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→The Safari Park: camels replacing the elephants
The Safari Park opened in the spring of 1973 under its original name of the West Midland Safari Park. It attracted 700,000 people in 2018 and features a four-mile safari drive through. In January 2019 it was acquired by the Looping Group, a French amusement park operator, which intends to "develop the park into an even more exciting family destination".<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-46813530 'West Midland Safari Park bought by French firm', BBC News, 9 January 2019] (Retrieved 13 January 2019)</ref>
Two areas of the park are visible from the railway, both lying within the "Safari Drive Through".<ref>[https://www.wmsp.co.uk/safari-drive-through/ WMSP website]</ref> Travelling towards Bewdley, the first area is the "African Plains", which most notably includes the Park’s '''southern white rhinos'''.
After passing the [[Stourport Triangle]], the second area , "The Borderlands", is home to the Park's '''Bactrian camels'''. Bactrian camels, also known as Mongolian camels, are native to the steppes of Central Asia. They have two humps on their backs, in contrast to the single-humped dromedary camel. Until 2020 the area was formerly known as "Elephant Valley", and was home of the Park’s three African elephants. The young bull elephant ''Sutton'' was born in May 2014 and was named in memory of West Midlands teenager Stephen Sutton. Stephen established a Teenage Cancer Trust charity and hugged Sutton's mother ''Five'' as part of his 'bucket list' of things to do before he died. The third elephant is Sutton's aunt ''Latabe''<ref>[https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/west-midlands-safari-park-baby-7256738 Birmingham Mail] (retrieved 11 March 2020)</ref>. The elephants were moved to a new location towards the middle of the Park in 2021.
<gallery mode=packed heights=200px style="text-align:left">
Safari_Park_Rhinos_20140712.jpg|Southern white rhinos
Safari_Park_Camels_20210526.jpg|Bactrian camelsSafari_Park_Elephants_20190819.jpg|Elephants(2019)
</gallery>
