Sid Jenkins mentioned the closure of Knaresborough Zoo in two books: ‘Animal Squad’ (1986) and ‘Animals have more sense’ (1987). I have included information from ‘Animal Squad’; the chapter in ‘Animals have more sense’ is basically a condensed version. I hope this account makes sense.
When Sid Jenkins visited the zoo in @ 1977, the zoo was a ramshackle place, unsafe for the people and the captive animals. The new co-owners, Nick and Barbara Nyoka, tried very hard to make improvements, but these did not meet the requirements of the new Zoo Licensing Act.
In December 1984, Inspectors of the Secretary of State for the Environment recommended that the Zoo would be refused a licence. They did not believe that the zoo’s owners had enough financial backing or managerial expertise to bring the zoo up to an acceptable standard of modern zoo management. In March 1985, the RSPCA’s Chief Wildlife Officer gave evidence against the zoo at a public meeting at Harrogate District Council. The licence was refused. Nick and Barbara Nyoka, co-owners of Knaresborough Zoo, appealed against the decision at Ripon Magistrates’ Court from 18-21 November 1985. The Chief Wildlife Officer and other expert witnesses gave evidence against the zoo. The court heard of an escaped tiger, which was shot by police and of insecure locks, fencing of inadequate height and enclosures that were too small for the animals. The zoo records were inadequate; some animals had ‘disappeared’ over the years. ‘Dandy’, a monkey became ill, but was denied veterinary medicine and died 10 days later. The appeal was rejected and the owners were given 6 months notice to dispose of the animals and close the doors. Nick Nyoka said, “There’s only one thing for it, they’ll have to be put down and I hope to God I’m not there, because you might as well put me down at the same time.”
Sid Jenkins was a local inspector. He knew the zoo and its animals very well and recognised each by name; he was acquainted with their habits. He didn’t want them to be put down. He was especially fond of the big cats. He told the Nyokas he would help them.
In its heyday, over 40,000 people visited the zoo each summer. In the early 1980s, attendance figures fell and debts rose. Barbara Nyoka wanted to phase out the larger animals, change the emphasis to that of a Children’s Zoo and look for other attractions to draw visitors. Nick continued to devote his energies to build up his reptile collection; he was a leading expert in the field. He walked with a limp, which may have been due to a wrestling match with a lion. His trips to the Everglades to restock his collection put a strain on the zoo’s finances.
The electricity board wanted to cut off the zoo’s electricity supply, vital for lighting and heating many cages. Sid Jenkins established there was no money to pay the electricity bill, but persuaded the board’s officials to leave the power on for 4 more days so the Nyokas could find new homes for the reptiles and fish.
Galen the mandrill was born at Southport Zoo and brought up in a caravan. Other animals included Tank the tiger and Satan and Ricky the lions; if you asked her nicely, Dandy-Leo the lioness rolled over and over on the ground for you. Roma the Sumatran tigress was sleek and elegant and came up to the front of the cage to greet Sid, who stroked her. She nuzzled up as close to him as the wire allowed. Kaffa, an old black panther, had lost most of his teeth, but could tackle his food. Zara the blind, elderly puma had a large growth. A family of 3 Himalayan black bears included Yogi, a blind adult female, Dolly and 4-year-old Treasure. Other animals included 5 monkeys, a family of tree bears, 4 dingoes, a silver fox, a goose, a peacock and many other birds and domestic animals.
On Christmas Eve, a dingo escaped, but its disappearance was not reported to the authorities; dingoes are included in the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976. The dingo had lived as a pet with the other domestic animals and was only put in an enclosure at night. Sid Jenkins reported the matter.
When the electricity supply was due to be disconnected, Sid found Nick Nyoka walking up and down the long viewing area between the glass cases of the reptile house; Nick was nearly in tears, but had made arrangements for another zoo to collect the venomous snakes the next morning. Some of the big cats had been brought up as single animals and would not mix with others of their species; a local animal sanctuary provided some of their food. The RSPCA agreed to pay for the future supply of electricity to the zoo until the future of the animals was settled.
The domestic cats, goats and rabbits were offered homes. Some animals were taken to Somerset’s RSPCA Wildlife Unit, arrangements were made for other small animals and arrangements were made to send 30 snakes to Chester Zoo. Sid and David Hornsey arranged for some snakes and Galen to be taken to Dudley Zoo, but Nick sought comfort with his snakes.
Sid doubted that anyone would take Yogi the blind Himalayan black bear, as there was a glut of these bears in British zoos. There was also a glut of large cats. Zara the blind puma was 20 and was near the end of her life expectancy; her abdominal growth should have been dealt with years ago. Nelson the sea lion had 1 eye. Grasshopper the macaque suffered from hepatitis. Judy the stump-tailed macaque was cheeky and would steal pens or pencils, but needed a jumper to comfort her at night. The escaped dingo was shot by a farmer, who mistook it for a dog when it worried his sheep.
Twycross Zoo offered a special vehicle to take animals to their new homes. Nick Nyola seemed to agree to Galen moving to Dudley and a Northamptonshire wildlife park agreed to take 3 monkeys and Flamingoland, a North Yorkshire Zoo, took the other 2. A debt-collecting agency placed a restraining order on Galen in lieu of debt, but Galen was eventually taken to Dudley. The RSPCA paid for food for the remaining animals. A Hertfordshire leisure park wanted to offer a home for Dandy-Leo the lioness; a man from Great Yarmouth offered to take her, but he was a chef working on an oil rig.
Martin Grantham asked Linton Zoo’s owners to house Roma the tigress. They agreed if the money were found for a new enclosure. The 74 Squadron RAF ‘Tigers’ agreed to adopt Roma as a mascot and to pay for her keep. Suffolk and offered a home for the 4 dingoes and Satan the old lion. The family of tree bears eventually went to Scarborough Zoo, after one of them climbed a tall tree and stayed for a few days. Nelson the sea lion went to Marineland.
Nadine, a 9-year-old girl wrote to the Duke of Edinburgh to help the zoo’s animals. Prince Philip wanted Sid to explain the zoo’s situation to Nadine; Sid told her that nearly all the animals had been saved.
On 12th January, the only remaining animals were the puma and the 2 adult bears; it seemed as if the remaining lions, Dandy-Leo and Ricky had been found homes. Dandy-Leo was eventually coaxed into a van to be taken to her new home in Hertfordshire. A man offered to save the bears, but didn’t have a licence for wild animals. He was a market gardener with a bear logo and wanted to use the bears for advertising. Treasure the young bear went to a zoo in Scotland.
On 13th January, Dandy-Leo was brought back to the zoo, but was taken to Flamingoland 2 days later. Nick had been looking after an ill baby puma in his caravan; it was not visited by a vet and died from enteritis that morning. The other remaining animals were Zara the puma, Yogi and Dolly the bears and Ricky the lion; the latter was going to a zoo, but the zoo’s owners had been threatened by action from the Animal Rights movement.
The vet blew a dart from a blowpipe; it hit Zara behind her left forward and she jumped down. A dingo yelped loudly with a piercing whine as Zara’s body was removed to be placed in a skip. The vet fired a dart into the left hind leg of Ricky the lion, whose body was carried in a stretcher to the skip. The bears sensed trouble and agitatedly paced up and down. The vet put them to sleep and a JCB digger knocked down the concrete breeze-block wall of the enclosure. A rope was tied round Yogi’s body and attached to the rear end of the excavator, which dragged the body onto the zoo roadway to the skip, where Yogi was shovelled into the skip. The same happened to Dolly. Sid placed the puma cub in the skip.
