Price rises, extended event dates & a Severn seal have been among our top stories today about West Midland Safari Park, so let’s kick off with the hive of news activity that's been buzzing around today!
Spooky Spectacular event dates EXTENDED
The annual Spooky Spectacular event has been extended in time this year. The event will run from October 5th-November 3rd, meaning there will be just under a month's worth of scares for the whole family!
The park has divided the event into 2 sectors, off peak & peak. During peak times, Spooky Spectacular will run from 10am-9pm (MON-FRI) and during off peak times 10am-5pm. Rather than opening the park at 10am and having the event start at 5.30pm, the park have extended the amount of time the horror comes 'alive'.
It's still uncertain if the park will be making any ultimate scares this year for the older members of the family, such as Horror Mazes, but all will be revealed closer to the time of the event.
Entry admission cost INCREASES
The park's adult summer season price (Feb-Nov) has increased by £2 from £14.99 to £16.99. Children's entry price is: £12.99. This excludes wristbands. It's suspected the park have increased the entry cost due to a bad year in 2012 in terms of visitor numbers, however there could be another reason.
Severn Seal spotted again!
WMSP & Bob Lawrence have stepped in to help save a seal that keeps appearing in the River Severn around the Stourport area. Here is a statement from Express & Star Newspaper:
Bob Lawrence, director of wildlife at the Bewdley attraction, has been on alert since police called him to help capture the creature, when it was spotted in the snow on the side of a riverside road in Shrawley near Stourport.
“It was just getting dark when I received the call on Friday. I gathered my trailer and catching poles, but by the time I got there it had long gone, probably back into the river,” said Mr
Lawrence. “If we can find him on dry land again maybe we could catch him and take him back to the sea. It might take two or three people and even tranquilisers.
“I will be contacting Natural England to see what we should do and where we should take it.”
Customers and staff at the nearby Lenchford Inn did a double-take when they spotted the seal.
David Taylor, the pub’s owner, added: “Around 10 or 15 people all drove up to see it and they managed to encourage it back into the river.
“Goodness knows how it got there. It’s just lucky it wasn’t hit,” he said. It comes after the Angling Trust said it would apply for a licence to shoot the animal, nicknamed Keith by some and Bob by others, as a “last resort” to protect fish stocks. The organisation has since stressed that it is doing “everything possible to get the seal back out to sea without it being harmed.”
Meanwhile, supporters of Keith, who is actually thought to be female, have set up a Facebook campaign group and printed T-shirts since she was first spotted in October last year.
And a petition calling on the Environment Agency to relocate Keith has attracted more than 3,500 signatures, some from as far afield as Malaysia.
Hopefully WMSP & Bob can capture the animal and take it back to safety.
That's all the news that's been revealed today about WMSP, from Spooky extensions to a seal in the Severn, we sure cannot wait until Opening Day which is in just over 2 weeks time. Remember, you can discuss all the latest news & information on our Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/safarisundownuk, on twitter: @SafariSundown or on our forums:
http://safarisundown.createaforum.com/index.php
