I am looking for zoochatters thoughts on where UK safari parks stand at the moment. As it stands every safari park in its own small or large way seem to be moving their collections into a more conservationally minded direction, typified by WMSP bringing in Indian rhino, Grevy's zebra, African hunting dog as a few examples. Woburn too with Somali wild ass, mhorr gazelle, drill and Vietnamese sika deer Longleat with giant anteaters, nyala and Amur tiger Knowsley with Eld's deer and African hunting dogs With Blair Drummond standing out with no real arrivals of any major importance, with maybe the exception of a lowland anoa. Who would have imagined even 5 years ago such important species would be held and in some cases breeding, in our safari parks, that for so long had lions, hybrid tigers, common eland, giraffe, rhesus macaque and more ankole than you could shake a stick at. Are safari parks starting to catch up with the mainstream zoos in their thinking when it comes to coordinated breeding programmes? Could there be a time when they take over from our well known zoos, in the breeding of certain species? As i state at the top, have they reached a crossroads, where they can now move up a gear, use their many 100's of acres a bit more usefully than displaying a herd of llama in with common zebra! I would like to know zoochatters views on safari parks in general, do they still have a use? How do you see safari parks upping their game, and becoming more closely involved in the breeding of endangered species?
Good topic. I think the safari parks we have today are trying to move away from the typical 'african safari' by bringing in more threatened species, I know Knowsley have brought in a small herd of Barashinga deer from Whipsnade, and have the recent addition of 2 female amur tigers from port lympne. I still think safari parks have a place, but more for conservational and preservation reasons rather than on a breeding level, for example continuous breeding of unwanted antelope like red lechwe, and not moving any on so as a result the entire herd becomes unviable due to inbreeding. Some of the best breeding has come from safari parks, Knowsley has one of the best european breeding records for its white rhino and pere david deer
Just a thought, Safari parks historically sourced most of their animals from zoos, could it be a case that they are taking what is available? I would put money on it that it would be easier for a safari park to source a group of celebes macaques than a group of rhesus in the UK. Also how many hybrid tigers are being bred in zoos these days? so the safari parks have to get pure Amurs. However I have no doubt that they are gearing more towards conservation as well though, infact it would be their only justification for staying open in this conservation minded era. They would be severely critisised if they did not. As directors and staff cross over from zoos to safari park they will bring their conservation ideas with them and begin to steer the parks in that direction. In some ways it is a shame as animals like rhesus macaques (one of my favorite monkeys) are now so rare in zoos in the UK, but it is for the greater benefit!
I believe there are two main reasons behind these developments. One is that more unusual, rare or endangered species are free-breeding in Zoos and more surplus are becoming available(such as the Eld's deer at Knowlsey, Bongo at several parks), while in some cases there is deliberate desire to add more unusual species, such as Somali Ass/Addax/Drill( & the failed application for Okapi) and other species at Woburn and now Indian rhino at West Midlands.
A thought-provoking subject! It is particularly interesting to me that safari parks still seem to be thriving in this country while they have all but disappeared from continental Europe. To be honest, I would have thought it was quite the opposite. Until recently the majority of safari park animals were survivors of, or descedents of, the original Chipperfield imports in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As some of these lines are now dwindling, the safari parks logically turn to zoos for stock as imports from the wild are largely a thing of the past. The fact that surplus stock from zoos now tends to tick the conservation boxes is perhaps just a happy coincidence. It's hard to compare Blair Drummond with the other UK safari parks as they are so isolated and probably face less competition than most tourist attractions. Until a couple of years ago a visit there felt like stepping back in time twenty years with a chaotic mix of species; I remember one reserve with White Rhino, Red Lechwe, Bactrian Camel, Pere David's Deer and Rhesus Macaque! Even here, things have improved and the reserves are gradually being moved towards geographical theming (even though there is little that is rare or unusual). To be fair they have recently bred White Rhino and have also done an excellent job in rehoming "difficult" elephants from other zoos.
This sounds so familiar and is one of the reasons why I don't have a very high opinion of safari parks. I remember in the past when people found out about my zoo obsession they'd say things like 'oh I don't like zoos but safari parks are much better' and I'd go off on a rant about conservation, animal management, education etc.
I think most safari parks today are going along the same lines as zoos, trying to educate people aswell as trying to wow them. Knowsley is a good example as it educates people by keeping rare animals but also wows them by keeping large, naturalistic herds like over 70 Lechwe and over 50 Bison.
I would say that the safari parks mentioned (Knowsley, WSMP, Woburn) are going ... where Safaripark Beekse Bergen has already ventured into before. This park is now way ahead of any competition and is largely non-car and pedestrian walkway designed .... I have always viewed the traditional as somewhat out-dated in their zoological concepts with just traditional large mammal based and hoofstock collections to create a safari-savannah theme. What has been seriously lacking is that they did not represent true ecosystems (no birds, no reptiles, no amphibians, no fish ....) and looked rather sterile in appearance. This after the notion and novelty of driving in a car along larger herds of hoofstock and tigers+lions wore off ... It is good that some of the UK safari parks are now much more conservation tac minded and are slowly changing into more inspiring animal collections and presentation of wildlife in representative themes of the wild.
I question why you think WMSP is moving away from the old safari park hybrid tigers, ankole cattle etc.. In recent years White Lions and White Tigers have come to the park and been inbred. Furthermore, the leopards and Cape Buffalo were added to the park so they could advertise "Come and See the Big 5". The leopard's cage is inadequate. I think Indian rhinos are a step in the right direction but it will be some years before it can be said that WMSP is completely about conservation. Woburn and from what I can gather (although I have never been Knowsley) have made great strides although Longleat still keeps ridiculous mixed exhibits (Hippos and Sea Lions and Llamas and Giraffes).
i agree with the fact of that most of safari park stock comes from zoos, so as the common stuff gets rarer in captivity, they turn over to rarer stock (eg, rehsus maqauq=sulewasi maqaq, bangal tigers (hybrid)= to amur tigers)
Whilst I agree that Longleat could sort it's mixing in the Safari Park, they should keep the sea lion and hippo mix. It's just so eccentric and unique, there would be a great loss of character if they stopped it. And they are making moves toward rarer animals: I think the Siberian Weasels in Animal Adventure are the only ones in the UK.
From what I have seen, Longleat appears to have shifted over the last 10 years or so towards a much more individualised approach to their stock. I think their old llamas and hippos are just going to stay in the best, most spacious environments they can be provided with while not necessarily being replaced when they die.
I know this may cause a bit of a stir but here goes and please take this as it's meant it's just a thought. Why don't zoo's allow the safari parks to keep the bigger animals like Giraffe, Tigers, Rhino's, Lions, Leopards and many more larger animals. Then the zoo's could actually supply the right sized enclosurers for the smaller animals. I think most UK safari parks are now on the right track in the way of looking after conservation issues with the help of breeding Most safari parks where opened under the banner of Bringing the African Wildlife closer to the people, nowadays most safari parks have moved away from this and have many species from other continents. I think our safari parks are doing a better job today then they used too
I have thought it quite ironic, over the past few years how certain safari parks have placed more emphasis on their walk round areas, rather than the drive through part of the parks. In my humble opinion, the management at the parks realise, that Joe public cannot spend their hard earned money in the middle of the lion reserve.
Anybody interested in the birth of the Safari park should definitely read Jimmy Chipperfields book "My Wildlife" its very interesting!
Woburn has wanted Okapi as long as I can remember Indian rhino in a UK Safari park is a giant leap in my book
I think it would have been an impossibility until quite recently. Again I think it is the direct result of the number of Indian rhinos increasing in Europe so that more male holding facilities are needed. No reason why West Midlands can't build a good enclosure,having the space.
