What Is African Safari Wildlife Park (THE Ohio Safari Park)?

African Safari Wildlife Park — branded as THE Ohio Safari Park — is a drive-thru and walk-thru wildlife park in Ohio, near Cedar Point, where hundreds of animals from around the world come up to your vehicle or viewing path. It suits families and road-trippers looking for an interactive animal experience rather than a traditional zoo walk. The park's own description calls it "the Midwest's original drive-thru safari."

What the park offers

The park is built around two distinct ways to see animals, plus add-on encounters.

Drive-Thru Safari

You drive your own car through the route, and animals approach the vehicle — the park frames your car as "the best seat in the safari." According to the site, you can feed animals such as bison and get nose-to-nose with a giraffe, with species ranging "from Alpacas to Zebras."

Walk-Thru Safari

A separate walking area features animals including gibbons, capybaras, kangaroos, porcupines, and tortoises. You can also book an Animal Encounter to meet animals such as Cayenne the sloth and the capybaras up close.

Important timing note: the park states the Walk-Thru Safari is closed for the 2026 season and will return in May 2027. If the walk-thru portion is the main reason for your visit, plan around that closure.

What to know before you go

The park publishes a "Tips for Safari Success" section built on one idea: preparation means more time watching animals and less time troubleshooting. Key points from the site:

• Bring the right things. The park advises arriving prepared, since animals may interact with your feed cup and your window.
• Know what keeps you and the animals safe. Safety guidance applies to both directions — your behavior and the animals' wellbeing.
• Weather affects visibility. Animal health and safety is stated as the top priority, and certain warm-weather animals — giraffes and antelope among them — may not be visible on cooler or rainy days.

That last point matters most for planning: a cold or wet day can change which animals you actually see, so it's worth checking conditions before committing to a date if giraffes or antelope are your priority.

Conservation and science

The park positions visits as conservation support: "By visiting the Park, you're helping to protect animals in our backyard and around the world," with a dedicated Conservation & Science section. It also spotlights individual animals — for example Conrad, a young male Eastern bongo calf described as about one month old, learning from his mother. Eastern bongos are noted for chestnut coats, white stripes, large ears, and critically endangered status.

Quick reference

Is it right for your trip?

Choose it if you want an interactive, vehicle-based safari where animals come to you, and you're comfortable with animals approaching your car and taking feed. Check the Walk-Thru closure and the weather forecast first if either the walk-thru animals or the warm-weather species are what you're coming for. The park's own framing — "There's nothing else like it!" — rests on that drive-thru format being the Midwest's original, so the drive-thru is the core experience to plan around.