It’s been just a few days since we published our piece, “Camel Euthanized, Starving Lion Exposed as Oregon’s Worst Roadside Zoo Finally Gets Raided,” and now the full scope of horror at the West Coast Game Park Safari is coming into focus.
As of May 18, following a four-day investigation by Oregon State Police and a coalition of local, state, and federal agencies, a breaking story at KATU reports 310 animals have been seized and relocated to accredited sanctuaries and rescue organizations. That number should make anyone’s stomach drop. These were not just “attractions”—they were living beings who had been failed again and again.
In addition to the camel who was euthanized earlier in the investigation, a chicken and a kinkajou were also put down due to severe medical conditions. That’s three animals whose suffering was so extreme that humane euthanasia was the only option.
Let that sink in: over 300 animals removed, and at least three lost entirely, because the place that was supposed to care for them couldn’t—or wouldn’t—meet even the bare minimum standards of decency.
This isn’t some isolated failure. This is a facility that’s been on the radar for over a decade. In 2015, a USDA inspection flagged a “pattern” of staff failing to assess animal health or report problems. In 2023, the park received a formal warning for violating federal law. By December 2024, it was down to one staff member for over 300 animals. If that doesn’t constitute abuse, what does?
And yet, somehow, they kept their doors open—right up until this month.
April’s inspection noted visibly emaciated lions and a black leopard with protruding bones. Past inspections cited rodents in the feed, failing enclosures, and, yes, a dead tiger stored in a freezer. This wasn't a zoo. It was a graveyard dressed up for tourists.
The park is not accredited by any reputable zoological organization, and respected sanctuaries like Oregon’s own WildCat Ridge have pleaded with the public for years not to support it. PETA called it a “rundown Bandon roadside zoo,” and for once, the phrase doesn’t feel like hyperbole—it feels generous.
As animal lovers, many of us are left asking: how did it take this long?
We’re grateful the animals are finally out. But we are furious it came to this in the first place.
Shame on every regulator who looked the other way. Shame on every visitor who saw ribs through a lion’s fur and snapped a photo instead of raising a red flag. And shame on a system that let this grotesque excuse for a zoo persist for far too long.
We can’t undo the suffering these animals endured—but we can make damn sure Oregon never lets this happen again.
