Longleat Safari Park

Longleat Safari Park, in Wiltshire, England was opened in 1966 and was the first drive-through safari park outside of Africa. The park is situated in the grounds of Longleat House, the home of the 7th Marquess of Bath and a tourist attraction in its own right. The safari park was the first of its kind anywhere in the world and was considered to be a massive breakthrough in the way in which captive animals were kept, with the animals roaming freely and the visitors in cages (cars).

Today Longleat's collection comprises over 500 animals, and the whole estate is situated on 9000 acres (36 km²) of Wiltshire countryside.

The Safari Parks Reserves

*Wallaby Wood : Red-necked wallaby with Pygmy Goats nearby. It is possible to get out of the car and view this section on foot.
*The East African Game Reserve: Rothschild Giraffe, Grant's Zebra, Llama, Dromedary Camel, Ostrich, Kenyan Bongos, Warthogs and Helmeted Guineafowl
*Flamingo Valley: Chilean Flamingo, Sacred Ibis, Whistling Duck, Spoonbill, Wood duck
*Vulture Venue: 5 pairs of African vultures
*Monkey Jungle: Rhesus Macaques, Blackbuck, Indian Water Buffalo. The monkeys climb on the cars, perhaps due to visitors frequently feeding them through windows despite many notices requesting that this not be done. It is notorious for them to occasionally damage a car - e.g. bend an aerial and the section is optional because of this.
*Big Game Park: Scimitar-Horned Oryx, Ankole Cattle, Southern White Rhino, Bactrian Camel, Eland
*Pelican Pond: Pink-backed Pelican
*Deer Park: Red Deer, Fallow Deer
*Tiger Territory: 3 Amur Tigers and 1 Bengal Tiger
*Lion Country (section 1): African Lion, (section 2): African Lion
*Wolf Wood: Canadian Timber Wolf
*Half Mile Lake: Common Hippopotamus, California Sea Lion, Eastern White Pelican
*Gorilla Island (situated in Half Mile Lake): Western lowland Gorilla

Other animals include : Brazilian Tapir (Near the exit of the East Africa reserve)

Other attractions

The estate is open to the public with the various attractions being indiviually priced. A 'passport' ticket providing one admission to each attraction is available at a discount.

*Longleat House
*Garden and grounds
*Lord Bath's murals
*Safari boat trip
*Old Joe's mine
*Motion simulators
*Pets corner. In pets corner, many exotic and familiar mammals, birds, reptiles and insects are on display, including Otters, Marmosets, Macaws, Rabbits, Tortoises and many more. Meerkats and Mongoose can be seen in their own enclosure next to the waiting area for the Safari Boats.
*Miniature railway

*Butterfly garden
*Hedge maze
*Postman Pat village
*Adventure castle
*Blue Peter maze
*King Arthur's mirror maze
*The life and times of Henry, Lord Bath
*Family Bygones
*Mystical gardens
*Stars of Animal Park Exhibition

Animal Park

Longleat is also the subject of the BBC's Animal Park, hosted by Kate Humble and Ben Fogle.

External links

* [http://www.longleat.co.uk/default.htm Park web site] .
* [http://www.strollingguides.co.uk/books/wiltshire/places/longleatsafaripark.php Photographs and Information from Strolling Guides]