Best known for a huge concrete alligator (with a safari jeep clenched in its jaws and guide hanging on a rope for dear life!) at its entrance and the highly publicized escape of a 450-pound lion named “Nala” during the late 1990s, JungleLand Zoo first opened along U.S. 192 in Kissimmee in 1995 (an earlier attraction named Alligatorland Safari Zoo previously occupied the site) and featured more than 300 “exotic animals” on display (including African leopards, Bengal tigers, African caracal, a Siberian tiger and orangutan named “Radcliffe”), as well as a big cat show, “Bushmasters” Gator Show, “Magic of the Rainforest” magic show and other attractions. Nala’s brief adventure was documented in an article, “10 Weirdest Zoo Animal Escapes,” by CNN: “The declawed lion prowled the area, much to the chagrin of residents. Thankfully, no one was hurt. After a few days on the loose, Nala was found by a search team and returned to her pen.” JungleLand Zoo was also the home of “Stinker the Monkey.” Animal rights activists brought the heat on JungleLand Zoo for the alleged mistreatment of animals, but the owners and employees vehemently denied the claims. The Zoo was also reportedly cited by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for several violations. Regardless, JungleLand Zoo, facing a steep drop in attendance due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, closed its doors for good in 2002.
Wandering Florida 
Alligatorland safari zoo was a real nightmare to be employed at. I wish during the USDA inspection of the zoo, they would of interviews past employees. Before Darren Browning was the owner, his mother ran the family business, motel and the zoo. Most of the animals (atleast 1990-1993), were mistreated, and had psychological issues. Nala, the lioness who had escaped at one time, even though was raised by the Brownings, was probably the sweetest big cat you would ever see, but her enclosure was incredibly decaying, she slept on a concrete floor, cage to small, and didn’t have the normal animal attraction items that would keep the animal entertained. No hanging tire, no “toys”….it was an empty steel cage. However, Nila would remain sociable with humans she knew. Her favorite pastime was dragging unsuspecting raccoons through a 3 inch vertical fence enclosure without leaving a scratch on the raccoon, she just wanted to play, but the “Dumpster Pandas” never remained alive long enough! Alot of the remaining animals had a special talent, Stinker the monkey would ring a bell for a quick monkey treat….”Sonny” the orangutan loved Gatorade, and would get all excited when seeing me walking down his path, with a visible Gatorade bottle, he wouldn’t stick his face on the fence, jutting his bottom and top lip through the fence so you could pour the bottle in his mouth. He loved being pet, sometimes you would forget he could rip your arm off and beat you with it, but interacting with him was something I loved doing, Sonny was in a similar enclosure, alone…not many items for him to stay stimulated. “Tom and Becky”, two spider monkeys who kept eachother entertained, and evidently loved eachothers company, they would hold eachother , and you could see they psychological issues with trusting humans. I don’t know if the death of animals had to be reported to higher up entities, there are so many animal remains buried on that property, at one time Darren Browning would bury the carcasses, wait a period of time….dig up the remains to sell the skulls to anyone who would buy it. The entire family were very demeaning to employees and customers of the zoo, Darren thought just because he was raised around wild animals that he made him some sort of expert, and would ban employees from interacting with animals because the animal may of made Darren mad that day, and he would basically make the animal pay for it. It would definitely put stress on the animal, and you could visibly tell the animal was upset that we weren’t interacting with them for a few days. Darren’s mother ran the business like a dictator, profits over the safety and care of the animals. I worked there for awhile, not one time did I see an actual, licensed veterinarian…..when one was needed, Darren thought he could handle it, when he wasn’t busy trying to get withcevery female employee. I’m glad they finally had to sell the property, before they killed every animal in there
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