A £600,000 des res featuring a large pool, plenty of rocks and a beach has been completed to meet the exacting requirements of three Merseyside entertainers.
The new home has been custom built for Max, Biffo and Arthur, the stars of Knowsley Safari Park’s ever-popular sealion show.
It has been built to rival the famous aquatic shows in Orlando, Florida, and will allow visitors to watch the sealions’ antics in and out of the water throughout the day. Park bosses are hoping it will beat last year’s record season of visitor numbers.
The new facility includes a much larger pool, rocks, beaches and waterfall effects as well as an underwater viewing area which will enable visitors to watch the sealions’ antics throughout the day, and not just at show times.
The talented trio’s new home is linked to the existing sealion show theatre which has also been given a major facelift.
It is all part of the park’s ongoing development programme which this season also includes a spectacular new jungle-themed entrance to the safari drive.
Last year the attraction opened a new woodland walk and the Aerial Extreme adventure ropes course, the largest of its kind in the country.
Safari Park general manager David Ross said: “Surveys consistently show the sealions are one of our most popular attractions so visitors will really appreciate this new facility.
“Our ethos is to provide the best possible conditions for all our exhibits, and the new pool provides top-class accommodation for the sealions and gives visitors excellent views of them swimming and playing. Construction work has been in progress throughout the winter so we’re delighted the sealions have finally been able to move in. The new pool will be a real asset to the park.”
As well as entertaining visitors at Knowsley, Max, Biffo and Arthur were able to show off their skills to a national audience last summer when England cricketing hero Freddie Flintoff trained as a sealion show presenter at the park for a TV series on unusual careers.
The sealions also learned a new trick last year to mark the Safari Park’s new sponsorship of St Helens Rugby League Club – they now catch oval rugby balls in their act rather than the footballs they have used in the past.
Mr Ross added: “It’s been a big week for us – the opening of the new sealion facility follows hot on the heels of the launch of our new TV advert which features an Army vehicle coming to grief at the hands of the baboons in our monkey jungle.
“Having had our highest visitor figures since 1972 in 2007, we’re confident that all these positive new developments will help us to do even better over the course of the current year.”
richarddown
