Thread by @HonkIfUrHoary

It’s time for another thread about SafariSammie, the exotic animals that star in her videos, and the much darker story that her videos of nose boops, belly rubs, & interspecies play sessions don’t show. 🧵

A TLDR for the last thread: viral TikTok account SafariSammie stars the exotic animals owned by Carl Bovard of Single Vision Inc, a “nonprofit wildlife education facility”. Bovard’s website claims that the organization is dedicated to the conservation & education of wildlife.

https://twitter.com/honkifurhoary/status/1501389125299150849

However, there is no indication of substantive conservational nor educational efforts. With over 7.2M followers & 252.2M views on TikTok alone, the organization has a public platform that would be the envy of many well-established zoos & conservation orgs.

But rather than use that platform to draw attention to the plight of their captive animals’ wild counterparts, the content focuses on the hands-on contact Sammie & Bovard have with the animals, and advertisements for paid tours of the 10-acre facility.

The facility houses over 95 animals including at least 2 wolves, 8 bears, 5 cougars, 10 lions, 2 jaguars, 6 tigers, & 1 spotted hyena. Despite the close quarters, the enclosures meet or exceed Florida’s perimeter requirements.

However, the enclosures are often in disrepair- resulting in repeated violations from both the USDA & FL Fish & Wildlife (FFW). Those of you who are familiar with Bovard know that he has accumulated many violations over the years. And he has continued to do so in the past 2yrs.

Carl is now up to 51 USDA violations including 5 critical violations and 2 direct violations. While it’s not unusual to get 1-2 non-critical violations, it is unusual to accumulate this many of this severity. For reference, Joe Exotic had 43 violations- 7 critical & 0 direct.

Of particular note were his 2022 violations for falsification of veterinary records, false reporting that his animals were under the regular care of a veterinarian, & falsification of programs of veterinary care for new species.

This came to light when the USDA interviewed his now former attending veterinarian (AV) & found that the AV was only contacted for “the occasional animal wound or abnormality” instead of the annual inspections Bovard claimed.

The USDA noted that he “routinely disregards the AV’s medical advice” with a “complete lack of communication between licensee and AV”. Furthermore, they noted that the facility did not allow for the safe examination/transportation of larger, dangerous animals.

Also of note were the 31 photos the USDA found on social media between 2020-2022 that showed members of the public- including at least one adolescent child- interacting directly with big cats over the allowable age & size limit.

Bovard said that these people were volunteers, though he had no documentation to support this claim. In the past, he has skirted public contact violations by saying the person in question was a volunteer or personal friend.

There seems to be no clear definition separating “members of the public” from “personal friends, family, & volunteers” in USDA & FFW guidelines, allowing this circumvention. This is a clear example of why a strict definition of both terms is needed.

In the USDA’s evaluation of Bovard’s volunteers, they found that the frequent volunteer Bovard had been representing to the USDA & his ex-AV as a veterinary student was, in fact, a pre-vet undergrad. This volunteer is likely Sammie herself.

Finally, FFW has brought a misdemeanor charge against Bovard for not meeting the state’s minimum size requirement for the pools in his bear enclosures. Bovard received warnings for his undersized pools as early as 2017, & has failed to make improvements since.

In the citation report, Bovard sites USDA fines ($8,850 between 2019-2022) as the reason he hasn’t corrected the violation. These fines haven’t stopped Bovard from acquiring new animals & the costs associated with them- including a lion pride & up to 6 new bears.

Bovard has 8 bears at his facility: a Syrian brown bear named Bruiser, a N. American black bear named Honey, & the 6 hybrid offspring that they’ve produced in his care. Two of their four enclosures do not meet basic requirements.

After receiving a serious bite from Bruiser last year Bovard told a game warden that he wanted to rehome Bruiser & 5 of the other bears because “it’s getting to be too much & he shouldn’t have let him breed so many times”. He later refused the warden’s offer to help rehome them.

It was at this time that the warden issued a citation, which is still pending in court. He reported that Bovard “stated he would just have it thrown out at arraignment like the rest of his citations”.

Seeing as all three of the previous charges FFW has brought against him have indeed been thrown out, it seems Bovard’s lack of concern over these current charges is well-founded.

So what can be done?
1) Spread the word. Many of you have shared my original thread whenever Sammie’s content comes up. This has led to at least one big subreddit banning her videos. Many of her fans are well-intentioned & quick to advocate for the animals when told the truth.

2) Contact the @USDA_APHIS & @MyFWC about your concerns.
3) Consume social media responsibly. Here are some red flags to look for when it comes to content involving wildlife & exotic animals: getoutalivepodcast.com/blog/blog-post…

Want to know more? There’s a lot I’ve left out from this thread, but luckily for you, @TheAngryOlogist and I recorded over 2 hours (in a 2 part episode) about this on her podcast Get Out Alive. Check it out here: open.spotify.com/episode/61PdLN…

Disclaimer: all the information in this thread & in the podcast has been obtained through USDA APHIS records, FOIA requests from Florida Fish & Wildlife, & Bovard’s own social media accounts. DM me or comment below for specific citations as needed & extended alt text.