Park enjoys wild birthday party

Elephant calf Euan plays with a rubber ring

Elephants, rhinos and giraffes were among the residents celebrating the 75th birthday on Tuesday of Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, in Bedfordshire.

It first opened to the public on 23 May 1931 on 600 acres of countryside, as an addition to London Zoo.

Since then, the park has welcomed tens of millions of visitors.

As part of the celebrations, Asian elephant calves Aneena and Euan were given a rubber ring, and rhinos Beluki and Behan were given a special cake.

David Field, from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), said: "Whipsnade broke new ground when it started 75 years ago, becoming the world's first open zoological park.

"It was all thanks to the persistence and vision of ZSL's former secretary Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell who wanted to create a new kind of animal park for the 20th century.

"Since then, Whipsnade has not only lived up to Sir Peter's dream but has gone beyond, to become a world-renowned site for the conservation and breeding of animals and ultimately a place of which he himself would have been immensely proud."