Hollywild Animal Park is a largely unknown animal refuge in upstate South Carolina that specializes in caring for animals that have been involved in television and film.
Hollywild’s animals have appeared in numerous national advertising campaigns, photo shoots, brochures, art exhibits, conferences, private parties and nativities. The hand-reared animals and David’s expert handling make them adaptable to many environments, including movie sets. David and his animals have appeared in films from Barbra Streisand’s Prince of Tides, and Tom Cruise’s Days of Thunder. David worked on location in Utah filming Steven King’s The Stand, and on the Christmas movie Prancer. Pippi’s spotted horse from The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking and one of the models for Disney’s The Lion King are favorite residents at Hollywild. These projects have provided a solid financial backbone for the park for many years, and led to the renaming of the zoo to Hollywild Animal Park to reflect the Hollywood connection.
Hollywild keeps pretty regular hours from March–October, but you should check the website before planning a trip. There are some exotic animals around the perimeter, including lions, tigers, bears, and wolves, but the rest is basically a large petting zoo.
This attraction is best suited to small kids that want to bottle-feed goats or toss crackers and stale bagels to docile bison, bulls, and cows. None of the feed is included in the daily rate, so plan for that expense.
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