Henry Thynne, the sixth Marquis of Bath, opening Longleat’s gates to the first visitors on 5 April 1966. Easter Sunday queues that year stretched back four miles, with people waiting for six hours to see the lions. All photographs courtesy of Longleat Safari Park

In the opening year, 486,500 people visited the lions of Longleat, in an estimated 106,000 cars and 1,950 coaches. Coach passengers paid just five shillings each.

The first lion to arrive, in early 1966, was Marquis, from Plymouth Zoo. That summer, just nine weeks after the park had opened, the first lion cubs were born at Longleat. One had to be hand-reared after his mother abandoned him. He was christened Mr Merrett after a council official who had helped get plans for Longleat approved.

Lions were the main attraction, but when the east African game reserve opened in May 1968 visitors were allowed to walk and even picnic among animals such as giraffes and zebras.

The arrival of 19 giraffes in the new reserve created quite a stir. They shared their enclosure with other new species including ostriches, crowned cranes, ankole cattle and a scimitar horned oryx, as well as zebras.

In March 1967, Longleat’s first boat, named the Lady Silvy after Henry Thynne’s second daughter, started ferrying visitors around Half Mile Lake so they could see the seals and Longleat’s latest arrivals, four chimpanzees and three hippos.