ALAMO, Tenn. – Close-up photos of animals aren’t guaranteed at traditional zoos, but they are a breeze at drive-through attractions such as the Tennessee Safari Park between Nashville and Memphis. Sometimes, extreme close-ups are possible, as when a hungry ostrich sticks its long neck into the passenger cabin of your vehicle in search of one more mouthful of food. The fun – sometimes the wild and unexpected fun – at the Tennessee Safari Park comes because visitors get to feed animals by extending buckets of special feed out of their vehicles’ windows.

The park offers a 7.5-mile meandering drive through 300-acres of Tennessee farmland that 2,800 animals call home. They are all herbivores – llamas, alpacas, 14 antelope species, giraffes, kangaroos, cranes, bison, zebras, camels, emus, ostriches and more. Some animals ignore passing vehicles, while others crowd around any open window looking for a snack. A walk-through area complements the safari drive. That area includes opportunities to hand-feed carrots to giraffes and to watch goats jockey for position to get another nibble.

Gobble, gobble

Gobbling is the noise turkeys make, but gobbling is what ostriches do when offered a snack at the Tennessee Safari Park. No one would accuse these big birds of being neat eaters. Image by Tom Adkinson

May I come in?

When the feed bucket comes back in the car, the safari’s advice is to raise the window quickly. Otherwise, a hungry ostrich can start scouting for the feed bucket in a split second. An intrusive ostrich knows to retreat when the window does start to move. Image by Tom Adkinson

Staring contest

The Tennessee Safari Park’s inventory includes 14 species of antelopes, some of which are content to engage in staring contests to see whether you are just observing or want to offer something to eat. Image by Tom Adkinson

Curious camel

This curious camel could reach only so far over a fence to inspect the prospect of a tasty handout from this young guest. Image by Tom Adkinson

Cooling off

Runoff from a summer rain in a shallow ravine provided this trio of antelopes a convenient place to cool off and play hide-and-seek with vehicles that passed by. Image by Tom Adkinson

Feed me, feed me

Sometimes it’s a team effort to get Tennessee Safari Park visitors to crack a window and offer a bite to eat. Here, an emu and a llama work on the driver, while an alpaca ties passengers on the other side of the car. Image by Tom Adkinson

Insatiable goats

The walk-through portion of the Tennessee Safari Park lets visitors get close – but not too close – to overly eager goats that never turn down free food. Image by Tom Adkinson

A lesson on a T-shirt

“Don’t pet the fluffy cows” is the sly message that the Tennessee Safari Park’s bison are not to be trifled with. A section of the drive-through safari does contain bison, and their size and strength are obvious as you pass by. Image by Tom Adkinson

Trip-planning resources:
TennesseeSafariPark.com and TNvacation.com


(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available on Amazon.com.)