Win an elephant encounter as Woburn Safari Park celebrates male elephant Raja’s 30th birthday

The bull elephant, who weighs over four tonnes, wasted no time exploring his woven fire hose presents and a big ‘30’ made from tyres. The elephant keepers had been hard at work crafting this special birthday enrichment for Raja, stuffed full of all his favourite foods, including hay, carrots, fibre pellets and apples.

Enrichment activities such as these stimulate natural trunk movement and feeding behaviour for Asian elephants and replicate how they would use their dexterous trunks to grasp food in the wild.

Raja is a very laid-back character who enjoys his daily interactions with his keepers and the enrichment activities they create for him. He is father to elephant juvenile Tarli, who was born in 2014.

Raja arrived at the Park back in 1997 when he was just three years old, alongside female Damini who also turns 30 in March. Over the years, the pair have become firm favourites with the public and keepers alike, creating fond memories for millions of visitors to Woburn Safari Park.

To mark Raja and Damini’s milestone birthdays, Woburn Safari Park is asking the public to send in their best photographs of the Asian elephants at the Park through the years. The best images will be selected to create a permanent commemorative display at the Park and one lucky entrant will be selected to win a VIP Elephant Encounter for two (worth £649).

To enter, simply email your own image of any of the Asian elephants at Woburn Safari Park (however recent or historical they may be) to [email protected], along with your name and a short description of your chosen image.

This competition is only open to entrants aged 16 years and over, and your submitted image must be your own from a visit to the Park, whether that is an old scrapbook image or a recent smartphone snap.

Find out more about this BIG birthday competition at https://www.woburnsafari.co.uk/discover-your-safari/competitions/ele-birthday-photo-comp/.