Hi Bmac,
The best part of the collection is the travel to get the animals. Shooting a Chamois on top of a mountain in the Southern Alps of New Zealand is way better than taking one in a preserve. Not that I'm agains preserve hunting, my Axis deer is from one in the Texas Hill Country. It's just that each trip is an adventure with the killing of an animal as the goal, but it's never required.
I've hunted for moose in Alaska twice without shooting one. Both trips were awesome and I can't wait to go again. If I don't see one big enough for the collection, then I'll come home empty handed again.
I found that collecting is more about the total adventure than just killing something. I can do that here if I wanted to, but in four years, I have never killed a deer on my land. I'd rather see a HUGE buck walking around out in the open more than I'd want to shoot him.
The preserve for the RV Park is the same thing. It's what got me onto the idea of building the RV Park. I've been asking myself the same question for years. How can I have some pet exotic animals and afford the land and taking care of them? The answer came to me when I combined that idea with owning an RV Park. One feeds off the other.
My animals will die of old age in my preserve. They will be single sex and selected on their ability to live in my climate and survive primarily on grass and hay. I'll supliment there feed with minerals and other forage, but grass will be the main thing for them to eat.
Of the speicies I'm looking at, I have most of them already in my collection.
Eddie