LIBERTY TWP, Mercer County — Adam Guiher hopes to open a safari park in the next few years, but doing so requires a lot of paperwork and a lot of government approvals.

The park is planned for 140 acres on Route 258 not far from both Slippery Rock and Grove City.

It will feature four fenced-in areas with about 100 species of animals specific to Europe and Asia, Africa, North America and South America.

Guiher has owned and operated Moraine Living Treasures Animal Park in Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence County, for 10 years. The new park will be different from that because the animals will roam in large open spaces and visitors will see them from a bus. It also will contain mostly different species of animals from Living Treasures.

To keep and display animals, the park must get permits and pass regular inspections by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

“It’s not as simple as saying ‘they need to have food and shelter and water and you’re good.’ It’s things like ‘how big of an area do they need to be happy and healthy?” Guiher said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulates the transport and care of endangered species, and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture also requires documentation for animals being brought into the state.

Moraine Living Treasures has a menagerie permit with the state Game Commission, which allows it to keep and exhibit a wide variety of species of animals, said Regis Senko, information education supervisor for the commission’s northwest region.

Title 34 and Title 58, available on the commission’s website, list specifics for safety, sanitation, housing and acquisition and disposal of various species of animals.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has its own standards and conducts routine inspections of animal parks such as Moraine Living Treasures.

That park was inspected in 2012, 2013 and 2015 and received no violations each time, according to USDA’s website.

The proposed park must not only deal with agencies that regulate the care of animals, but also the agencies that regulate construction.

The first phase of construction already received a conditional use permit from Liberty Township, though Guiher said he still is working with the state Department of Environmental Protection on permits to build bridges and dealing with the management of wetlands.

The construction plans also are under the jurisdiction of the Mercer County Conservation District and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Bob McDonald, a technician with the conservation district, said the environmental review of the plan will include the management of wetlands on the property and the review of the pollution discharge elimination permit for construction.

Guiher said he and the staff at Living Treasures often go above and beyond the minimum requirements for the sake of the animals and also for the safety of their staff and visitors.

“I can’t say I agree with every law that is on the books, but the regulations are absolutely necessary for the safe keeping of animals,” he said.

Since 2013, Guiher has been a professional member of the Zoological Association of America, a private group that sets its own standard practices for businesses such as animal parks.

The association has 178 professional members, but only 59 accredited institutions. Guiher has initiated the accreditation process for Living Treasures, but it takes multiple inspections and approvals, said Alan Sironen, a member of the group’s board of directors.

Becoming a member of the association shows that a person has a good track record and is dedicated to animals, Sironen said.

“To be a professional member, it is not taken lightly in our organization, you must be honest in your dealings with people and caring about the dealings with animals,” he said.

The new park will have about 100 species of animals, most of which will be different from Living Treasures. Some of the animals, such as giraffes, will be born and raised at Living Treasures before being moved to the safari park.

Others will come from public or private zoos or facilities licensed to raise exotic animals. Most animals in zoos around the country were raised in captivity and are accustomed to being around humans.

Not many are captured from the wild, unless their habitat is being destroyed or there is another good reason, Guiher said.

Guiher has owned and operated Living Treasures since 2005. It was opened by his father, Tom Guiher, in 1992.

Tom Guiher still owns and operates a Living Treasures of the Laurel Highlands in Jones Mills, Westmoreland County.

The two facilities share a name, but are otherwise separate.

The proposed park would be the first of its kind in Western Pennsylvania, but there are some similar facilities within driving distance of the region.

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium owns and operates a safari park called The Wilds near Cumberland, Ohio.

There also is the African Safari Wildlife Park near Sandusky, Ohio, Hidden Valley Animal Adventure in western New York and African Lion Safari near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Guiher hopes to break ground on the new park this year and be open to the public in late 2016 or early 2017.