Longleat Safari Park

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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.

Safari Park sections include:

Wallaby Wood : Red-necked wallaby
- It is possible to walk through this section
The East African Game Reserve: Rothschild Giraffe, Grant's Zebra, Llama, Dromedary Camel, Ostrich, Kenyan Bongos
- It is possible to get out of the car and view this section on foot
Flamingo Valley: Chilean Flamingo, Sacred Ibis, Whistling Duck, Spoonbill
Monkey Jungle: Rhesus Macaques, Blackbuck, Indian Water Buffalo
- The monkeys climb on the cars, probably because folk feed them bananas, etc., through windows despite many notices requesting visitors not to do this. Occasionally the monkeys 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: Bengal Tiger
- As of September 2006, there is only one tiger.
Lion Country (section 1): African Lion, (section 2): African and Barbary 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 east Africa reserve)

[edit] Pets Corner and other attractions

In pets corner, many exotic and familiar mammals, birds, reptiles and insects are on display, including Otters, Marmosets, Macaws, Rabbits, Tortoises and many more. On the lake, boat trips go out so as the Sea Lions, hippos and, Gorillas (who have their own island)and Pelicans can be seen.