Me, when I end up in the nursing home and tell them all about the Safari Park that used to exist here

Does anyone else here remember Causeway Safari Park?

Opened in May 1970 by local couple Pat and Louise Stephenson, the safari park attracted hundreds of visitors every year.

One of the biggest tourist attractions on the Causeway Coast at the time, it showcased exotic and wild animals from elephants, lions and tigers to chimpanzees, leopards and bears. It also offered tourists a ‘photo booth’ with a lion cub and a free flight aviary.

As well as animals, the park housed other family attractions including slides, rides and trains. It was also a wildlife reserve and an important breeding ground for endangered animals.

However in 1997 the Safari Park closed and the premises became what is now Benvarden Animal Rescue Kennels.

Visitors to the park had the unique experience of travelling in their own cars and buses into the main reserve where lions, tigers and baboons were kept. Many visitors report of how their tyres were slashed by the lions and wipers, number plates and wing mirrors pulled off by the baboons.

Reported at the time of its brief closure in 1986, the park had 34 lions, 6 tigers, 3 chimps, 22 monkeys, 2 leopards, 2 bears, zebras, camels, llamas, ponies and donkeys.

As well as the animals, the park had many other attractions for all the family. There was the American superslide, the moonwalk, kiddy rides, bumper cars, trains, the free flight aviary, café and ice cream parlour. There was also the Curio shop where you could get your photo taken with a lion cub by polaroid camera and have it made into a badge.