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The park, which is 600 acres, can be located from miles around and from the air thanks to the white lion. The white lion is a chalk picture carved into the side of the Dunstable Downs (part of the Chiltern Hills). Whipsnade Wild Animal Park is one of Europe's largest wildlife conservation parks. It is home to more than 2,500 animals, many of which are endangered in the wild.
Whipsnade opened in 1931. Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell (ZSL Secretary 1903-35) envisaged the Park as a conservation centre and the first open zoo in Europe, easily accessible to the visiting public. The animals have sizeable enclosures, or, like the peacocks and wallabies, roam freely around.