A variety of animals are on display for vehicles driving through the Wild Trail Safari in York County- Wild Safari photo
York News-Times Reprint
Written by Parker Garlough
Wild Trail Safari, a Polk small business owned by Spencer and Abbie Smith, won the Spark Pitch Contest in the small business category.
The Spark Pitch Contest is an annual business competition held by the York County Development Corporation. Competitors present to a panel of judges, who select a startup and an existing small business as winners. Each winner gets $3,000, a yearlong YCDC membership and $1,000 worth of Nebraska Rural Radio Network advertising.
This year’s judges were NPPD Economic Development Consultant Jonathan Jank, York University business department chair Robert Vickrey and Nebraska Department of Economic Development business development consultant Kelley Gewecke.
Co-founded by Spencer Smith and Abbie Smith, Wild Trail Safari is a drive-thru safari and petting zoo.
The owners plan to use the money on enclosure improvements and marketing. They currently employ a variety of marketing strategies: Facebook, flyers at local hotels and Airbnbs, radio ads, a website and word of mouth.
The business started out as a joke between Spencer and Abbie Smith.
“We’ve raised 4-H show goats for quite some time now, so we’ve always had a passion for helping youth in 4-H and FFA,” Smith said. “And I had joked with my wife that I was going to go get a kangaroo and bring it home. Last fall I did just that, and everybody wanted to know if they could come see it.”
It became clear to Smith that there was demand in the community for animal encounters.
“We have a family with a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old,” Smith said. “By the time you spend half the day running around Omaha or Lincoln chasing children, you’re ready to go by noon. We thought we would bring the wild side to the vehicle, where you can … see 95 different animals from the luxury of your car or just a short walk around the facility in York County.”
The zoo is also popular among retirement communities, for whom mobility challenges may be a barrier at more traditional zoos.
Wild Trails Safari soon expanded beyond its first attraction. Their other animals include sloth, kangaroo, lemurs, capybaras and gazelles.
“Who do you aspire to be?” Vickrey said. “Whenever you look at the landscape of things that are similar to you, you can’t compete with the major zoos.”
The business model is unusual, Smith admitted, but that can be an asset.
“It’s not necessarily that we’re trying to be somebody,” Smith said. “We’re just trying to have as many animals that you can have that are out of the ordinary that people want to come.”
Acquiring new animals will help attract repeat customers, Smith said. Within five years, they hope to add a giraffe.
“The majority of them come from overstock of other zoos … and we want to get into rescues,” Smith said. “It’s not just buying them to have them. It’s giving them a better place to live out their life.”
Their shorter-term goals including hosting more seasonal events, such as a Christmas light display.
The other entries were The Lunch Box, Zyers Nutrition, John’s Locksmithing, Sidney’s Succulents, Lifestyle with Angie, Clear Plains Construction, Antojitos P.M. and Brim and Design.
