Community Corner

Six Flags Shutting Car Access to Wild Safari Soon

The Jackson theme park announced the change Monday, but won't address Wild Safari's future until Aug. 30.

If driving through a faux safari while animals hungrily eye your takeout is your thing, pack the kids in the car and hurry to Six Flags Wild Safari in Jackson before Sept. 30.

The amusement park announced Monday it will close Wild Safari—billed as the “largest drive-thru safari outside of Africa”—to private cars at the end of September, according to the Six Flags Great Adventure’s Facebook page.

Since the 1970s, the Jackson amusement park has allowed patrons to drive their own cars through the 350-acre “safari.” The 1,200 animals housed on the preserve include lions, kangaroos and giraffes, many of which roam free amid the cars driving through the park. No doubt plenty of New Jerseyans have childhood memories of baboons surrounding their cars and doggedly scratching at windows for food.

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Six Flags left some mystery to its announcement. While private cars will be banned after Sept. 30, there is no word on whether the park will continue next year with the bus tours it currently offers. Nor did officials offer a reason for the private car ban or for why the park is closing a month earlier than usual this year, according to The Star-Ledger.

“More to come when we release the details for our 2013 season on Aug. 30, 2012,” the theme park’s Facebook post said.

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In June 2011, a young baboon escaped from Wild Safari, carousing through Monmouth and Ocean counties before . It was just the an animal escaped from the park in its history.

What do you think Six Flags should do with Wild Safari? Vote in our poll and tell us in the comments.


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