3 They do their best for the animals
Safari parks have been up
and running since 1966, and
were originally the concept
of Jimmy Chipperfield, who
was co-director of a circus.
But how good are they in
reality? Does Jimmy’s idea
get a thumbs up or a
thumbs down from you?
Let’s see what our
tumultuous twins Philip and
Phoebe make of it, shall we?
1 They’re cheaper than a real safari
Can you guess how much a safari
holiday actually costs? (Hint – it isn’t
cheap.) Valued at around £4,000 for a
week for a family of four – and that’s
not including flights or spending
money – it is much cheaper to visit one
of the safari parks dotted around the
UK. They charge between £60 and £100
for admission (erm, that ’s still quite a lot
of money, ed). The following parks were
established in the 1960s and 1970s and
are still running today: Longleat,
Woburn, Knowsley, Blair Drummond
and the West Midlands Safari Park, so
there is a good chance you live fairly
near to at least one.
2 Better than YouTube
A trip to a safari park can be an
excellent day out for all the family.
There’s nothing like seeing animals in
the real world rather than in books or
on nature programmes. The vast
majority of us are unlikely ever to see
these animals in their natural habitat,
and in zoos they are mostly behind
fences or glass. In safari parks many
herbivorous animals, like giraffes,
camels and deer, are free to roam
around and there is the possibility of
getting up close and personal and
feeding them from the window of your
car. In certain parks you can drive
through enclosures where lions and
other big cats roam, though obviously it
is very important to keep the windows
up and stay in the car.
While it is impossible to completely
mimic an animal’s natural habitat, great
efforts are made to provide the animals
with what they need to keep them happy.
At Longleat, a former circus elephant
called Anne, who has special needs, has a
lovely large home with a sandy floor and
heating, as well as a paddock outside and
a plunge pool. Lemurs have been
provided with rope swings and various
other equipment to keep them active.
4 Endangered species
A good thing about safari parks is that
they help to protect endangered species.
Conservation and breeding programmes
are a way of making sure that certain
animals do not face the fate of the
Tasmanian tiger Thylacinus cynocephalus
and become extinct. The West Midlands
Safari Park was the first park to successfully
breed rare white lion cubs. It houses many
animals that are on the International Union
for Conservation of Nature’s list of
endangered and critically endangered
species. Woburn Safari Park is recognised
for its efforts in breeding the Rothschild
giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi
and protecting other species.
5 They can teach us about animal
behaviour
Through their work, safari parks play a
very important role in teaching the
public about animal habits and
behaviour. In allowing people to feed
and pet some of the animals they
encourage a more caring attitude, and
are able to make the public aware of their
involvement in conservation work
across the globe.