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Safari park

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A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial tourist attraction where visitors can drive in their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals. The main attractions are frequently large animals from Sub-Saharan Africa such as giraffes, lions, rhinoceros, elephants, zebras, and antelope.

Giraffes being fed by visitors in the West Midland Safari Park

A safari park, while larger than a zoo, is usually a very small area compared to game reserves in Africa. For example, African Lion Safari near Cambridge, Ontario, Canada is 750 acres, or 3 square kilometers. For comparison, Lake Nakuru in the Rift Valley, is 168 square kilometers, and a typical large game reserve is Tsavo East, also in Kenya, which encompasses 11,747 square kilometers.

Safari parks often have other associated tourist attractions: golf courses, carnival rides, miniature trains, and gift shops.

History

The predecessor of safari parks is Africa U.S.A. Park (1953-1961) in Florida.

The first lion drive-through opened in 1963 in Tama Zoological Park in Tokyo. In double-glazed buses, visitors made a tour through a one-hectare enlosure with twelve lions.

The first drive-through safari park outside of Africa opened in 1966 at Longleat in Wiltshire, England. Longleat, Windsor, Woburn and arguably the whole concept of safari parks were the brainchild of Jimmy Chipperfield, former co-director of Chipperfield's Circus, as detailed in his autobiography, "My Wild Life"[1], the autobiography[2] of Bob Lawrence (owner of West Midland Safari Park) and literature from the parks up until the 1990s. The former Windsor Safari Park was in Berkshire, England, but closed in 1992 and has since been made into a Legoland.

Between 1967 and 1974, Lion Country Safari, Inc. opened 6 animal parks, one near each of the following American cities: West Palm Beach, Florida; Los Angeles, California; Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Richmond, Virginia. The first park, in South Florida, is the only Lion Country Safari still in operation.

Burgers' Zoo at Arnhem, Netherlands, opened a "safari park" in 1968 within a traditional zoo. In 1995, Burgers' Safari modified this to a walking safari with a 250 m long board walk.

Most safari parks were established in a short period of ten years, between 1966 and 1975.

  • Europe
    • Great Britain : Longleat (1966), Windsor (1969-1992), Woburn (1970), Blair Drummond (1970), Knowsley (1971), Bewdley (West Midland Safari Park, 1973)
    • France : Thoiry (Réserve Africaine, 1968), Peaugres (1974), Sigean (1974), Saint-Vrain (1975-1998), Port-Saint-Père (Planète Sauvage, 1992)
    • Nederlands : Hilvarenbeek (Safari Beekse Bergen, 1968)
    • Germany : Gelsenkirchen (Löwenpark, 1968-1989), Tüddern (Löwen-Safari,1968-1990), Stuckenbrock (Hollywood und Safaripark, 1969), Hodenhagen (Serengeti Park, 1974)
    • Italy : Bussolengo (Safari del Garda, 1969), Fasano (Zoosafari, 1973), Pombia (Zoo Safari, 1976)
    • Denmark : Givskud (Løveparken, 1969), Knuthenborg (1969)
    • Sweden : Kolmården (Safari Park, 1972-2011)
    • Austria : Gänserndorf (Safaripark, 1972-2004)
    • Spain : Cabárceno (Parque de la Naturaleza, 1990)
  • Africa

See also

  • SimSafari: a computer game simulating the management of a safari park

Notes

  1. ^ Jimmy CHIPPERFIELD, My Wild Life. Macmillan, London (1975). 219 p. ISBN 0333180445
  2. ^ Bob LAWRENCE, My Wildlife. R. P. Lawrence, Kidderminster (2000). 304 p. ISBN 0953799905
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