Longleat Safari Park

Longleat Safari Park
Longleat Safari Lions, with a warning sign
Longleat Safari Park  Longleat Safari Park shown within Wiltshire
Type	Safari park
Location	Wiltshire
Nearest city	Warminster
OS grid	ST818434
Coordinates	51°11′24″N 2°15′40″W / 51.19°N 2.261°W / 51.19; -2.261Coordinates: 51°11′24″N 2°15′40″W / 51.19°N 2.261°W / 51.19; -2.261
Area	9,000 acres (36.42 km2)
Created	1966
Camp sites	Yes
Website	www.longleat.co.uk

Longleat Safari and Adventure Park, in Wiltshire, England, was opened in 1966 as the first drive-through safari park outside Africa.^[1][2][3] The park is situated in the grounds of Longleat House, an English stately home which is open to the public and is the home of the 7th Marquess of Bath. Longleat Safari Park and the concept of safari parks were the brainchild of Jimmy Chipperfield (1912–1990), former co-director of Chipperfield's Circus.^[4]

Today, Longleat is home to over 500 animals, and the estate occupies 9,000 acres (36.42 km²) of Wiltshire countryside.

The Safari Park's reserves

• Wallaby Walk: Wallaby Wood is home to Red-necked wallabies with African spurred tortoises and guineafowl, It is possible to get out of the car and view this section on foot.
• Pygmy Goat Paddock: This paddock is a home to the African pygmy goats. It is possible to get out of the car and view this section on foot.
• Warthog Ridge: Home to 3 warthogs. It is possible to get out of the car and view this section on foot.
• Lemur Walk-through: the spacious Lemur Walk-through enclosure is home to 2 species of lemurs including Ring-tailed lemurs and Brown lemurs and features extensive rope swings and wooden walkways which provide the lemurs with the perfect opportunity to demonstrate their extraordinary agility and climbing skills.
• African Village (60 acres or 24 hectares^[5]): Rothschild giraffes, Grant's zebras and Blue wildebeest.
• Tapir Terrain: Near the African Village are the Brazilian tapirs. It is possible to get out of the car and view this section on foot.
• Bongo Pass and new area: the new area is home to common eland and eastern bongo.
• Flamingo Valley: Chilean flamingos, sacred ibises, White-faced whistling ducks, spoonbills and Wood ducks.
• Vulture Venue: five pairs of African White Backed vultures and grey crowned cranes.
• Monkey Jungle: Rhesus monkeys and blackbucks.
• Anne's Haven: specially built for Anne the Asian elephant, accompanied by three Nubian goats. Anne suffered mistreatment before her arrival at Longleat and receives special care for her physical and psychological needs. The new elephant house has deep sand floors, heating, feeding areas and outdoor space with a large grassy paddock, rocks, log piles, a giant browse frame, sandpit, plunge pool and scratching post. As well as her own team of keepers dedicated to her wellbeing, Anne has the freedom of her own paddock. The new house has facilities and space for additional elephants and Longleat would consider accommodating other elephants that need a home.
• Big Game Park: scimitar-horned oryx, Ankole cattle, southern white rhinos, ostriches, Bactrian camels and roan antelope.
• Deer Park: red deer, fallow deer and Père David's deer.
• Pelican Pond: pink-backed pelicans
• Tiger Territory: 2 Amur tigers
• Lion Country: two prides of African lions.
• Cheetah Kingdom: six cheetahs.
• Wolf Wood: 3 Canadian timber wolves.

Attractions

Longleat House and Grounds

The Longleat home

Opened to the public in 1949, the ancestral home of the Marquess of Bath remains a popular attraction with visitors. Visitors can join one of the many regular house tours or simply walk about at their leisure. They may also explore the gardens surrounding the house and visit a number of cafés within the grounds. A separate ticket is sold for visitors who only wish to visit the House and Gardens.

Longleat Railway

Longleat Railway no. 6 John Hayton in 2006

Established in 1965 and expanded in 1976, this 15 in (381 mm) gauge ridable miniature railway is among the busiest in the country. It has a length of one and a quarter miles (2 km) through scenic woodland and along the edge of Half Mile Lake. The line has taken several different courses across the years, but the route along the lake has remained consistent. After opening the railway was originally run by outside company Minirail on a ten-year contract, which was not renewed due to disagreements between the two companies. Following this, Longleat took over running the railway in 1976. Many engines have run on the railway over the years, both steam and diesel; currently the railway owns two diesel locomotives with one running the passenger services and another in reserve. The railway also has 15 carriages, all built at Longleat between 1976 and 2013 and wearing mock British Railways crimson and cream livery, along with several permanent way wagons. At the far end of the line is a halt platform which is only used for Santa Specials, with a purpose built grotto and a reindeer enclosure. Between 2011 and 2017 the railway was known as the Jungle Express, with the station and carriages given additional theming.^[6][7][8]

Current Locomotives

Former Locomotives

Animal areas

As well as the Safari Park, the estate has a number of areas for small animal enclosures. Beginning with Pets Corner in the 1970s and the butterfly house in the 1980s, the number of animal exhibits expanded greatly during the 2010s.

Jungle Kingdom

Originally known as Pets Corner, the revamped Jungle Kingdom opened in 2011. The centrepiece of this area is a large walk-through meerkat enclosure, the first of its kind in the UK. Two crested porcupines share part of this enclosure with the meerkats, which have free rein of the area. Across from this is an enclosure containing two Oriental small-clawed otters and two male binturong. In the centre of Jungle Kingdom is a small enclosure for coati, which access their shelters via an overhead walkway. At the far end of the area is another shared enclosure containing Red-legged seriema, giant anteaters, Aardvarks, and Patagonian mara.

Monkey Temple

Opened in 2012,^[9]the centrepiece of this attraction is a large themed ruin with long rope walkways running across the paths, which allows visitors to safely interact with a variety of marmosets and tamarins. These include:

• common marmoset
• pygmy marmoset
• black-headed marmoset
• cotton-top tamarin
• Geoffroy's tamarin
• emperor tamarin
• red-handed tamarin

Elsewhere in this area is an enclosure containing a family of red pandas. The breeding pair, named Ajendra and Rufina, have given birth to three cubs since 2015.^[10][11][12] The area also contains a walk-through aviary of rainbow lorikeet and a golden pheasant, where visitors can purchase pots of nectar to feed the birds.

Penguin Island and Stingray Bay

Branching off from Monkey Temple, this attraction opened in 2013 as a 225,000-litre naturally themed display which is home to a colony of captive-bred Humboldt penguins. Visitors can watch the penguins from above as well as below the water, through giant viewing windows, as they swim at speeds of up to 30 mph. At certain times of the year the penguins are allowed outside into a large walk-through area where visitors can get up close to the penguins. Adjacent to this is Stingray Bay, a large open-topped display housing a selection of marine stingray species including thornback stingrays and undulate rays. In September 2016 an outbreak of avian malaria killed a large number of the penguin colony. Also found in Stingray Bay is the column-shaped display which is home to 2 species of seahorses which is Spiny seahorse and Short-snouted seahorse ^[13]

Animal Adventure

Animal Adventure rabbit

Containing many animals previously kept in Pets' Corner, this area opened in 2009^[14] and contains many exotic and familiar mammals, birds, reptiles and insects. There are small areas for goats, striped skunk, ferrets, chickens, guinea pigs, cockatoos, rabbits, Indian runner ducks, Hermann's tortoises, pancake tortoise, spur-thighed tortoise, iguanas, armadillos, rock hyraxes, and a fennec fox. An undercover area houses a regular Parrot show, where keepers demonstrate the intelligence of the resident macaws. Next door is a walk-through butterfly house, home to a large variety of the species, which replaced an older butterfly house built in the 1980s. Inside the main building is the Animal Handling Hall, where visitors can get a chance to hold a variety of creatures such as a Chilean rose tarantula or a corn snake, or even get up close to a selection of reptiles. Donkeys, Jacob's sheep, Secretary bird and Emus can be found in the paddock next to the hedge maze.

Jungle Cruise

The Jungle Cruise (known as the Safari Boat until 2011) is a short trip around Half Mile Lake. The journey takes visitors past Gorilla Island, home of the elderly male Western lowland gorilla Nico, who is the oldest gorilla in Europe.^[15] At the far end of the lake is the shallow Pelican Cove containing Eastern white pelicans and Gorilla Colony, an enclosure for three male western lowland gorillas. The lake is also home to two Common hippopotamus and a group of Californian sea lions and visitors may purchase food for the latter, which are commonly seen following the boats.

Bat Cave

This indoor attraction is home to a colony of male Egyptian fruit bats. It is housed in a stable block which contains several other attractions, and was once the site of a Doctor Who exhibition which ran from 1974 to 2003.

Other attractions

Longleat Hedge Maze - This attraction was opened in 1975. It is one of several mazes within Longleat, and with over 16,000 yew trees making it up it is among the largest of its kind in the UK.

Adventure Castle - A large adventure playground that opened in 1989. It is themed around a medieval castle, with slides, roundabouts, swings, rope climbs, an aerial walkway, a water-based "splash pad" and an indoor soft play area. In 2013 a section of it was fenced off to contain a new Deadly 60 themed interactive maze attraction, Deadly Challenge, which closed in 2016.

King Arthur's Mirror Maze - Built into the same stable block as the Bat Cave, this indoor maze challenges visitors to find King Arthur's crown and the sword Excalibur, while navigating a confusing hall of mirrors.

Family Bygones - A collection of vintage items owned by the Thynn family throughout the years, including a selection of wild game.

Rockin' Rhino - Opened in 2014, this motion ride travels through various amusing tableaus of animals, narrated by Rocky the Rhino and Leroy the Lion as they race each other to the finish.

Little Explorers Garden - Opened in 2016, this colourful outdoor playground is designed for the park's younger visitors. Replaced the Postman Pat Village.

In the media

• The Lions of Longleat - A 1967 BBC One documentary about the newly opened safari park with commentary by Lord Bath and Jimmy Chipperfield.^[16]
• Lion Country - 55-part documentary series broadcast on BBC One in 1998.^[17]
• Vets in Practice - The park featured heavily in the BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary series Vets in Practice.
• On Safari - On Safari is a children's TV show broadcast in 2000 by the ITV children's strand CITV and re-broadcast in 2009 by STV.
• Animal Park - Longleat was the subject of the BBC's long running documentary series, hosted by Kate Humble and Ben Fogle. A new series was filmed in 2016 with a follow up in 2017.
• Roar - Roar is another BBC series about the animals and keepers at wild animal parks.
• All Change at Longleat - A three-part documentary filmed in 2014 and broadcast on BBC One in September 2015. Following Lord Bath handing control of the business to his son, Ceawlin, and his wife Lady Emma, the series also covers the various goings-on across the park and the preparation of the park's first Festival of Light.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Longleat Safari Park.

• Longleat Safari Park