Day Trip to Woburn Safari Park

We visited Woburn Safari Park (Bedfordshire) a few weeks ago and I wanted to share some of the photos I took of the animals on the road safari, and the vlog I put together too, which you can watch below, or over on my YouTube channel. (Don’t forget to subscribe!)

We have been to Woburn Safari Park a few times in the past – I wrote about it here, and things don’t seem to have changed to much from that visit. We didn’t do the foot safari on this visit, which I talked about in one of my vlogs, but we’ll visit again one day, and do that side of things next time around.

The first part of the road safari has small herds of Ankole Cattle, Common Eland, Sable Antelope, Blue Wildebeest, and Southern White Rhino – all of which we saw on this visit.

There are also Dwarf Forest Buffalo, Ostrich, North American Bison, Bactrian Camel, Chapman’s Zebra, Przewalski’s Horse, which we did see in the distance, but I didn’t get photographs of on this occasion, as they were just too far out for a decent shot. Another part of our visit was for me to put my new telephoto lens to the test!

You can click on the images to enlarge them. Descriptions about the animals are from Wikipedia and the Woburn Safari Park website – do check it out – it’s full of great info about their animals, as well as all the things you can do at the zoo

Ankole Cattle

The Ankole cattle are named after the Watusi tribe of Africa and are a domesticated species. It is thought that they are a cross between two different breeds of cattle that migrated to East Africa around 1000 BC.

Common Eland

Eland are one of the largest antelope species and are found in East and South Africa on the plains and savannahs. However they are very adaptable and can form herds in a variety of habitats including sub-desert, floodplains and mountains.

Sable Antelope

The sable antelope is an antelope which inhabits wooded savannah in East Africa south of Kenya, and in Southern Africa.

Blue Wildebeest

The blue wildebeest, also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded wildebeest or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest.

Southern White Rhino

The southern white rhinoceros or southern square-lipped rhinoceros, is one of the two subspecies of the white rhinoceros. It is the most common and widespread species of the rhinoceros. 

We then drove into Kingdom of Carnivores, where we saw Amur Tiger, Canadian Timber Wolf, North American Black Bear, and African Lion. I love that we were able to see all of these wonderful animals.

Amur Tiger

Amur tigers (from a region of Siberia) are the largest of the big cat species and are renowned for their power and strength. There are only an estimated 400 to 500 Amur tigers living in the wild, in the birch forests of Eastern Russia.

Canadian Timber Wolf

The Canadian Timber Wolf is the largest sub species of wolf, living and hunting in packs of up to 10 or 12 members in the wild. They are the most wide-ranging of carnivores and can take prey up to ten times their size because of their hunting techniques. 

North American Black Bear

Black bears are North America’s most familiar and common bear, typically living in forests. They can also be found in mountains and swampy regions. Despite their name, black bears can be blue-gray or blue-black, brown, cinnamon, or even (very rarely) white.

African Lion

Lions are social animals that live in prides, these are family units that can include up to three males, a dozen or so females and their young. The pride’s lionesses are related and female cubs will usually stay in their pride. Male cubs will usually join another pride, taking over a group headed by an older male.

Straight after the lions, and tigers, and bears, (and wolves) oh my, is the African Forest area with Barbary Macaque, Patas Monkey  and a herd of Eastern Mountain Bongo.

The monkeys do like to climb over the cars as they slowly drive through this area, and it’s a real treat to see one of the up close and personal sitting on your wing mirror! I remember as a kid going to Windsor Safari Park (way before it became Legoland) and the monkeys climbing all over my dad’s car, and dad being none too impressed, maybe because one time, one of the monkeys did something naughty on the car!

Barbary Macaque

The Barbary macaque is a species of macaque unique for its distribution outside Asia and for its vestigial tail. Found in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco along with a small population that were introduced from Morocco to Gibraltar.

Patas Monkey

The patas monkey, also known as the wadi monkey or hussar monkey, is a ground-dwelling monkey distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa, and into East Africa

Eastern Mountain Bongo

The bongo is a herbivorous, mostly nocturnal forest ungulate. It is among the largest of the African forest antelope species.

Before driving out of this area, zoo keepers do check cars for any hitchiking monkeys! You then head into Giraffe Junction, where you find Rothschild’s Giraffe, and Grévy’s Zebra, both of which we saw and photographed, as well as other animals – Addax, Scimitar Horned Oryx. You can then drive around to the foot safari area, and the rest of the zoo, or continue driving to repeat the circuit of the road safari. Along the way other animals to be seen include Kudu, Somali Wild Ass, and Asian Elephants.

Rothschild’s Giraffe

Rothschild’s giraffe is one of the most endangered giraffe subspecies, with only a few hundred members in the wild. It is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals remains in the wild.

Grévy’s Zebra

The Grévy’s zebra is the largest extant wild equid and the largest and most threatened of the three species of zebra. The Grévy’s zebra is found in Kenya and Ethiopia. Compared with other zebras, it is tall, has large ears, and its stripes are narrower.

Somali Wild Ass

The Somali wild ass is a subspecies of the African wild ass. It is found in Somalia, the Southern Red Sea region of Eritrea, and the Afar Region of Ethiopia.

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Asian Elephant

Elephants are the largest land mammal in the world; they are strong and also very intelligent and social. Inhabiting Asia’s forests, elephants are herbivorous and are seen in large family groups. Also known as Pachyderms, which is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘thick skinned’.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the photos that I took of some of the animals at Woburn Safari Park, if you decide to pay a visit, I hope you have a good time. I know we would love to go back, so perhaps during the summer, we’ll make a return!

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