Up-close with Wildlife at the Woburn Safari Park
Whether you are interested in seeing a majestic and fierce lion, endangered rhinos or cute and very vocal lemurs, you will find them all at the Woburn Safari Park. Located in Woburn (Bedfordshire) the Safari Park covers around 360 acres and is a wonderful place to see some of the world's most magnificent animals at a very close range.
It's not all over once you are done with the Road Safari because there is plenty to see in the Foot Safari.
We went on a wet day (blame the unpredictable British weather) but still managed to see most of the animals with the exception of the meerkats who decided not to venture out of their burrows. But the experience of getting up-close to the rhinos more than made up for the meerkat no-show. The closest I have ever been to a rhino was at Woburn with the large, primitive-looking mammals just a few feet away from our car. The large breeding herd of Rothschild giraffes were also my favourites. The Safari Park has had a lot of success in the breeding of this endangered sub-species of giraffe and watching the large herd roaming freely in their grassland enclosure was an amazing experience. These tall animals (their height ranges between 16 to 19ft) were seemingly oblivious to the flow of visitors but one of the tall guys did manage to sneak in from behind our car giving us a very close view!
We did our first Road Safari in the morning and then had a quick lunch in the leisure zone before heading out on the Foot Safari. The Sea Lion Beach was my favourite in the Foot Safari zone. Unlike the giraffes, these sea lions knew they had loads of fans watching them and put on a wonderful display; diving, twisting, twirling and leaping as they would have done in the wild. Some of them swam right up to the barriers for a closer look at us! It was wonderful watching these marine mammals and I returned twice to the Sea Lion Beach to see them.
We had a couple of hours on hand after the Foot Safari, so we went back for another round of the drive-through safari. Woburn offer their visitors unlimited circuits of the Road Safari to ensure that they get to see as many animals as possible. Our second road safari was a different experience from when we went around at morning. Some of the animals that had taken shelter in their enclosures (due to the morning rain) were now out.
The park's leisure area features a gift shop, a family restaurant, keeper talks and demonstrations, Mammoth Play Ark, pedaling on the Swan Boats, Sea Lion Cove 3D cinema, and the Go Ape! high wire forest adventure. There is an indoor seating area for picnics as well.
Overall, it was a great day out and we had a wonderful time. If you are a wildlife lover, you will love the Woburn Safari Park. You can check their website for special events and for ticketing deals bundling the Safari and Woburn Abbey visits.
The Safari Park is a part of Duke of Bedford's estate and was opened in 1970. Animals roam freely in large expanses of natural enclosures and visitors can drive through the enclosures, past groups of animals. The Safari is split into two zones: Road Safari and Foot Safari. The drive-through safari includes:
- Northern Plains which is home to Zebras, North American Bisons, Bactrian Camels and Gemsboks.
- The Savannah Grasslands with its beautiful panoramic views is home to herds of Blue Wildebeest, Ankole Cattle, Sable Antelope, Ostrich, Dwarf Forest Buffalo, Eland and the magnificent White Rhinos.
- Kingdom of the Carnivores with double-gated enclosures is the territory of Amur Tigers, wolves, bears and the majestic African Lions! This section of the safari looks like and is a part of the park but is very secure and the animals in this section are contained from other animals in the park.
- The Giraffes Junction where the Rothschild's Giraffe share their grassy playground with endangered Grevy's Zebra and endangered Addax as well as Somali Wild Ass and Scimitar Wild Oryx.
- African Forest which is the last leg of the Road Safari and includes Patas Monkeys and Barbary Macaques.
It's not all over once you are done with the Road Safari because there is plenty to see in the Foot Safari.
- Desert Springs enclosure is home to porcupines, yellow mongoose and meerkats.
- Elephant Meadow where you can get close to beautiful Asian Elephants.
- Rainbow Landing, tropical walk-in aviary where you can spot and feed colourful Lories and Lorikeets.
- Animal Encounters which houses Penguins, Lemurs, Sheep and Pigs.
- Land of Lemurs home to Black and White Ruffed lemurs, the Red Fronted lemurs, Red-bellied lemurs and Ring-tailed lemurs.Sea Lion Beach with five very fun-loving and energetic Californian sea lions.
- Monkey Business home to little Squirrel monkeys.
- Australian Walkabout with Greater Rhea and Red Necked Wallabies.
We went on a wet day (blame the unpredictable British weather) but still managed to see most of the animals with the exception of the meerkats who decided not to venture out of their burrows. But the experience of getting up-close to the rhinos more than made up for the meerkat no-show. The closest I have ever been to a rhino was at Woburn with the large, primitive-looking mammals just a few feet away from our car. The large breeding herd of Rothschild giraffes were also my favourites. The Safari Park has had a lot of success in the breeding of this endangered sub-species of giraffe and watching the large herd roaming freely in their grassland enclosure was an amazing experience. These tall animals (their height ranges between 16 to 19ft) were seemingly oblivious to the flow of visitors but one of the tall guys did manage to sneak in from behind our car giving us a very close view!
We did our first Road Safari in the morning and then had a quick lunch in the leisure zone before heading out on the Foot Safari. The Sea Lion Beach was my favourite in the Foot Safari zone. Unlike the giraffes, these sea lions knew they had loads of fans watching them and put on a wonderful display; diving, twisting, twirling and leaping as they would have done in the wild. Some of them swam right up to the barriers for a closer look at us! It was wonderful watching these marine mammals and I returned twice to the Sea Lion Beach to see them.
We had a couple of hours on hand after the Foot Safari, so we went back for another round of the drive-through safari. Woburn offer their visitors unlimited circuits of the Road Safari to ensure that they get to see as many animals as possible. Our second road safari was a different experience from when we went around at morning. Some of the animals that had taken shelter in their enclosures (due to the morning rain) were now out.
The park's leisure area features a gift shop, a family restaurant, keeper talks and demonstrations, Mammoth Play Ark, pedaling on the Swan Boats, Sea Lion Cove 3D cinema, and the Go Ape! high wire forest adventure. There is an indoor seating area for picnics as well.
Overall, it was a great day out and we had a wonderful time. If you are a wildlife lover, you will love the Woburn Safari Park. You can check their website for special events and for ticketing deals bundling the Safari and Woburn Abbey visits.
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Disclaimer: Complimentary entry was provided to us but all views expressed are our own.
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Disclaimer: Complimentary entry was provided to us but all views expressed are our own.
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