Daktari Ranch

Daktari Ranch was owned by the Alonso-Etcheverry family, built from 1988 in the Protected Zone (similar to a national park) of the City of Caracas, Venezuela, in the municipality of El Hatillo, 950 meters above sea level, with an area of 50 hectares. Its construction was completed 15 years later. It operated a laboratory for the extraction and cryogenization of equine semen. Daktari was also the home of "Gran Cacique", at the time the No. 1 Paso Fino stallion in Venezuela.
Daktari had a small zoo with over seventy different species of animals, including ocelots, ostriches, different types of tropical birds, over 18 dogs and 40 horses. The family moved to Daktari in February 1989, in the midst of the uprising that went down in history as "The Caracazo".
Upon the arrival of Hugo Chavez to the presidency of Venezuela, 40 cabins were built in Daktari to prevent part of the property from being invaded, promoted by the new socialist government, by homeless people affected to Chavez. Many ranches in the area had been invaded and the Alonso Family feared that their property would also be invaded. The cabins housed students from the Simon Bolivar University, a few kilometers from the ranch.
Destruction
On Sunday, May 9, 2004, Daktari was raided by the forces of the government of then-President Hugo Chavez. Just over a hundred alleged Colombian paramilitary mercenaries were arrested inside the property, giving life to what became known as "Daktari Ranch Affair." Its owner, Robert Alonso, managed to escape and reach his exile in Miami, United States.
During the capture of Daktari by Chavez’ government forces, there was a massacre of humans and animals. This involved the alleged beheading of two of the Alonso’s foster children and the alleged massacre of all their employees, in what became known as "The Daktari Massacre".
As of May 12 of that year, the property was reduced to dust and debris by Chavez' militia. Daktari was already uninhabited and its owners safe in exile in Miami.
Expropriation
Daktari Ranch was expropriated by Chavez’ government and turned into a military training center for militiamen. The government announced that an agricultural production center would be built on the ranch, something that was never started. Today the ranch is abandoned.

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