Out of Africa Wildlife Park reopens following destructive monsoon flooding
Out of Africa Wildlife Park has reopened to visitors following severe monsoon storm damage in July 2026.
CAMP VERDE, Ariz. - Out of Africa Wildlife Park has reopened after powerful floodwaters tore through the grounds and forced a temporary closure. Guests are welcome once again, but the road to a full recovery is still far from over.
Back-to-back storms led to over 60 acres of flood damage back in July.
What they're saying:
"I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. We’ve been here over 20 years, and we’ve had some heavy rain, but never a flood like that," said Prayeri Harrison, Out of Africa Wildlife Park founder and owner.
While all the animals were safe and accounted for, the property damage was severe.
"We didn’t know when we were going to reopen. We knew we had to close because we couldn’t even get people across the road. We couldn’t even get tractors or buses in with the animals at that time," Harrison said.
The rushing water destroyed new fencing around the giraffe enclosure, built from a $20,000 grant.
Severe flooding forces Out of Africa Wildlife Park to close
Staff and volunteers are clearing debris and mud at Out of Africa Wildlife Park after flooding forced the park to close until further notice.
"We have a lot to do. We have to redo the whole fence line. The whole fence line. And that’s a long fence line and this side has to have a fence line also," Harrison said.
Owners estimate losses at around $250,000 between property damage and lost ticket revenue during the closure.
"It hurt. It hurt a lot. We were closed for a couple of weeks in a time that we had a lot of people coming. And to replace everything … that’s a huge, huge expense," Harrison said.
‘Just keep moving forward’
Open for Business:
As rebuilding continues, park leaders want everyone to know they are open for business and ready for guests.
"We just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and just keep moving forward. That’s all we can do," Harrison said.
The park is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, including Labor Day. You can find more information about tickets or how to donate here.
Out of Africa Wildlife Park has reopened to visitors following severe monsoon storm damage in July 2026.