H26 | PROGRESS 2024 | August 31 & SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 | BRAINERD DISPATCH/ECHO JOURNAL
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Animals from all over the world right here in Brainerd BY CAROLINE JULSTROM Brainerd Dispatch BRAINERD — It all started with a pet raccoon. Kevin Vogel and his wife, Kelly, have been running Safari North Wildlife Park in Brainerd for 12 years, but Vogel said his love of collecting animals began when he was a child. One of his friends had a pet raccoon, he asked his dad if he could have one too, and, as he said, “it’s all been downhill since then.” Safari North sports a 10-acre safari experience, camel rides, a petting zoo, a parakeet encounter and a chance to feed giraffes. The zoo is home to more than 120 animal species, most of which stay in Brainerd year-round, taking shelter in heated barns during the colder months. The exceptions to this rule, the alligators whose enclosure was broken into by a parkgoer in pursuit of her wallet in 2020, are rented from a provider in Georgia. General admission day passes can be purchased in person or online for $19.99 for adults or $15.99 for children 12 and under. Vogel said he and other zoo owners discuss ticket pricing with each other to make sure they’re not over or under-charging. Vogel said he leans on his staff to make the complicated work of maintaining a zoo possible. “To do a business like this, you have to be a politician, a banker, a marriage counselor, a veterinarian, a carpenter, electrician, a plumber,” Vogel said. “I mean it covers all bases of everything possible.” Vogel said it can be difficult to give up control over jobs to delegate them to other staff, but learning how to do it comes with age. Safari North employs about 30 people during the summer, around 10 of which are fulltime employees. “Our zookeepers are really good,” Vogel said. “We have a good, good staff. They’re out here, you know, they’re with the (animals) every single day, and they know if something’s off a little bit.” Safari North also has a veterinarian do monthly herd health checkups on their animals, to ensure they are healthy and happy. For miscellaneous health needs, Vogel said he’s built up a network of colleagues he can contact if he or his staff notices a problem. Because many of Safari North’s positions are seasonal jobs, there are a few young people who work there in the summer, when they’re off school. Aiden Davis, 14, was handing out sticks covered in seeds for attendees to the parakeet encounter. Davis said the
Kevin Vogel with Gunnar the Rhino at Safari North. Tuesday July 2, 2024.
Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
People feeding giraffes at Safari North. Tuesday July 2, 2024. birds might get a little annoying sometimes, but the job was worth it because not many places hired people his age. Alexis Johnson also started working at Safari North when she was 14 and, four summers later, she’s still there. Though Johnson does a variety of things at the zoo, this time she was manning the carrot stand at the giraffe feeding station. “I’m loving it,” Johnson said with a smile. Johnson said she enjoyed seeing people’s faces as they look at the animals, especially happy children.
Leopards at Safari North. Tuesday July 2, 2024.
Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
Safari North’s animal care team is currently made up of about seven people who are responsible for the animals’ feeding, cleaning and other chores. Tori Narlock, Meghan Lacy, Mercedes Julifs and Grace Gumiela are among the members of the animal care team. “So the station workers work more with the public and the people, handing out food for feeding,” Lacy said. “And instead we come in early mornings, we let everything out, which sometimes is difficult because sometimes the bears don’t want to come out. We have to try and coax them out with treats. Then we prep all of our food, chop up a lot of things, and then we do our loops. We all kind of have a system and we all feed different animals each day and — yeah.” “Yeah,” Narlock said. “And then the last two of us in the day put everything back in!” The women seem to enjoy their job, but it’s not without its hazards. “Grace has a problem with the birds,” Lacy said. “Yeah, your rose breasted cockatiel got me in the ear yesterday,” Gumiela said to Vogel. “Because I’m the only one that wears earrings! I think it’s something shiny and new that they’re like, ‘Yeah!’” Vogel said Julifs had been working at Safari North since she was around 15, when the zoo opened. “Those girls are rockstars,” Vogel said. “We couldn’t have a better team
than them.” Besides bears and bitey birds, the zoo houses a wide range of animals including Capuchin monkeys, tigers, capybara, pallas cats, foxes and wolves. New to Safari North this summer are Gunnar the Rhino, a southern white rhino whose enclosure neighbors the giraffes, and the zoo’s very own clouded leopards, who have yet to be named. Before labor, Vogel said Safari North costs about $100,000 to run. He couldn’t pinpoint how much they spent on food, but said all the meat they purchased for the animals probably amounted to 30 or 40 thousand dollars. Vogel said his son, Zack Vogel, 20, and daughter, Cheyanne Vogel, 26, seem perfectly poised to take up the family business. While Zack Vogel is currently enrolled in Central Lakes College and studying welding, his father said he’s interested in the physical aspects of maintaining the zoo. Cheyanne Vogel, on the other hand, is very interested in animals. Together, their interests make up two halves of a whole zoo. Although Vogel didn’t have any specific plans for the business’s future, he said Safari North will continue to expand in size, attractions, and visitor growth. Vogel said the zoo is making improvements to itself all the time. CAROLINE JULSTROM, intern, may be reached at 218-855-5851 or cjulstrom@brainerddispatch.com.
Baxter | Crosslake | Nisswa Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch Kevin Vogel at Safari North. Tuesday July 2, 2024.