Sprawling Alvin-area wildlife park for sale for $7 million Bayou Wildlife Zoo has been a local favorite for decades

If you have the right amount of dough and a little bit of patience you can buy a small zoo just south of Houston in the Alvin area. The aging owner of Bayou Wildlife Zoo off FM 517 has put his park up for sale for $7 million. That price gets the buyer nearly 500 animals on 80 acres of land. There is an apartment, plus a site suitable for building a home, some bayou frontage, barns a plenty, and a small fleet of vehicles to move about the property and conduct tours. less If you have the right amount of dough and a little bit of patience you can buy a small zoo just south of Houston in the Alvin area. The aging owner of Bayou Wildlife Zoo off FM 517 has put his park up for sale ... more Photo: Carolyn Spencer / Bayou Wildlife Zoo Photo: Carolyn Spencer / Bayou Wildlife Zoo Image 1 of / 143 Caption Close Sprawling Alvin-area wildlife park for sale for $7 million 1 / 143 Back to Gallery

If you have the right amount of dough and a little bit of patience you can buy a small zoo just south of Houston in the Alvin area.

The aging owner of Bayou Wildlife Zoo off FM 517 has put his park up for sale for $7 million. That price gets the buyer nearly 500 animals (or 750 depending on bird migrations), 80 acres of land, an apartment, a site suitable for building a home, bayou frontage, barns a plenty, and a small fleet of vehicles to move about the property and conduct tours.

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According to the real estate agent Carolyn Spencer the longtime owner of Bayou Wildlife Zoo – an area favorite with schoolkids since the ‘80s – wants to retire. He’s hosted visits from schools as far away as the Rio Grande Valley.

Check out the real estate listing here to get more specifics on the land.

Friendswood resident Clint Wolston, 80, has built up the property for three decades and curated quite the collection of animals and is looking to step away from a life of petting zoos, pony rides, and exotic animals. A staff of around eight people helps him with the heavy, day-to-day chores.

The park also features two islands that are each home to several ring-tailed lemurs. Wolston takes a boat out to the islands every morning to feed fruit to the lemurs. Wolston, who was born in Dickinson, worked as a general construction contractor before opening the park. In the ‘80s, he began to purchase land in Alvin and started learning about various types of exotic wildlife.

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He estimated in 2013 that he had about 65 species of animals on site. The zoo is thought to bring in about $1 million a year in revenue. His veterinarian bills aren't too bad at around $1,500 a year.

The land is incredibly valuable to boot, which could be enticing for some investors.

Of course Wolston doesn't take the whole thing too seriously. He's had fun at the zoo, even hosted a rhino wedding.

Back in 1995, Justice of the Peace Mike Nelson performed a wedding ceremony for Bonnie and Shorty, a pair of 17-year-old Southern white rhinos, in front of 200 spectators. After the Associated Press ran a story and a photo, Wolston heard from people as far away as Bangladesh and Japan.

Having a kind heart and the motivation to care for hundreds of animals would be needed to take over Bayou Wildlife Zoo.

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Spencer was able to share a full listing of every animal on the property, which features waterbuck, elk, two javalinas, three wildebeests, two longhorns, one zonkie, a zebu, ten pygmy goats, various geese and swans, two red kangaroos, and three potbelly pigs.

According to Spencer, Mr. Wolston he’s looking for someone who can take on the responsibility of such an expansive park. It probably won’t be an easy task, but Matt Damon did it in “We Bought A Zoo” so how hard could it be?

Trading in the day-to-day working life for tending to emus, deer, bulls, lemurs, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, and camels doesn’t seem so bad.