Join our zoo community

Safari Cards (1970-90's)

Discussion in 'Websites about Zoos & Animal Conservation' started by Haliaeetus, 3 Dec 2021.

  1. Haliaeetus

    Haliaeetus Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14 Mar 2021
    Posts:
    2,245
    Location:
    Orléans, France
    It isn't about a website but I ask you a question about an old collection of animal cards.

    If you grew in the 1970-80-90's you may had a collection of Safari Cards.
    The most complete collection is in French language, but they are partially edited in other languages : English, Spanish, Italian and even Hebrew.

    Few resources exist about them now, even if batches can still be bought on sale sites of the web.
    We can also find on the web a few vintage TV- and press commercials, and even a small Facebook group : Log into Facebook

    Personally I started to collect them when I was a schoolboy, after many years I managed to have the complete French collection (that's rare !) with several purchases of old batches.

    Here's a sample of my collection :
    [​IMG]

    For me it remains a very comprehensive and unequaled reference, even in the Internet era.
    Even if these cards are quite old and sometimes outdated, I still love this collection, and I think I'll do so during all my life. [and I use this collection of a database for my fantasy zoos !]

    Did you had (or still have) this collection ? Have you heard something about it ?

    Thank you for your answers.
     
    Last edited: 3 Dec 2021
  2. Haliaeetus

    Haliaeetus Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14 Mar 2021
    Posts:
    2,245
    Location:
    Orléans, France
  3. Haliaeetus

    Haliaeetus Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14 Mar 2021
    Posts:
    2,245
    Location:
    Orléans, France
    Additionnally I may submit you a few images of this collection in the next days, in order to let you identify some doubtful species due to mistakes or taxonomic changes.
    The errors are rare in this collection, that's pretty rigorous for this time, but I suspect some of them (or I've some doubt about a few pictures) for these reasons.
     
    Last edited: 3 Dec 2021
    snowleopard likes this.
  4. Pleistohorse

    Pleistohorse Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    30 Jan 2013
    Posts:
    1,028
    Location:
    Alaska
    I had that collection. Didn’t they arrive in the mail, in packs of 6 or so every few weeks?

    I one point I believe I managed to get a full site of a similar brand, (I believe they were fold-out factsheets) Wildlife Fact File(?), but lost it or gave it away many years ago.
     
    Haliaeetus likes this.
  5. Haliaeetus

    Haliaeetus Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14 Mar 2021
    Posts:
    2,245
    Location:
    Orléans, France
    Yes, they arrived by mail every month : in France 3 packs of 24 cards were sent monthly.
     
    Pleistohorse likes this.
  6. dublinlion

    dublinlion Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    2 Nov 2011
    Posts:
    449
    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    yes I also collected and loved these cards and they were posted monthly in packs of 24?. I collected hundreds of them and only stopped because they began to send more and more different cards about behavior and ecology, which at that time irked me as I was more interested in the individual species cards.
    I still have these cards (very durable) and my children loved them and now my very young grandchildren love to play with them.
     
    Pleistohorse and Haliaeetus like this.
  7. CheeseChameleon1945

    CheeseChameleon1945 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    13 Sep 2020
    Posts:
    1,925
    Location:
    l(Up north)l
    See, these aren't the main animal cards I had when I was younger, that set was almost entirely composed of mammals, however I did have a few of these. I've mentioned my other animal cards set in more detail on other threads, including the Kau'ii endemic birds one.
     
  8. Ned

    Ned Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    20 May 2009
    Posts:
    1,342
    Location:
    .
    There a real blast from the past, I'd completely forgotten about them. There was a set in the library of the school I went to. Haven't seen them since then.
     
    Pleistohorse and Haliaeetus like this.
  9. TinoPup

    TinoPup Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    17 Jul 2016
    Posts:
    6,553
    Location:
    .
    My collection is a tad smaller :) All purchased on ebay. 266325498_455347936167270_8846354357108407817_n(1).jpg
     
    snowleopard and Haliaeetus like this.
  10. Mickey

    Mickey Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    16 Jun 2019
    Posts:
    695
    Location:
    Italy
    Woah, there's more than a thousand of them, are they your source of inspiration for your zoos' masterplans?:D
     
    Haliaeetus likes this.
  11. Haliaeetus

    Haliaeetus Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14 Mar 2021
    Posts:
    2,245
    Location:
    Orléans, France
    Obviously yes.
    I've planned many virtual / fantasy zoo masterplans with these cards for numerous years.
    It's a major source of inspiration for me.
     
    Mickey likes this.
  12. Newzooboy

    Newzooboy Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    21 Nov 2007
    Posts:
    558
    Location:
    Liss, Hampshire, UK
    I also have a large number of these cards from the late 1970s - they are the English versions but they were purchased mail order by my Dad, when I lived in Australia. I think they say 'printed in Italy' on them though, so likely not different to the other English versions. I certainly don't have a full set, but I did once have the red plastic box to hold them in (with folding clear perspex lid) - now lost unfortunately.
    I certainly recognise quite a few of the ones in the pictures above. Many of the pics were clearly taken in zoos, but the photo credits rarely say which ones. I've tried to identify some from structures, etc in background, but there is usually not much to go on.
     
    TinoPup and Haliaeetus like this.
  13. Newzooboy

    Newzooboy Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    21 Nov 2007
    Posts:
    558
    Location:
    Liss, Hampshire, UK
  14. Newzooboy

    Newzooboy Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    21 Nov 2007
    Posts:
    558
    Location:
    Liss, Hampshire, UK
  15. Newzooboy

    Newzooboy Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    21 Nov 2007
    Posts:
    558
    Location:
    Liss, Hampshire, UK
    Here's a few of them..........above
     
    Haliaeetus likes this.
  16. NigeW

    NigeW Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    20 Jan 2011
    Posts:
    281
    Location:
    Chester
    Ah wow, I started a collection of these as a child, and also had the red plastic moulded filing tray that come with the first deliveries. As I remember, they were expensive, and there was no inkling of when the collection may complete, so my dad who'd subscribed for me cancelled it. Without much objection from me at the time. They were OK, but pretty poor value for money as I remember.
     
    Pleistohorse likes this.
  17. doggoswoofwoof

    doggoswoofwoof Member

    Joined:
    20 Jul 2022
    Posts:
    11
    Location:
    Nova Scotia
    These seem so cool! Would it be possible for you to scan them and then upload them so we can all see them?
     
    Haliaeetus likes this.
  18. TinoPup

    TinoPup Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    17 Jul 2016
    Posts:
    6,553
    Location:
    .
    There's hundreds of them. You can find a lot of them on ebay if you'd like to see them.
     
    Haliaeetus likes this.
  19. Haliaeetus

    Haliaeetus Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14 Mar 2021
    Posts:
    2,245
    Location:
    Orléans, France
    Do you know this other collection ?
    These cards were edited by the WWF and released in the 1980/90's in France.
    I don't know if they were available abroad.
    This collection was a bit smaller, but counted at least 1780 cards (I've managed to collect all these cards, I don't know if more cards have been edited, and it's now rare to get information about this collection).

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: 20 Sep 2023
    TinoPup likes this.
  20. TinoPup

    TinoPup Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    17 Jul 2016
    Posts:
    6,553
    Location:
    .
    I don't think I've come across these ones before!
     
    Haliaeetus likes this.