Mankind had created zoos, they had created safari parks, but they’d yet to create the ultimate in a diversified and interactive experience. Shenindoa Isle was built as the first assorted safari park, a park specializing in all manners of wildlife from all over the world. As Shenindoa lacked in the barred exhibits of its zoo counterparts, it allowed much more personal contact and up-close encounters than anything else before it. The public loved the concept and people from all over the world flocked to the park. It was a success.

Ticket sales boomed, profits soared, everything was going perfect from a business standpoint. That is until an accident occurred that would ruin Shenindoa Isle’s good name.

Not used to sharing such close quarters with people, a newly imported grizzly bear attacked a young woman, leaving her mortally wounded (she later died at the hospital). Though she had signed a release relieving her of her right to sue in such a situation, the damage was done. Word spread fast of the attack and annual ticket sales dropped considerably. The profit margin of the park plummeted and many of the stockholders jumped ship. Shenindoa was going into a tailspin.

Shortly thereafter, due to inadequate funding, the once wildly successful park closed its gates. Once shut down, however, the question of what to do with the wildlife of the park remained. As many of the animals had been born and raised on the isle itself they were deemed unfit for re-entry into the wild, as they posed a potential threat to society and the ecosystem. Selling what they could to zoos and similar establishments the animal population on the island dropped to half of its original amount; but what to do with the remaining species?

Prohibited by the world’s governments to release those that remained into the wild, pressured by animal rights organizations for fair and humane treatment of the animals, they were left with one choice. Seeing as the isle was a self-sustaining ecosystem, as it had sufficient flora and fauna to provide for the species that inhabited it, the park was completely abandoned, leaving the wildlife intact and undisturbed.

The island and its inhabitants thrived and wildlife in all of the main biome exhibits (alpine, boreal, savannah, rainforest) flourished. Shenindoa had again peaked and this time had nowhere to go but up.