JACKSONVILLE, Texas — At Cherokee Trace Safari near Jacksonville, one can see animals for several continents around the world.
Ranch manager John Abbnor manages and secures the Cherokee Trace Safari. The reserve opened about 30 years ago and has survived tornadoes, droughts and freezing temperatures.
"Everything's running wild. And we just try to present a good representation of each species," Abbnor said.
According to Abbnor, most of the animals come from Africa, China, Europe and Australia.
"We're running a little over 300 acres close to 700 a head of different species of animals," Abbnor explained. "Everything from alligators to zebras and everything in between there."
For Abbnor, the ongoing tragedy happening in Australia is heartbreaking as more than a billion animals have lost their lives due to the wildfires.
"There's a lot of people that have never even seen a kangaroo besides on TV. And there might be people that have never even seen them till they're watching the news recently," Abbnor said. "You know, and then come out here and look at them and see how they, you know, they pop around and do their thing. It kind of gives you a sense of just how devastating it must be over there, if these huge, strong animals are just getting wiped out."
While natural disasters are unpredictable, John says they are prepared if a similar disaster were to happen at the reserve.
"We'll make fire breaks. We've got, you know, spray rigs if we have to go fight fire or anything like that," Abbnor explained. "One of the really positive things about having this many animals on this place is that they keep everything grazed so well that they're really not a lot of fuel."