Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Good News York.
My name is Noah Chrysler. I am here today with
Jeff. Jeff, can you introduce yourself? Yes,
Jeff Taylor of The Wild, The Haven, Taylor's
Wilderness Safari. Absolutely. So tell people
what this actually is. What is The Wild? It is
a zoo. We have animals from all around the world.
It's a very interactive zoo up close with a wide
variety of animals. The guest experience is really
important to us. animals, lives are important,
their welfare. And it's just, you know, conservation
through education and promoting and, you know,
having people enjoy the park. Fantastic. So,
yeah, you guys are a zoo right here in Chittanango,
New York. Yeah. Yep. And and. We've walked around
a little bit and it's absolutely massive and
very beautiful. We also, so this is all brand
new. We are sitting in The Haven, yeah? Or the
venue that you have next to The Haven. Is this
technically The Haven? What is this? Where are
we sitting? This is The Haven. I purchased this
property a few years ago. It was an old dairy
farm and basically came up with the idea for
this. It's expanded a lot since then. Started
as just a wedding venue and since then it's...
basically transformed into it will be a full
concert venue, wedding venue, rooms you can stay
in with lions and tigers, cottages where you
see wolves. It'll be a full -blown resort so
there's going to be all the amenities that you'd
get at a resort right here in Chitango. I kind
of look at it as like when you go on a cruise
you have to offer different excursions and stuff
and that's where all my other businesses fit
in and we're just looking to expand and continue
and add businesses and different ideas that I
come up with and I come up with ideas and I have
just an amazing team that works on it and somehow
we always come through and they do a great job
with everything. Beautiful. Cool. Tell us about
so. So tell us specifically this your vision
for this space, right? So this you said this
is a wedding venue, but also a concert venue
as well. Yeah, so my passion is animals growing
up. I loved animals. I just always wanted to
build a zoo and so I try to theme everything
with that and the idea. The initial idea of it
was a wedding venue that sat on a savanna, just
like you're in Africa. So that's where this is
behind me, is a field of, in the summer and spring,
there's giraffe, there's zebra, there's wildebeest,
there's ostrich, there's African. Antelope right
out here. So during our weddings you can feed
giraffe and you just get to see them roaming
and it's a big area So it's like more of their
closer their natural environment as you can have
in captivity and then just the idea expanded
with the concerts and And I enjoy the concerts
personally, just because I like having them.
But it seems to have worked. We were labeled
by an article as the most unique concert venue
in the country. Just where else can you listen
to music and look out and see giraffe, like just
chilling out in the field. So that's really taken
off. We have a bunch of weddings booked. This
summer, we have a lineup we're looking to add
to. We've got Drake Milligan coming up in May.
He was on America's Got Talent. We have Avery
Anna, who's an up -and -coming country performer.
She actually just got nominated for an ACM New
Country Artist of the Year. We've got Buck Cherry
coming in July, Fourth of July. We've got a three
-day weekend. We're a Thursday night's Lakeview.
They're the country rock band. Friday night is
Montgomery Gentry. And then Saturday is Marshall
Tucker Band. Then we just announced that we booked
the band Perry, so a lot of concerts and big
events, and I think we've probably got six or
seven weddings. It's a unique place. There's
no other place where you can get married with
a giraffe right there. And we try to make it
really high -end facility, like try to go above
and beyond with everything here. We're going
to build a resort -style pool area. You can be
hanging out at the pool, and there's going to
be a flamingo exhibit next to it. So you'll just
look at the flamingos while you're hanging out.
No way. Yeah, we'll put a gym in. Oh, cool. We're
going to do pickleball, basketball, a lot of
different stuff, everything you could imagine.
Wow. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, a lot of stuff.
Very cool. So so the twenty twenty six season
is is opening up right now, right? It's spring
right now. We're going to open Saturday. Fantastic.
What new things can people expect at the wild
this year? Things that have. You know, we've
we've worked on some of the exhibits and redoing
some stuff. We've got some grizzly cubs for people
to see. They can just like normal get your picture
taken with the baby kangaroo. There's you can
feed the giraffe. Just a lot of stuff, you know.
We're just always trying to improve. We're working
on bringing back, we used to do animal shows,
live animal shows, tiger feeding and stuff. We
kind of got away from that just with the COVID
and the staffing issues and people really enjoyed
that. So we're actually gonna start doing tiger
shows again. I formed a non -for -profit called
Friends of the Wild. You know, we've got these
businesses and it's great, it's business, but
I'd also like to contribute to conservation and
it's also to enhance the lives of animals in
captivity. So we're gonna do some different things.
We're gonna do tiger feedings during... During
the tiger shows where you can pay to feed the
tigers get your picture taken feeding them and
all the money goes towards our non -for -profit
So it's from a safe distance. Everything's safe.
You're not going in sure. You're not handing
them a stick from your hand No, what are you
feeding a tiger during a tiger feed? So it's
it's meat beef chicken And they all have vitamins
mixed in with it. That's part of like with running
a zoo. It's very extensive. We go through between
eight to ten thousand pounds of meat every month.
Wow. Which is a lot. That's a that's a lot of
meat. But we have, you know, one of the biggest
private cat carnivore collections in the country.
It's kind of my passion of the cats and stuff.
So it's a lot of mouths to feed and want to make
sure they get everything they need. So absolutely.
How many how many cats do you have? Between 30
and 40, I think something like that. Yeah, so
and and you know my business we try to be self
-sufficient We try to do as much of our own construction
we can we also have a division that we do farming
We do all our own hay So I've got different farms
where we bail all the hay we put it away and
feed the animals So it's easy. It's it's better
to sustain ourselves and rely on other people
uh... so that's a whole nother aspect there's
a lot going on around here like always so i believe
it i don't know it's not so i i grew up on a
farm so it's kind of like i enjoy the farming
aspect of it on my father really helps out with
the hay and i'm just got a great team you know
everybody that works really hard and it makes
it all come together absolutely no yeah i mean
what a unique uh... what a unique business to
have here in Chittanango. I mean, that's incredible.
And I don't know, we've talked a little bit about
some of the progression of the business over
the years. Has it been difficult to kind of expand
the business and have you gotten pushback from
from the locals and that sort of thing? It's
been a battle for my 16th season. I've been fighting
from the beginning. You know, it's I push the
limits. I like self aware of that. So but if
I didn't push the limits, I'd probably never
be able to build a zoo in Chittanango. So but
it's been a constant. battle. It's been challenging,
but I'm a fighter. I don't like the point where
I kind of don't really enjoy it anymore. I'd
rather just have things go smoothly. My business
contributes so much to the community. Just you
know employment and helping other local businesses
and stuff. So that's where it gets frustrating
But sometimes I'm my own worst enemy and with
pushing the limits you kind of oh, yeah trouble
Yeah What are some things that you've learned
since since the start right in terms of you know?
Navigating that or even just operating the business
in general. So I used to like go by the Whole
it's easier to ask for forgiveness than to be
told no and I kind of ran out of forgiveness
So just trying to do things there with a hit
help within the right ways and I still can't
sell out and do it completely. No, I'm just kidding.
You know, that's the challenge. I like to just
do things, just get them done and stuff. And
I don't like red tape, and there's a lot of red
tape. I believe it. I believe it. And just working
with them. And I've got some great people on
the local level now that we'll work with. And
it's gotten to the point where I think that they
really want to see my business succeed, and they're
trying to help. It's challenging. It's not your
normal business. And I don't stop. And I keep
adding things and changing things and doing different
things. So it's challenging to navigate. But
we're trying to. have things in place to make
things a little bit easier. Yeah, absolutely.
I think one one thing in the back of people's
minds when they come to a zoo or they come to
things like that, you know, they want to make
sure that the animals are, you know, being treated
well and being taken care of. And it seems like
you're very thoughtful about that, you know,
with with habitats, with nutrition and that sort
of thing. Can you speak a little bit to that
some of the amenities that you provide the animals
to make sure they're? Yeah, you know, it's very
challenging. You know, we have, I don't know,
between six and eight hundred animals, which
is quite a lot. And it's a lot of mouths to feed.
And there's different diets, different vet care.
We have a vet that comes out twice a week or
emergency situations as needed. We really focus
a lot of effort on that. And it's challenging.
People, you could tell your doctor you're sick.
Animals, you have to pay attention to body language,
pay attention to body condition. Intellers, sometimes
you can't tell. So that's where it's very challenging.
Um, but we try to just, you know, do the best
we can for them and give them big habitats and
give them enrichment and give them things that
they can get out and move around. Um, and it's,
it's not easy, but they deserve it being in captivity.
And the other challenge thing is dealing with,
you know, there's a sector of animal rights people
and they're nuts. So they just, they don't even
want you to own a dog or cat. So, but it's easier
to, to go after a zoo than a dog or cat so you're
always fighting new laws that they push and it's
it's challenging so you try to just not give
them any material and it's very hard for people
to grasp the concept of you know life is there's
death and you know with people people's lifespan
i don't know 78 years and animals when you have
800 animals their lifespans range from you know
some are five years to 20 years and so shorter
time period things things will happen you don't
want it to you want them to live out their full
lifespan and in captivity they live a lot longer
than in the wild because they get health care
they get their diets they get everything the
sad thing about animals that are wild and their
natural habit is most of them die like of starvation
as they get older they break down they can't
hunt they can't find things and it's you know
it's a a bad way to go and obviously you know
in a perfect world We'd want everything to be
free roaming and be out there in their natural
environment, but it's not realistic as humanity
expands and cuts down their habitat. It's challenging,
and people will say, release them back to the
wild. One, an animal in captivity will not survive
in the wild. They can't learn to hunt. They just
wouldn't be able to function. But it's like,
where? Where do you want me to put them? They're
cutting down the forest. They're destroying the
rainforest. And that's where these animals in
captivity are basically like an ambassador for
the animals in the wild so that we can raise
awareness. We've gotten so far away from things
with social media and everything the phones and
I feel like you know you go to the zoo it takes
kids away from their phones and gives them a
break and actually makes them focus on on seeing
animal. You can see an animal on TV in a book
it's not the same as seeing a 500 pound tiger
like right there and you know talking about it
and feeding them it's just you know I uh I want
to have a positive impact and hopefully, you
know, educate people and that. And it's just,
it's the way that it has to be. If you don't
have them for kids to see up close like that,
there's not going to be the awareness that we
need to protect them. And they basically, it
needs to be put in front of your face. And I
feel like zoos are very, very important in that
aspect. For sure. For sure. Yeah. As far as,
you know, building this facility and taking care
of those animals. Do you have any guiding principles,
things that you keep in mind as you are taking
care of these animals and designing the systems
and things that help support these animals? Do
you have values that you like to adhere by to
make sure that the animals are well taken care
of? Yeah, you know, the challenging thing is...
We're so big now as finding quality employees
nowadays. We have some amazing employees. And
like I've said, people give me credit for building
this facility. I'm nothing without my team. I
mean, they do the work. I mean, this winter.
what they dealt with with the winter and the
freezing and the frozen water buckets and different
things like I give them all the credit in the
world because they're out there when it's you
know 20 blow they're taking care of animals and
it's not comfortable but they they work hard
and and but it's it's challenging you know we
find good people and try to keep them and but
You have to go through a few to get some good
ones. But I'm fortunate I do have some really
great employees. We try to push the team. We're
a giant team. Everybody working together have
their different parts. And that's where, yes,
I'm the owner. It's my business. But I'm nothing
without the people that work for me. And over
the course of the years, There's people that
have worked for me that are no longer here working,
but they were a contributor to get to the point
that I'm at now. I'm forever grateful for that.
If people leave, I wish them the best and success
because if they want to move on and do bigger
and better things, I'm always looking to do better
with my life. I hope they can do the same. It
kind of sucks when you lose good people, but
you can't. can't hold people back and you want
them to enjoy things and succeed as much as possible
also. Absolutely. Cool. Beautiful. Cool. The
2026 season opens on Saturday. How can people
find out, come out here and are there any like
events or things that you want people to come
to this this season? Yeah, we've got the wildpark
.com our website. Our social media pages are
big to follow because we list all our new events
and we do special events at the zoo. We do, you
know, Halloween nights. We do different things
throughout the end of school year bashes. And
then the Haven page. I think it's Havenofthewild
.com. And then we have our Haven Facebook page.
We have Instagram pages. And it's just the best
way to see concert updates and stuff. Everything
is just based on those pages. Visit the zoo.
You get tickets right at the door. Um, yeah,
just come check it out. I think, you know, people
will be surprised and our visitors tend to come
back and I greatly appreciate everyone that has
ever come and visit over the 16 years because
I can have all the ideas in the world, but I
can't build anything without the visitors that
are helping support us. And they're a big part
of where we're at today and the future. We have
a crazy amount of plans. Like it's only going
to get bigger and better and I'm not going to
ever stop. beautiful allowable jeff thank you
so much ladies and this is the news your thanks
so much for watching see you next time