louisiana (now called Magnolia Wilds), and its sister location in Frankford, Delaware (now known as Coastal Wilds), crowds attended gimmicky events based on direct contact animal encounters, such as a yoga class inside a kangaroo pen and a wine-tasting event in which attendees could take selfies with sloths. Magnolia Wilds and Coastal Wilds have both continued to host their exploitative events after their “rebrand.” Public interactions like these subject the animals to the stress of irregular sleep, loud noises, and mishandling by strangers.
USDA inspectors found otters at Magnolia Wilds in Louisiana kept in ramshackle cages with broken wires and tarps, which the animals were seen chewing on, risking their health and well-being.
Wild animals normally evade human contact, so the trauma of continual public interaction often leads to dangerous incidents. Despite knowing that it’s natural for otters to respond to perceived threats with aggression, Magnolia Wilds hosts “swim with otters” encounters, and multiple guests have been bitten as a result. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited Barn Hill Preserve for numerous violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, including an incident in which a worker dropped a tub on an 8-month-old otter, causing fatal injuries to the animal.
Magnolia Wilds exploits animals in these lucrative public encounters and then purportedly sends some of its profits to wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organizations around the world. Don’t be fooled! No amount of support of legitimate efforts can justify forcing sensitive wild animals into stressful public interactions with strangers. This is exploitation, period—not conservation, education, or rehabilitation.
Treating wild animals as props for entertainment is an example of speciesism—the human-supremacist worldview that disregards other animals’ complex needs, desires, and feelings. Please ask Magnolia Wilds to recognize that animals deserve better than to be used as selfie spectacles, end all animal encounters, and send the animals to reputable facilities where they could get the expert care they desperately need. You may edit the template letter below to share in your own words why you won’t support this cruelty.