NOVA Wild

NOVA Wild, formerly known as Roer's Zoofari, or simply called the Reston Zoo, is a {{convert|30|acre|ha|adj=on}} zoo in Reston, Virginia.{{cite book |last=Masterson |first=Sarah K. |title=DC Baby: Revised Second Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AS90XHOySEwC&pg=PA175 |access-date=31 March 2011 |date=30 September 2008 |publisher=DC BABY, Revised 2nd Edition |isbn=978-0-9774494-1-5 |page=175}} The zoo features a self-drive-through Safari with zebras, bison, and llamas, and a walking tour with cheetahs, capybaras, kangaroos, sloths, camel rides, and a bird aviary. The zoo has over 50 species of animals.{{cite web |url=https://novawild.org/visit-the-zoo/2021 |title=Visit the Zoo |publisher=NOVA Wild |access-date=23 November 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://novawild.org/meet-the-animals/ |title=Meet the Animals |publisher=NOVA Wild |access-date=23 November 2023}}

History

=20th century=

In 1975, local developer and entrepreneur Mack Slye "Jack" Crippen Jr. opened the Pet-A-Pet Farm on a 60-acre (24.28-hectare) parcel he owned near Lake Fairfax Park, which he had developed in the 1960s and later sold to Fairfax County, Virginia.{{Cite news |title=Topsy: From the Big Top to a Children's Petting Farm, Elephant Bids Triumphant Farewell to Stardom |last=Collins |first=Dennis |date=8 February 1979 |work=The Washington Post |id={{ProQuest|147088490}}}}{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Patricia |title='Jack' Crippen; Storied Operator Of 'Stump Dump,' Animal Farm |work=The Washington Post |date=16 February 2006 |access-date=24 October 2015 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502630.html}} Crippen had been a collector of exotic animals for a few years, and the closing of ABC's 280-acre (113.31-hectare) Largo Wildlife Preserve in Prince George's County, Maryland and the availability of its menagerie was the trigger for his venture.{{cite news |last=Diehl |first=Jackson |title=Zoo to Bring Animals Within Visitors' Reach |work=The Washington Post |date=16 November 1978 |access-date=24 October 2015 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/11/16/zoo-to-bring-animals-within-visitors-reach/0a4adb32-3c99-4eab-b949-bd4f7840bdbf/}}

After operating Pet-A-Pet for a few years and losing nearly $200,000 in the venture, Crippen decided to close it in 1978, selling off or giving away most of the 500 animals at the petting zoo. The last animal to be rehomed was a 17-year-old female Asian elephant named Topsy, who originally supposed to be sent to the Portland Zoo in February 1979, but the deal fell through and Topsy instead wound up in a circus, where she was euthanized after injuring a trainer.{{cite book |last=Green |first=Alan |title=Animal Underworld: Inside America's Black Market for Rare and Exotic Species |url=https://archive.org/details/animalunderworld0000gree |url-access=registration |publisher=PublicAffairs |location=New York |year=1999 |isbn=978-1586483746}}

Mark Smith, an employee of the Zoological Consortium, a professional management group, which had been brought in by Crippen to help dispose of all the animals at Pet-A-Pet, decided to try to reopen the park.{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Janis |title=Antlers Aweigh! Pet Farm Is Back, Full of Soft Touches |work=The Washington Post |date=10 July 1980 |id={{ProQuest|147135570}}}} Smith was able to find a financial backer in Loudoun businessman Robert D. Johnson, and the new zoo, now named Pet Farm Park, opened in the spring of 1980.

In 1993, Pet Farm Park was renamed Reston Animal Park.

In 1994, Johnson and his wife, Shirley, sued Mack Crippen for violating an agreement over the rental of the park property, but eventually reached an agreement that would allow the couple to continue to rent the property, now reduced to 30 acres (12 hectares), for the next five years.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/realestate/1994/02/05/but-what-would-dr-doolittle-think-family-sues-over-lease-of-reston-pet-farm/5902400d-a5e2-4e67-8c2d-ac7d604127a1/ |title=But What Would Dr. Doolittle Think? Family Sues Over Lease of Reston Pet Farm |last=Mariano |first=Ann |date=5 February 1994 |work=The Washington Post |access-date=24 October 2015}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1994/12/03/animal-park-wont-roam-from-reston/5b3150b8-2b62-4eed-abde-78601f671cca/ |title=Animal Park Won't Roam From Reston |last=Lipton |first=Eric |date=3 December 1994 |work=The Washington Post |access-date=24 October 2015}}

When the lease ran out in 1999, the Johnsons were not able to reach a new lease agreement with Mack Crippen and moved Reston Animal Park to a rented location on the Sunshine Farms in Loudoun County.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1999/10/10/animal-park-finds-room-to-roost/727f388b-b188-4b40-814e-1c3b67dd439c/ |title=Animal Park Finds Room to Roost |last=Hedgpeth |first=Dana |date=10 October 1999 |work=The Washington Post |access-date=24 October 2015}} Eventually, Johnson would change the name to the Leesburg Animal Park in 2001.

=21st century=

As the zoning for the location required that it be used as either a zoo or become open space, Crippen leased the location to Eric and Janet Mogensen, who moved in new animals and opened the Reston Zoo in the spring of 2000.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/07/28/roamin-empire-fights-sprawl/ca4b3ef1-fd79-4f3e-a269-43e07fb24395/ |title=Roamin' Empire Fights Sprawl |last=Branigin |first=William |date=28 July 2000 |work=The Washington Post |access-date=24 October 2015}} Following Mack Crippen's death in 2006, the Mogensens bought the property from Crippen's estate in 2009.{{Cite news |title=A suburban home where buffalo, zebras and peahens roam |last=Zeidner |first=Rita |date=15 October 2011 |work=The Washington Post |id={{ProQuest|898376475}}}}

In 2012, the Reston Zoo was embroiled in controversy when its director, Meghan Mogensen, was found guilty of illegal possession of animal anesthesia and animal cruelty after drowning a wallaby in a bucket. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail.{{Cite news |title=Reston Zoo Director pleads guilty to animal cruelty |last=MacDonald |first=Gregg |url=https://www.loudountimes.com/news/reston-zoo-director-pleads-guilty-to-animal-cruelty/article_24d3ea38-c9e3-5e7f-8b02-73e5350e8653.html |work=Loudoun Times-Mirror |date=5 January 2013 |access-date=5 October 2021}} After appealing a guilty verdict, Mogensen pleaded guilty in January 2013. Part of her plea agreement prohibited her from overseeing animal euthanization.{{cite news |last=Goff |first=Karen |title=Zoo Director Pleads Guilty in Wallaby Death |work=Reston Patch |publisher=Patch.com |date=3 January 2013 |access-date=24 October 2015 |url=http://reston.patch.com/articles/zoo-head-enters-guilty-plea-in-wallaby-death}}

Prior to opening for the season in March 2016, the Reston Zoo was purchased by Vanessa Stoffel and Jacob Roer, who changed its name to Roer's Zoofari.{{cite news |last=Goff |first=Karen |title=New Name, New Ownership for The Reston Zoo |url=https://www.restonnow.com/2016/03/14/new-name-new-ownership-for-reston-zoo/ |work=Reston Now |date=14 March 2016 |access-date=11 September 2016}}{{cite news |title=Reston Zoo to Reopen With New Name, New Owners |url=http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Reston-Zoo-to-Reopen-with-New-Name-and-New-Owners-372591781.html |work=NBC Washington |publisher=NBCUniversal Media |date=18 March 2016 |access-date=11 September 2016}}

On the afternoon of Monday March 8, 2021, a fire burned one of the large two-story barns, killing two giraffes.{{cite news |title=Roer’s Zoofari has reopened, days after a fire killed two giraffes |last=Blitz |first=Matt |url=https://www.restonnow.com/2021/03/19/roers-zoofari-has-reopened-days-after-a-fire-killed-two-giraffes |work=Reston Now |publisher=Local News Now LLC |date=21 March 2021 |access-date=5 October 2021}}

On December 30, 2022, local Tara Campbell Lussier purchased the land and Zoo and reopened it as NOVA Wild in the Spring of 2023.{{cite news |title=Former Reston Zoo sells to serial entrepreneur, will reopen as Nova Wild |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2023/02/03/reston-zoo-sold-nova-wild-hunter-mill.html}} NOVA Wild is dedicated to animal welfare, education and conservation and their team has made many improvements and renovations to revitalize Reston's beloved local zoo.{{cite web |title=NOVA Wild About |url=https://novawild.org/about/}}

On April 17, 2025; People were caught on camera for vandalizing the zoo, destroying items and more.

In culture

In fall 2022, a video was posted on the Internet. The video was about a girl toddler encountering with a cheetah at the zoo, and the video became viral with a high number of views.

References

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External links

{{Official website|http://www.novawild.org}}

{{Wikidatacoord|Q7316188|type:landmark_region:US-VA|display=title}}

Category:Zoos in Virginia

Category:Reston, Virginia

Category:1980 establishments in Virginia

Category:Zoos established in 1980