History The predecessor of safari parks is Africa U.S.A. Park (1953-1961) in Florida. The first lion drive-through opened in 1963 in Tama Zoological

History

The predecessor of safari parks is Africa U.S.A. Park (1953-1961) in Florida.

The first lion drive-through opened in 1963 in Tama Zoological Park in Tokyo. In double-glazed buses, visitors made a tour through a one-hectare enlosure with twelve lions.

The first drive-through safari park outside of Africa opened in 1966 at Longleat in Wiltshire, England. Longleat, Windsor, Woburn and arguably the whole concept of safari parks were the brainchild of Jimmy Chipperfield, former co-director of Chipperfield's Circus, as detailed in his autobiography, "My Wild Life"[1], the autobiography[2] of Bob Lawrence (owner of West Midland Safari Park) and literature from the parks up until the 1990s. The former Windsor Safari Park was in Berkshire, England, but closed in 1992 and has since been made into a Legoland.

Between 1967 and 1974, Lion Country Safari, Inc. opened 6 animal parks, one near each of the following American cities: West Palm Beach, Florida; Los Angeles, California; Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Richmond, Virginia. The first park, in South Florida, is the only Lion Country Safari still in operation.

Burgers' Zoo at Arnhem, Netherlands, opened a "safari park" in 1968 within a traditional zoo. In 1995, Burgers' Safari modified this to a walking safari with a 250 m long board walk.

Most safari parks were established in a short period of ten years, between 1966 and 1975.