Blair Drummond Safari Park is Scotland's only African Safari Park. Located near Stirling the park is one of the major attractions of the area. The safari park is overlooked by Blair Drummond House, built in 1868-1872 by J C Walker and is spread over 120 acres. There are a range of wild and exotic animal species to visit at the park, including;
Blair Drummond Safari Park is Scotland's only African Safari Park. Located near Stirling the park is one of the major attractions of the area. The safari park is overlooked by Blair Drummond House, built in 1868-1872 by J C Walker and is spread over 120 acres. There are a range of wild and exotic animal species to visit at the park, including; African elephants, African lions, tigers, chimpanzees, rhinoceroses, giraffes, lemurs penguins, sea lions, otters and a number of birds of prey. The park is open to the public from late March until early November.
Blair Drummond Safari Park is one of the original three safari parks to open in the UK along with Woburn and Longleat. Animals were originally brought over from Africa to stay in the park, which opened to visitors in 1970. The park opened on the grounds of Blair Drummond house, which was purchased by Sir John Kay, a Glasgow tea merchant in 1916. Having no sons he passed it to his nephew Sir John Muir; father of the present owner, Jamie Muir. The house remained a family home until 1977 when it was sold to the Camphill Trust, a charity that cares for people with special needs. Blair Drummond house which you see today was built in 1715 to replace the old family home which was actually sited in what is now the giraffe enclosure. The park today is 120 acres in area, houses a wide number of exotic wild and endangered animals species, and is involved in several captive breeding and research programs for endangered species.
Visitors to the park can view a number of animals as they drive through the reserves section. Here, a number of animals can be seen roaming and grazing and often co-existing peacefully with other species. The animals that can be seen in the reserves include:
The park has many attractions, including a host of animals to be viewed on foot and by boat, a kids' adventure area, bird of prey and sea-lion displays, peddle-boats, rides and amusements. Included in the standard ticket price is:
Reached by bridge, Lemur Land is a sanctuary for ring-tailed lemur, brown lemur, white-fronted brown lemur and red-ruffed lemur. Here the visitors can walk through the lemurs' home and watch as the lemurs climb around their trees and ropes, bathe in the sun or huddle together in their numerous hides.
A short boat trip along-side Lemur Land and round the bend takes visitors to view Chimp Island - an island home to three chimpanzees. Here the visitors are taken round the island on a boat by an experienced guide, who gives information on the chimps as they survey the boatloads of people.
The park is home to three female African elephants. These spend their day foraging around their enclosure and using the various pieces of enrichment provided for them by their keepers. On some days, if the elephants are willing, the keepers will engage the elephants in a demonstration of some of the ways in which they care for the elephants at the park. Here the visitors can get up close as the elephants present their feet, mouth, ears and tail to the keepers for inspection and cleaning.
Four times a day the visitors can enter the sea-lion house, where they can see one of the sea-lion keepers working with the four California sea lions at the park. Here the visitors can experience the intelligence and physical abilities of these animals as they leap, clap and play with their keepers.
Three times a day the visitors can see some of the abilities of the birds of prey that reside at the park. Here the birds are flown by the park's experienced falconers, who explain and demonstrate the birds' capabilities as they swoop over the large loch. Often the park's white-tailed sea-eagle can be seen snatching a lure from the loch. Birds here include the harrier hawk, eagle owl, buzzard, Rüppell's Griffon vulture, saker falcon, kestrel and barn owl.
This area of the park homes many exotic and domesticated species of animals. Feed can be purchased here and some of the animals can be fed by the visitors as they make their way round. Animals in this area include parma wallaby, red-necked wallaby, pygmy goats, ponies, clydesdales, donkeys, llamas, somali sheep, guinea pigs, guinea fowl, pot-bellied pigs, meerkats, humboldt penguin, oriental small-clawed otter and free-roaming marmosets.
Viewing platforms are positioned throughout the park, which allow visitors to view into some of the enclosures from an elevated position. They are located at the giraffe/zebra enclosure, the lion reserve and the tiger reserve.
Throughout the day, the education team make their way round some of the enclosures, giving talks on some of the animals at the park. The talks include information about the natural environments, behaviours and biology of the animals, as well as specific information on the individuals at the park. Some of the talks include a feeding and so provide a good opportunity to see the animals active if they are having a lazy day.
The park has a variety of activities for kids and adults. There is a large astraglide slide and adventure playground, where visitors will find a pirate ship and climbing maze with slides, all housed within a sand arena. There are also peddle boats (the 'splash cats') positioned underneath a large flying-fox, not for the faint-hearted. Tokens can be purchased to gain access to some of the other rides, including dodgems, kids' caterpillar rollercoaster, bouncy castle and a carousel. Facepainting is also available for visitors of all ages.
Animal adoption packs are available at a range of levels. The adopter can contribute to the welfare of their chosen animal at the safari park and have their name displayed on an adopters’ plaque next to their animal’s enclosure.
Various packages are offered enabling members of the public to work hands-on with a number of the animals at the park along with their keepers.
Restaurants, grills and snack outlets are found throughout the park, and a variety of food is offered, from baked potatoes to hot dogs and donuts, and can be eaten indoors or outside.
Barbecues can be hired and lit free-of-charge at any point throughout the day. Visitors are asked to bring their own food and cooking instruments. Picnic tables are scattered around the park and are free to be used by all.
Blair Drummond Safari Park has been a member of BIAZA – British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria – since 2004. Being a member of this organisation allows the park to participate in coordinated breeding programmes with other zoos in the UK and Ireland for endangered animals. They also recognise all the research carried out at the park and the conservation work the park supports abroad.
The most recent success story at the park was the birth of 'Alba', a bactrian camel. Bactrian camels are native to the steppes regions in Eastern Asia and are listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.
Other animals that have successfully bred in the park include:
In February 2010 staff at the park where alerted to one of their rhinos giving birth by a woman in cyprus who was watching the rhino enclosure on the park's webcam[1]
As a modern safari park, Blair Drummond accepts the importance of educating and raising the awareness of visitors to the plight of endangered species; and one way in which this is addressed is through conservation campaigns. Annually Blair Drummond contributes to conservation campaign run by EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria), and in recent years have won awards for their involvement towards the cause. Below are listed the EAZA campaigns in which Blair Drummond participated.
As well as contributing towards EAZA campaigns and fund-raising events, Blair Drummond annually donates money towards other conservation campaigns. One of these is Friends of the Mau Watershed (FOMAWA) in Kenya, to which Blair Drummond donates £5,000 annually. The project aims to protect the forests of Kenya, the wildlife found there, the surrounding environment and the people, through in situ conservation.
In 2008, the park hosted their own conservation campaign, SOS: Save Our Squirrels; raising awareness of the plight of the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) in Britain and using the funds raised to help their own red squirrel population living in the grounds of the park.
