Undecided Safari Parks/zoos, whats good for what?

michael23

michael23

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After a change of plan in activities yesterday, we ended up going to West Midlands Safari Park, albeit a very wet one! Had a good day and certainly gave a taster having not been to anything like a zoo or safari park before.

The lemur woods seemed really good and gave very good photo opportunities and enjoyed the drive through safari, though I really wanted to put the down to get some much better pics of the african dogs!

So what I would like to know is, what parks are good for what really.

Lions, tigers and cheetahs along with the wild dogs are certainly on the list for better pictures. Wolves too are on that list as well.
 
Yorkshire Wildlife Park for lions, tigers, giraffes, as well as lemurs, meerkats, flamingo.
I went last year when I was down that way and it got me interested in animal photography as I mainly do landscape.
Well worth a visit.
 
Depend on the area you are in and how far you are prepared to travel ?
Whipsnade is great for Cheetahs,lions and wolves, Howletts for tigers and wild dogs
 
I have never understood why poeple want to photogrpah animals in cages at zoos when they can photogrpah them wanderring about at safari parks...
 
Some zoos have moats rather than wire fences so it's possible to take photos of them with nothing in the way (safely!). Some people wind the windows down in safari parks but the rangers take a rather dim view of such antics.

Dartmoor Zoological Park is one such place and if they're cooperating, you can shoot the tigers against grass rather than wire over a moat. They have a couple of bears, a cheetah and a jaguar behind moats too as well as other exhibits.
 
Went to the CWP and apart from the continual rain I was very impressed.

Well laid out with most of the animals in fenceless compounds that were well looked after. No rotting food left around or dirty water etc. Every animal you could want was there from the smallest lemurs, meercats and reptiles to lions, wolves and giraffes.

Prices were reasonable too with entry at £14.95 for adults. Cup of tea for £1.40. Easy parking and not too crowded. Living not too far away we're going back when we can get a guaranteed sunny day.

http://www.cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk/
 
Harriers9 said:
Went to the CWP and apart from the continual rain I was very impressed.

Well laid out with most of the animals in fenceless compounds that were well looked after. No rotting food left around or dirty water etc. Every animal you could want was there from the smallest lemurs, meercats and reptiles to lions, wolves and giraffes.

Prices were reasonable too with entry at £14.95 for adults. Cup of tea for £1.40. Easy parking and not too crowded. Living not too far away we're going back when we can get a guaranteed sunny day.

http://www.cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk/
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Sounds good. Might well give it a try at some point. Its just over 2 hours for us.
 
KIPAX said:
I have never understood why poeple want to photogrpah animals in cages at zoos when they can photogrpah them wanderring about at safari parks...
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Sometimes the architecture of the zoo is as much of a draw as the animals.

Or you could go to Woburn in a safari jacket and pith helmet and try kid yourself you're stalking lions in the veldt of the Serengeti and not on the outskirts of Milton Keynes sat in a Mondeo.. ..
 
Alastair said:
Or you could go to Woburn in a safari jacket and pith helmet and try kid yourself you're stalking lions in the veldt of the Serengeti and not on the outskirts of Milton Keynes sat in a Mondeo.. ..
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thats a pretty childish response.. my comment was serious for photography reasons..
 

This is what I prefer to photograph at a safari park. This is Cotswold WP
 
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I was being semi-serious Tony. I don't personally enjoy drive-by wildlife parks - but I do know a couple of zoos with serious architectural merit and I'm hoping to visit one of them again later in the year (Tierpark Berlin-Friedrichsfelde).

There is no photographic distinction between photographing a lion in a wildlife park and one in a zoo. It depends whether you want to try and isolate the subject in a pretend natural environment, or whether you want to try and capture the interaction between the animal and the built environment or the public viewers.

My bias just happens to be different to yours.
 
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