[1] The zoo features a self-drive-through Safari with zebras, bison, and llamas, and a walking tour with cheetahs, capybaras, kangaroos, sloths, camel rides, and a bird aviary.
[4][5] Crippen had been a collector of exotic animals for a few years, and the closing of ABC's 280-acre (113.31-hectare) Largo Wildlife Preserve in Prince George's County, Maryland and the availability of its menagerie was the trigger for his venture.
[4][7] Mark Smith, an employee of the Zoological Consortium, a professional management group, which had been brought in by Crippen to help dispose of all the animals at Pet-A-Pet, decided to try to reopen the park.
[4][8] Smith was able to find a financial backer in Loudoun businessman Robert D. Johnson, and the new zoo, now named Pet Farm Park, opened in the spring of 1980.
[19] NOVA Wild is dedicated to animal welfare, education and conservation and their team has made many improvements and renovations to revitalize Reston's beloved local zoo.