Get the safari experience right here in West Norfolk
Keep your eyes peeled and you might get a glimpse of antlers hovering above the long grass, deer heading to their watering hole and shy antelopes enjoying the sun.
It's not quite the Serengeti, but this is West Norfolk’s new safari experience and it has much of the magic.
At Watatunga Wildlife Park, wild and magnificent creatures live a free life in oodles of space across 170 acres, roaming at will and helping to preserve the future of their own species.
The park, at Watlington, is now open for business and PR man and keen conservationist, Andrew Waddison, was a guest at the preview day and took our pictures during his 90-minute buggy tour.
He said: “The landscape is simply stunning with old quarries, lakes and vast swathes of grass and woodland - everything that the incredible creatures that now call this part of West Norfolk home could want.
“At an early stop, we were introduced to a Great Bustard, who will form a new breeding programme for this ‘Vulnerable’ listed species, before one of the resident White Storks strolled in and stole the show.
“Around the next corner we found two majestic Blesbok being tailed by an almost mythical looking Scimitar-Horned Oryx, a creature so beautiful but possessing enormous prized horns which, along with habitat loss, has led to the species becoming extinct in the wild.
“All of these animals will form breeding programmes so that wild populations can be maintained and, in the case of the Oryx, returned.
“We spotted a herd of Indian Hog Deer enjoying the evening sun. This gregarious species of small deer is now classed as endangered in its home range in the Indian sub-Continent. The herd at Watatunga will be undergoing DNA tests to ensure the gene pool is as pure as it can be.
“This is not a zoo. Far from it. It is 170 acres of habitat, no cages, no big displays or exhibitions. There are, however, magnificent creatures living a free life in oodles of space and helping to preserve the future of their own species. A fantastic experience and unique to East Anglia.”
