Dartmoor Zoo Bens Zoo, What a joke!

W

Wormy WooWoo

Member
Hi there Guys,

I really love this show, cant you just tell this guy (Ben) has great pals in the press. Man i love the way he making himself, and his staff look like fools just to get a bit of TV time.

I am getting really fed up though by the really bad handling of the animals, Im sure there isnt a Qualifacation between them though, so they dont know any better.

Shame to see such an old place in the hands of amaturs, Ive never seen cats wake after being knocked out, but then you dont carry them miles to a crate or jump on them when they do come round!

Whats going to happen in the next episode? weve already had wolves on the moor. Jags and tigers fighting, tigers loose on the park!
Its got to be good to top that, Bears and Pumas loose?. Otters in crisis? Or can they kill something else off to keep the ratings. Ive heard on the grapevine, they will shoot a lion!
 
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Hi Liz
Thanks for that
There are no lions being shot in the series. Infact there have been no lions shot whatsoever since the park was taken over
 
Got to ask then, where is Peggy? Was on Park in october, No Peggy, but on the first episode, there is three lions. Where is she then?
 
hmmmm...

I find it a bit upsetting that you would jump to conclusions that quick.

Bearing in mind that whats on TV for an hour a week is nothing compared to what goes on at Dartmoor 365 days a year.

Its TV, their always going to make things more shocking than they actually are.

I say well done to Ben and his team for taking on such a big challenge, and look forward to visiting Dartmoor in the future!

:)
 
Peggy was euthanased (without the use of a gun) over a year ago.
She was terminally ill with cancer.

"Wormy WooWoo" is a former emloyee of the park, about 5 years ago I think, who has been sending abusive emails and messages to the zoo since the TV series started.
 
one message i beleive, asking of Peggy, NOT abusive, with no reply.
The lion of which you speah is Emma, Peggys mother, and yes Emma went down with cancer.

Why will you not say where Peggy is when you show her on the first episode.
 
I think its a very admirable thing to do, a Series such as Bens zoo.

Public "humility" as it is, is a very sore subject in the public eye, and to be so open about the goings on is very informative.

How many incidents happen at the larger zoos, that we dont hear about do you think?

I can promise you it will be just as much.

As has been pointed out before, the tiger waking under anesthetic was HUMAN ERROR, albeit a very risky one, and it has also been stated that he was sacked on the spot.

The Jag escaping?, four days after the zoo was under ne w ownership and BEFORE any renevation had taken place.
 
Dear, er, 'Wormy Woo Woo',
What exactly did you 'look after' while you were there? Maybe it was you who filled up the wooden barrel for the otters to swim in every now and then, or did you carry round one of the jaguar cubs for children to pet? Or maybe you fed cake to the tapir! Bitter, perhaps? No point registering your concern with emails, too late, you should have done something when you actually worked there.
 
Why is it so bad to want to know what happened to Peggy the lion.
Its shame you have more interest in me than the animals, or is this person beat?
 
I like to watch it, but I agree somewhat about, animals escaping is not good, also why were that bears claws allowed to get so ridiculously long? the keepers were there all the time looking after the animals as best they could, I know it was skeleton staff, but still that bear didnt get like that over night.

I admire what hes done very brave to invest so much money into a business, I was a bit surprised he didnt even realise that the DWA license would run out at the end of the year, surely thats basic research you would do before even buying the place.

I wish him all the best though and I will be taking a trip there, I went when I was little probably about 8-9 years old and cant really remember much but I remember the lions.
 
brokehalo7 said:
I think its a very admirable thing to do, a Series such as Bens zoo.

Public "humility" as it is, is a very sore subject in the public eye, and to be so open about the goings on is very informative.

How many incidents happen at the larger zoos, that we dont hear about do you think?

I can promise you it will be just as much.

As has been pointed out before, the tiger waking under anesthetic was HUMAN ERROR, albeit a very risky one, and it has also been stated that he was sacked on the spot.

The Jag escaping?, four days after the zoo was under ne w ownership and BEFORE any renevation had taken place.
Click to expand...

I am intrigued as to how you can sack the vet on the spot after all I am sure that he did not ask Dartmoor zoo for employment and so they are not his boss, does he not work for himself?.

The Jag was due to Keeper error. Form what I believe, they disobeyed the two keeper rule and went to clean it out. It opened the external hatch and went past him (Was told this by a member of Staff at the park).
 
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Wormy WooWoo said:
Why is it so bad to want to know what happened to Peggy the lion.
Its shame you have more interest in me than the animals, or is this person beat?
Click to expand...
Their is nothing wrong with wanting to know what happened to Peggy the Lion,but dont start throwing stones and crying foul when somebody has ago back which to me seems to be what you are doing here now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Hadley why are you always so quick to defend kiruna? Im sure she can speak for herself? I doubt you could ever understand the bond that many former keepers had with the animals at Dartmoor and the frustrating situation they worked under sometimes. All you seem to believe is what kiruna posts on this site? How could you possibly know cake was fed to the tapir for example? did you see it happen hadley? I never did and i worked there for over 10 years!
 
I watched the first two episodes of Ben's Zoo and was mesmerised. There are so many issues going on there, you could talk about it all night ( I have no social life!!).

The big animals getting out was pretty bad, no one can deny that. But it was an accident waiting to happen. The place going into rack and ruin didn't happen overnight, which is obvious from the series. Who was the previous owner? Why was it allowed to happen? Is the previous owner being prosecuted for what a mess he left behind? There must also be inspection authorities who have responsibility and a duty of care to go check these places out regularly. I work in the health care sector, and you can't sneeze sometimes without someone rapping your knuckles.

The footage of the tiger waking up from it's anaesthetic with that poor woman hanging on for dear life around it's neck was a bit scary. And of course Fudge, the bear's claws didn't get like that overnight. But if the keepers where funding the food for the animals themselves, maybe they didn't have enough money left to pay for the vet to come cut the claws. I don't know. I wasn't there. It's easy to criticise with hind site.

I think Ben and the team are doing as good a job as they can. Wether it's good enough, no doubt we will find out in the next two episodes. The news about his wife passing on was devastating.

I've checked out their website and they seem to be doing ok. The "not so sleepy "tiger they sent to France is doing well. So that's good news.

I hope to go and visit the zoo in the next few weeks.

Fiona.
 
jacks zoo said:
How could you possibly know cake was fed to the tapir for example? did you see it happen hadley? I never did and i worked there for over 10 years!
Click to expand...

Possibly this was after your time?


I am intrigued as to how you can sack the vet on the spot after all I am sure that he did not ask Dartmoor zoo for employment and so they are not his boss, does he not work for himself?.
Click to expand...

Ok, not sacked. We just do not use his veterinary services anymore. (same difference?)


The bears claws - I cannot comment on how they got to be in that state. They were like that when the zoo was purchased. However, it was one of the first things that money was spent on.
 
you only have to google the zoo and it comes up with a pretty scathing report by CAPs, maybe not the best people to read a report by seeing as they are totally anti zoo anyway, but it does make worrying reading, a pair of 8 day old jaguar cubs taken out handled, and shown to children to pet them, common sense says this is wrong, what were they thinking?

At least it is now in good hands and on the road to becoming a zoo that can be proud of the way its animals are kept.
 
Dont go jumping the gun just yet my friend. The old park ran for years, not always badly.
Only time will tell if things turn out well or they go down the same path. At the end of the day it's a business, and the goal of any busness is to make money.
 
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