Woburn Safari Park is a safari park located in Woburn, Bedfordshire, England. Visitors to the park can drive through the large animal exhibits, which contain species such as white rhino, elephants, tigers and black bears. It is part of the estates of the Duke of Bedford that also includes Woburn Abbey and its 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) deer park. The Safari Park itself covers 360 acres (150 ha).

Woburn Safari Park is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

History

Woburn Safari Park first opened in 1970, established by the 13th Duke of Bedford on the grounds of his estate, Woburn Abbey, as a means to help improve the financial position of the estate and restore the Abbey, which had fallen into disrepair as a consequence of the second world war and very high taxes levied by socialist Governments. The 11th Duke of Bedford had been president of the Zoological Society of London and had introduced various species such as American bison, deer, antelope, lion and tiger to the park.

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, ostriches, and antelope.

A safari park is larger than a zoo and smaller than game reserves. For example, African Lion Safari in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada is 750 acres (3.0 km²). For comparison, Lake Nakuru in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, is 168 square kilometres (65 sq mi), and a typical large game reserve is Tsavo East, also in Kenya, which encompasses 11,747 square kilometres (4,536 sq mi).

Safari parks often have other associated tourist attractions: golf courses, carnival rides, cafes/restaurants, 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 enclosure with twelve African lions.

Karachi Safari Park (Urdu: کراچی سفاری باغ‎), opened in 1970, is a public funded 'family-only' safari park covering an area of 148 acres (0.60 km²), located in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It has a zoo, geared with viewing facilities like a chairlift and safari tracks, as well as two natural lakes. A privately funded amusement park, Go Aish, is located in the Safari Park's vicinity.

History

Karachi Safari Park was inaugurated in 1970 by Lieutenant General Atiq-ur-Rehman. It was an independent project of the then Karachi Municipal Corporation. The creation of an independent zoo, safari and aquarium department followed in 1995. Karachi Safari Park is now an independent wing of the Community Development Department of City District Government of Karachi and has been designated as a 'family park'.

Attractions