ABOUT
Eudora Wildlife Safari Park was founded by Mark Nisbet, and is the first drive-thru safari park in South Carolina. His history with care-taking for animals started during childhood. Mark was responsible for the care taking of the rabbits and chickens that lived on the balcony of his family’s apartment in Morganton, North Carolina. As the child of a teacher, value was heavily placed on education and conservation.
Eudora Wildlife Safari Park was built with the mindset of providing a Drive-Thru Safari experience that would address the education, preservation, conservation, and the protection of the environment for the entire community. The safari allows the public to view and feed exotic animals from around the world from the comfort of their own vehicles.
There is also an enclosed petting zoo area nearby, along with a Parakeet Adventure where over 200 parakeets make their dwelling. Eudora Wildlife Safari Park, with over 300 exotic animals, plans to acquire more animals as part of the safari expansion. There is a picnic area for the guest.
Mark decided to put a rush on finishing the giraffe exhibit and a few other things so they could open. The opening day was scheduled for Mother’s Day 2020. “Suddenly, we started to get publicity, news stations, and Facebook, the magic of social media! It coincided with a time when people didn’t have anything to do; they had to get out of the house and find something to do.” Mark stated, “When you hit your darkest times, there are a lot of variables trying to stop you. But like the Bible says, ‘In those times you’re close to getting overwhelmed with favor fromGod, you have to stay true to your dreams and push on'”.
“Eudora Farms opened several months earlier than expected, and we started to see a few cars show up for the drive-thru. And then, we had around a couple hundred visitors arrive in one day. We said to ourselves, “Well, this is amazing!”. We didn’t realize that the next day, word-of-mouth about the safari had grown like wildfire, and we had about 800 cars in one day.
Our team is currently in the process of developing a walk-thru trail with several different attractions. Walking along this leisurely route, guests will see ring-tailed lemurs, African servals, binturongs, a tortoise, and kangaroos. Guests will be able to sit and relax while enjoying the fresh air at park benches available throughout the trail. Currently, the walk-thru trail does not include any animal interactions, however, they are considering it in the upcoming months.
Eudora Farms had been around for years, it was the drive-thru safari park that became an overnight success. We couldn’t believe how quickly the safari had grown in a matter of a couple of months.”
Nisbet has three children who help manage Eudora Farms. His two sons, Travis, Tristan, and his daughter, Shelby, all work in pivotal key roles with the daily operations, maintenance, and development of the safari park. In addition, several staff members and volunteers all contribute to making the experience at Eudora Farms a fun and enjoyable experience for guests of every age that visit the park.
Eudora Farms LLC is licensed and inspected by the USDA.