Animal Healthcare
Animal Healthcare at Sustainable Safari
Sustainable Safari holds all life in the highest regard and understands that the best scenario for all species is to be free in their natural habitat. However, today’s Earth will never allow a perfect balance for all species. Therefore, Sustainable Safari accepts responsibility for all of our ambassador animals. We prioritize animal health by providing each species with specialty care, diet, enrichment, handling, & housing.
On this page, you will find information about our team, healthcare practices, and answers to your frequently asked questions.
You will also find quotes directly from the owner, Safari Bob!
Healthcare FAQ
How do we practice animal healthcare?
Every day, our healthcare team physically checks the entire animal list. This is known as ‘animal observations.’ They use our Animal Care Software templates to guide them through all the tasks involved in this process, then document them in the software for tracking, training, and welfare planning. Our enrichment team does the same to track the animals’ reactions to the daily/weekly/monthly programs they initiated for mental stimulation and activities. Our veterinarian is notified instantly, if needed, through this same system.
Things we look at daily through the templates:
- Physical Characteristics
- How the animal reacted to guests and keepers
- Any repetitive behaviors occurring, both good and bad
- Food intake and output
- Reactions to different enrichments given
- Medical needs and progress
- Enclosure maintenance
- Enclosure Cleaning needs
- Many other things can be noted and observed through the software templates.
Do the animals live at the Safari?
Sustainable Safari has a few locations that house our animals. Two are located indoors: Maplewood Mall and Burnsville Center, which are open to the public. The third location is an outdoor farm, where the public is not granted access, but all the licensed inspectors are. The farm is where specific animals are rotated to allow for outside time with extra running space and privacy. See our health care section on the rotation process.
Where do the animals come from?
Every animal has a different story of how we obtained it for our collection. They fall under a few categories: Rescues/Surrenders, Exchanges, and Purchases.
Rescues/Surrenders: Many of our animals have joined the Safari because they were in an unfit living situation. This is when someone should not be allowed to, or does not have/no longer has the means to house a certain animal. Although we do not have the capacity to take in every single animal in need of a new home, we have formed positive relationships with other facilities that have the proper accommodations.
Exchange Program: With these relationships, we participate in multiple exchange programs. These programs help provide animals with alternate homes and additional opportunities for captive breeding. One facility may not have the right fit for one animal that we do, and vice versa. Otherwise, we may be retiring an animal via this program (further information in the next FAQ).
Purchases: To purchase an animal, the facility it is coming from must hold a USDA license. This also goes for our exchange programs. No animals (with some reptile/amphibian exceptions) that we acquire come from facilities without this license. If we are acquiring animals without exchanging one of our own, that is classified as a purchase.
Note (via Bob): Several years ago we purchased some tenrecs from an unlicensed company and received a USDA noncompliance tag. “The situation was that this individual was licensed for years, did not inform me he had dropped the license, and I did not check before that purchase. I now check the status of anyone I have a planned transaction with before the deal happens.”
When is it time to retire animals?
We are predominantly an indoor petting zoo facility; several animals we have had over the years are large species and can not be housed with us past the juvenile stage. Examples include camel, zdonk, antelope, deer, and zebu. We raise these as babies and then partner with other zoos to rehome them once they reach a certain size or have a specific need. Some species just don’t do well in our facility, and we identify that through our health care teams and find a forever home early.
The animals must be drugged; how are they so calm?
We get accused of this more often than you think. No, we do not drug any animal so you can get close to it and feed it. That is illegal. The only time our animals will ever be medicated is for medical reasons. Any animal that you are allowed to make contact with at our facility has most likely been raised by hand with our staff. The animals that are most commonly asked about are our kangaroos.
Bob states that “every kangaroo here has been raised by my animal welfare team or myself. I believe that complaint of drugging comes from the Kangaroo pen itself. Kangaroos are nocturnal and will sometimes sleep almost 20 hours a day, and they do not fully close their eyes, so it can look like they are drugged. With hundreds of thousands of guests visiting us over the years, our animals have no fear or aggression toward people. We have raised many animals for other zoos over the years, and owners regularly tell us their animal is the calmest and tamest they have ever had to handle because of our handling/training skills.”
Poop Patrol
It all starts with poop!
It all starts here literally. Our entire staff starts at the POOP PATROL position and never leaves it. Our facility only works when we are clean. Yes, our staff advances in employment, but no one is exempt from cleaning. Poop is important to monitor; it tells us a lot about the animal’s digestive health, diet needs, and hydration. Shape, color, and smell are important health indicators. Every morning and throughout the day, our staff will monitor the POOP, clean it up, and transport it to a compost facility.
The Healthcare Team
Certified Vet Techs and Animal Enrichment Team
We have several full-time Licensed Veterinary Techs, a full-time Animal Diet Tech, and full-time Reptile Care and Animal Enrichment Coordinators at each location. With our Animal Care Software, our team can track, plan, and implement our Veterinary Care Plan, built on industry guidelines from partner USDA Licensed, AZA, and ZAA Accredited Facilities, all approved by our Veterinarian Team. Our Veterinarian is on call 24/7, and we have full access to their clinic facilities and multiple veterinarians to meet coverage needs and experience requirements.
Attending Veterinarian
Dr. Christy Lee
Dr. Christy Lee is a native Minnesotan with more than 20 years of veterinary experience and a passion for caring for animals of all kinds. Her journey to veterinary medicine began at St. Olaf College, where she combined pre-veterinary studies with a music degree. She then traveled to St. Kitts to earn her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine.
Following veterinary school, Dr. Lee completed a veterinary internship in wildlife rehabilitation at the Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife on Sanibel Island, Florida.
Throughout her career, Dr. Lee has had the privilege of working with an incredible variety of species, including companion animals, exotics, birds, reptiles, hobby farm animals, zoo animals, and wildlife. She thrives on the variety and believes that every animal—and every day—brings a new adventure.
Her experiences have also taken her beyond traditional veterinary practice. She has participated in a veterinary mission trip to Tanzania, working alongside local communities and caring for farm animals. In Mazunte, Mexico, she volunteers her surgical skills to help sterilize pets as part of efforts supporting sea turtle conservation.
Dr. Lee especially enjoys working with all the animals at the Safari. At home, her ‘zoo’ consists of two cats, a dog, and foster kittens with a local rescue. If you should require her services, stop by the Safari and ask management about how to reach her if she isn’t around.
Listen to this podcast about Christy Lee and her career on Spotify:
Healthcare Facility and Vet Clinic
Our Burnsville location has a small but fully operational miniature Vet Clinic on site. It includes X-ray, blood lab, microscopes, a Surgery Suite, a Dental Table, Oxygen, several scales, deep-freezing and cooling equipment, incubators, warmers, and ventilation systems. We have quarantine and recovery rooms available when needed and a strategic partnership with a local Veterinary Technician School.
The Maplewood location does not have a fully operational clinic, but it has quarantine rooms, lab equipment, scales, and everything needed to support our facility’s normal operations.
The Barn location is where we move our animals to be outside the mall, in fresh air, and away from the public. Our facility is built to meet the animals’ normal needs during their stay. If an emergency comes up, we have a partner veterinary facility nearby; otherwise, we transport our animals to the appropriate facility to meet their needs.
Ambassador Animals
Sustainable Safari is a hands-on operation, plain and simple, with animals in educational presentations and experiences during operating hours or offsite at events. When done correctly, it is a powerful tool for bonding messages about animal natural history and awareness of planetary issues and patterns. Because animals’ uniqueness varies endlessly in appearance, personality, needs, etc., each ambassador animal must be carefully chosen. An Ambassador Animal is defined as “animals that are presented by animal keepers or education staff to the public and commonly seen as part of free or paid conservation education and outreach programs.” Some animals serve as Ambassador Animals full-time, while others do so only occasionally. Ambassador Animal Accreditation (AAA) Standards apply to all our animals at all times, whether on display or off at another location. All our animals are born and raised in captivity and have never been in the ‘wild,’ nor can they be released into the ‘wild.’ Animals raised in captivity bond with humans, or are human-imprinted, and cannot fend for themselves like wild animals. We acquire all our animals through legal processes and from other licensed facilities such as AZA/ZAA Zoos.
“Animal Under Veterinary Care” Signs at the Safari
Throughout the Zoo, you will see signs like this one. They let you (our guests) know that we are aware of a visible issue and a veterinarian is currently treating it. It could be a scratch, patch of hair loss, feather loss, weird shedding, etc. Animals, just like human kids, get boo-boos in their everyday lives, and with our exceptional staff and health care team, we catch those issues quickly and address them. These signs are meant to calm your nerves and ease any stress or misunderstandings about the care we provide for our animals. We remove the sign once our Vet has cleared them for all treatments.
Animal Rotations (Outdoor Time)
“For the past 25 years, we have built an animal facility at our home because, like most people, I want to be around cool animals, provide for them, and experience their glory and uniqueness. Sustainable Safari was built in malls because of Minnesota’s seasonal complexities and my desire to let people enjoy them year-round. But because of weather and city codes, this couldn’t happen at my home. I believe (just like all of you) that the animals need to be outside and in fresh air as much as possible, so our home is still the base for moving the animals to the farm on rotations per our healthcare team’s plans. Of course, weather is a major factor in our decisions about moving them around. Kangaroos do not like the cold, but sheep and camels do, so our plans are built around animals’ needs. We don’t rotate every animal regularly because a scary environment can harm their health, including weather, predators, bugs, heat/cold, airplanes, fireworks, parasites, etc. Example: a single feral cat can wipe out a kangaroo mob with a single infected poop in their enclosure. Cats carry toxoplasmosis and can kill Kangaroos without much notice. We plan animal rotations with many factors to keep the animals healthy and happy.”
-Safari Bob
License Process
The inspection process for Sustainable Safari typically lasts two full days. When an inspector arrives, they identify themselves, and we get started immediately. We start by walking the entire property while they take notes on the animals present, enclosure conditions, cleanliness, food served, water sources, shelters, animals’ appearance, public interactions, staff availability, and everything in between. They will interview our staff about care instructions, interview the food team and health team, and call the Vet (if not on site) to get a full picture of the operation. Then we go to the food prep and storage areas to inspect everything as you would in a human restaurant, then move to the vet areas and repeat the process. Once we’ve addressed all areas, we sit in the office and review each animal’s personal records, vaccination plans, and history. After everything is reviewed, the inspector publishes a report, and we talk through it and discuss any needed improvements. Keep in mind these inspections are 100% unannounced; they show up without giving notice (which is good for them to see how we usually operate). Before we became Sustainable Safari, the zoo was called Cock-A-Doodle Zoo and didn’t have the staff numbers we do now. The owner, Bob, had a regular job, so we did have several noncompliance write-ups for not being home to meet the inspector at the Barn Facility. This isn’t an issue unless it happens on back-to-back occasions, which makes it look like you’re hiding from them.
Sustainable Safari has been licensed by the USDA and DNR for over 20 years now and hasn’t had a critical violation from either licensing body. A typical inspection write-up has three different noncompliance levels. First, what we all hope for is a perfect inspection with no noncompliances noted. Second is having one or more noncompliances written out that need attention and/or repairs. These could include needed maintenance, being unavailable for an inspection, missing paperwork, expired medications in the med inventory, etc. Noncompliances are write-ups that don’t directly affect animal welfare. Lastly is an inspection report with a critical violation. A critical violation is typically when an animal loses its life due to preventable circumstances, human neglect causing animal harm, an animal in immediate need that has not been granted to it, or an animal escape.
USDA, DNR, Board of Animal Health – Results
Notes on Noncompliances from the Sustainable Safari Owner, Safari Bob:
- Report 12/29/21 – I purchased 20 tenrecs from a former Licensee, but I did not know at the time that he had dropped his USDA license. Correction: I double-check all background licenses prior to obtaining any animals, with no assumptions.
- Report 4/3/25 – We were in Duck breeding season, and our Drakes were actively trying to populate the globe. For anyone who doesn’t know how ducks breed, the drake will climb on the back of the hen pushing them to the ground and grabbing their neck and head with their bills. They clamp down as best they can while tearing feathers from the neck, head, and body in the process. A customer complained that the ducks were being uncared for and abused when, in fact, everything was normal activity. Correction made – We separated the sexes and allowed feathers to regrow till the process starts over. On two occasions, our inspector wrote a noncompliance for the duck water pond not being sufficient in size for all the animals to enter the water at the same time. The USDA produces a manual of the rules we must follow to be a license holder. The section the inspector used for this noncompliance was not written the way it was interpreted for the inspection. I filed a review of this complaint and was denied twice. I stated the rules in place for us to follow do not say all birds must be able to enter the water at the exact same time, but that all the birds must have a water source to allow for normal behaviors at their access. After multiple visits to AZA-accredited facilities and seeing that their duck-off-season ponds were exactly like ours, I filed another appeal with the USDA asking why it’s OK for AZA facilities to use such water sources but not us! This time I was granted the appeal, but they would not erase the previous noncompliances due to time lapses.
- Report 9/3/24 – Noncompliance of not having lids on our trash cans; easy fix; we now have lids. Second noncompliance – Scratched wood on the outside of the Lemur enclosure – another easy fix; we just painted it up. And the third noncompliance was inaccurate animal inventory records. We had not transferred the movements of several animals between locations when they are shifted around. The correction we made is to update all records before loading the animals to ensure we don’t forget again.
- 7/15/25 We had the second duck pond issue (see 4/3/25 report and explanation). Second issue: mouse droppings were heavy in a back-room kitchen area with run-down cabinets and clutter. Correction: we were just being more observant and diligent with pest control and cleaning, and the cabinets and walls have since been replaced.
- 9/13/23 Had two noncompliances at our barn. First, I needed to add additional structure to house the Ducks and emus from the weather; second, I needed to create an enrichment program for all our bird species. This plan was in place, but I hadn’t had my vet sign off on it, so in the inspector’s eyes, it didn’t exist.