- Safari park
A safari park is a
zoo -like commercial tourist attraction where visitors can drive in their own vehicles and observe the wildlife, rather than viewing animals in cages or small enclosures. The main attraction is large animals from Sub-Saharan Africa such asgiraffe s,lion s,rhinoceros ,elephant s,zebra s, andantelope .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 theRift Valley , is 168 square kilometers, and a typical large game reserve is Tsavo East, also inKenya , 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) located 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 twelvelion s.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 ofChipperfield's Circus , as detailed in his autobiography, "My Wild Life" [Jimmy CHIPPERFIELD, "My Wild Life". Macmillan, London (1975). 219 p. ISBN 0333180445] , the autobiography [Bob LAWRENCE, "My Wildlife". R. P. Lawrence, Kidderminster (2000). 304 p. ISBN 0953799905] of Bob Lawrence (owner ofWest Midland Safari Park ) and literature from the parks up until the 1990s. The formerWindsor Safari Park was located inBerkshire, 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 ; andRichmond, Virginia . The first park, in South Florida, is the onlyLion Country Safari still in operation.Most safari parks were established in a short period of ten years, between 1966 and 1975.
*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)
*Spain : Cabárceno ("Parque de la Naturaleza", 1990)
*United States
**Florida : Loxahatchee ("Lion Country Safari ", 1967)
**California : Irvine ("Lion Country Safari", 1970-1984), San Diego ("Wild Animal Park", 1972)
**Texas : Grand Prairie ("Lion Country Safari", 1971-1992), San Antonio ("Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch ", 1984), Glen Rose ("Fossil Rim Wildlife Ranch", 1984)
**Oregon : Winston ("Wildlife Safari ", 1973)
**Ohio : Port Clinton ("African Safari Wildlife Park", 1973), Mason ("Lion Country Safari" atKings Island , 1974-1993)
**Virginia : Doswell ("Lion Country Safari" atKings Dominion , 1974-1993), Shenandoah Valley ("Virginia Safari Park", 2000)
**Georgia : Pine Moutain ("Wild Animal Safari", 1991)
*Canada
**Ontario : Rockton ("African Lion Safari ", 1969)
**Quebec : Hemmingford ("Parc Safari Africain", 1972)
*Mexico : Puebla ("African Safari", 1972)
* Israel : Ramat-Gan (1974)
* Japan : Himeji ("Central Park", 1984)
* Thailand :Bangkok ("Safari World ", 1988)
* China :Shenzhen ("Safari Park", 1993),Shanghai ("Wild Animal Park", 1995),Guangzhou ("Xiangjiang Safari Park", 1997),Badaling ("Safari World", 2001)ee also
*
High Delta Safari Park
*Knowsley Safari Park
*Longleat Safari Park
*Woburn Safari Park
*West Midland Safari Park
*Blair Drummond Safari Park
*African Lion Safari
*Wildlife Safari
*Lion Country Safari
*Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch
*Himeji Central Park *"
SimSafari ": a computer game simulating the management of a safari parkNotes
External links
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