Exotic Animal Sanctuary Planned For Olds
The Olds Gazette - Wednesday, March 1, 2000  - by Chris Puglia

        Many people harbour an innate fear of reptiles but to Dean Harper and James Barbas they are not animals to be feared, they are loved like children.  "We treat these like our children," said Harper during a presentation to town council. Harper is owner and operator of Wrappin About Reptiles, an organization that prides itself in spreading awareness about exotic animals.  Aside from conducting extensive educational seminars at schools and other organizations Wrappin About Reptiles is also involved with animal rehabilitation.

        That involvement has led Harper to the dream of creating an exotic animal refuge and education center. "We're going to call it a hands on interactive facility," said Harper. The reasoning for the name is because Harper wants to lean away from the zoo image which has been poor over the last few years.  However, he doesn't see a major problem in overcoming the negative imagery surrounding zoo facilities because of the image he has with both the provincial and federal government.

        "We are one of the very few organizations in Canada that have seized items on loan from the federal government, they have seen the benefits of our show," said Harper.

        Harper's idea is similar to that of the Drumheller Reptile World and the reptile house that is scheduled for closure at the Calgary Zoo.  The exception is Harper says he would be starting with considerably more animals and he would also act as an animal refuge shelter.  Besides the obvious benefits to reptile awareness and animal care Harper says there will be a significant impact to the local economy.  "We would be very unique by being one of the only ones around. We'd be the largest in North America," said Harper.  The most important benefit is Harper believes tourism in the town would increase significantly as it did when Reptile World first began in Strathmore. "When Reptile World moved to Drumheller tourism dropped significantly in Strathmore," said Harper. "People love reptile houses."

        The intent of Harper's presentation to Council was to provide awareness to council in regards to the idea and determine if there was a possible site along Highway 27 that they could use for their idea.

        Council said they found Harper's presentation very informative and his idea interesting.

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