South Lakes Wild Animal Park South Lakes 2014 #3

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Is Dave Gill the full Shilling, surly he can't be that stupid and daft?

Low and behold, poor old Dave Gill seeks God's help:

"Today, David, we believe God wants you to know that ...
if you feel yourself floundering in the sea of life, try leaning back and floating.
Let yourself be supported. Gaze into the beautiful sky and allow time for your spirit to be refreshed. Then when you are feeling stronger, simply choose a direction and start swimming
the perfect message for a stressful day...."
(from his own FB page)
 
SHAVINGTONZOO said:
Why was it necessary/ appropriate to kill the birds?
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Explained above but if it was impossible to catch them quickly when they were finally informed about it by the Police, why would it have been any more possible at an earlier stage?:confused: I would have thought a suitable baited 'Ibis trap' could have caught them. Sacreds are greedy scavengers and would quickly find the food but maybe some would get wily and refuse to be caught, I can't say. I was also a bit surprised at the statement about 'lining them up' and killing two or three at a time. Is that even possible?

This is yet another bizarre chapter in the SL Saga. In itself, I don't think this 'crime' of letting some Ibis unintentionally become free-flying is so terrible. After all, Edinburgh had free-flying Night Herons for many years, and the Zoo the French population of Sacred Ibis derived from obviously had free-flying birds too. Its true it contravenes the newer Wildlife laws in the UK but it was still not deliberately done. Only when seen in context with all the other goings-on there it assumes more importance.

From reading all of the above it seems this was a set-up. Someone(the ex- keeper maybe?) reported the escapes once it was established what their source was, not to the Zoo but to the Wildlife Police, resulting in a successful prosecution.

I was a bit unclear why if the birds were known to leave the Park only between one and four p.m. but no-one knew they were going, how they knew this...:confused: The times they were seen outside presumably by other observers?
 
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bigcat speciali said:
it was impossible to catch the birds in the huge natural are they live within the zoo
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Did he catch them up before he shot them? if so it was not impossible to do, if not I can't imagine the ibis flocks standing around while he was shooting at them.
 
I call this man a bull-shin expert. If the staff didn't know they were free for 12 weeks, then who was feeding them counting them, monitoring them and dealing with security? The man (Gill) has a very bad and clear habit of blaming others for his own mistakes. Afterall, this is the same ma who blamed the late Sarah McClay for her own death, for Cheetah escaping in his Australian park, for numerous escaped animals and deaths as well as his rhino escape which he rides on a daily basis. Really, what we are now witnessing, is Dave Gill trying to cover his back and blame everyone else but himself.
 
Dave Gill may think he is being clever by his Facebook updates regarding "how successful" he is at the conservation of certain species. He may fool the public but in truth this man is a very sad deluded egotistical man. It is now time to rid the bad apples from the zoo keeping industry within the UK as its bringing us all into disrepute.
 
His staff did not know the ibis were escaping, his staff couldn't find an escaped capuchin which was in the quarantine area. I dread to think what else is going on at south Lakes.
 
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Went to the zoo today. Things people might be interested in:

* New lion is out, females seemed to be giving him a wide birth. Anyone know if he is a hybrid?

* The fence between what were the two tiger enclosures has been taken down. The tiger therefore has no access to outside and neither does the anteater. Hippo's are soon moving to the new site. Anteater is moving to where the hippo's are and there will be one big enclosure left for the one tiger. One can only assume that they are after more.

* One of the giraffes is heavily pregnant and 'due any day'. The breeding group are moving to the new site and the hybrid males staying where they are. The young male, Kofe, is going to stay with the two hybrid males.

*Avery was closed for 'maintenance' they seem to be extending the old wooden walkway.

*Jaguar cubs were inside but managed a glimpse. They seem to be doing well.

Will add pictures!
 
Received the following email this morning from Borough Council regarding my concerns about Dave Gill and his actions of late, I also sought some information via a FOI request, which was ignored. The request was pertaining to licensing, conditions of current stipulations and firearms. Make of it as you wish. However, it will be interesting to see if and how, Mr Gill and, his past and current shenanigans will be played out.
Good Morning Mr Paterson,
Thank you for your email.
I can assure you that the Council takes it’s responsibilities under the Zoo Licencing Act very seriously and we continue to pro-actively monitor conditions on the Licence granted to SLWAP. We are assisted in this by specialist veterinary advice where this is needed. Conditions on the licence were reviewed and amended in mid- 2014 following inspections of the premises. In addition our investigations into the death of a keeper in May2013 continue. You make your views on Mr Gill very clear but the Borough Council has to operate within the laws that are set down in the relevant Acts of Parliament.
If you are concerned that the Council is failing to carry out it’s statutory duty I would suggest the best course of action is to lodge a formal complaint. Forms and guidance are available on our website. Ultimately if you are not satisfied the matter can be referred to the Local Government Ombudsman.
Matters subject to legal proceedings are specifically excluded from the councils complaints procedure.
Regards,
Phil Huck
 
Good.

But his creepy fans are probably treating him like a martyr!:confused:
 
Did this have anything to do with the owner's sudden 'resignation' announcement as Director a few days before this court hearing, and did that actually happen- or not?:confused::confused:
 
Pertinax said:
Did this have anything to do with the owner's sudden 'resignation' announcement as Director a few days before this court hearing, and did that actually happen- or not?:confused::confused:
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Basically, he then deleted the announcement and followed it up by a statement more or less implying that even though he planned to resign the *title* of director as he did not want to deal with paperwork or compliance with the licensing regulations, he will retain full control of the collection nonetheless.

Possibly he did this in the futile hope that if he was not officially the director, he would not receive a personal fine :p

The statement has been posted in the previous iteration of this thread, but I will post it in full for you below:

Two weeks or so ago I accidently posted publicly my thoughts intended to my friends about my future, it seems to have been interpreted a little differently by the media to my actual plans.

When I stated I was retiring from being a director of my zoo company this seems to have been grasped by the press as a statement that I would not be running the zoo ????
I have been out of the UK for the past month and mostly with no Internet or very little access whilst visiting some of my conservation projects in Indonesia and South America . I now can see that my private Facebook message was widely circulated and reported upon.

Let me answer a number of questions raised by this.

I do not wish to be a director anymore as this role deals with the day to day paperwork, compliance and administration of the business. I have managers who are well capable of taking on this role and who already take care of these aspects as I have gradually pulled away over the past 5 years.
However I will still be fully in the driving seat as the owner of the company giving direction, guidance and controlling the business from the front.
I started 2 international foundations for wildlife conservation in the past 20 years and they have grown into world significant important programmes for critically endangered habitats and species. Therefore to do them justice they need far more of my time.
I intend to use the time saved in the general administration of the company with my family and my foundations.
My friends know well enough I planned this over 2 years ago.
So any suggestion that I will not be controlling the future development of the new Safari Zoo is wrong.
So retirement from one small role in the zoo simply gives me more time for creativity and ideas to make the new Safari Zoo even more special and unique than it is now and guarantee that the conservation efforts overseas are as strong and successful for the long term !!
David S Gill
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It's the open admission that he does not want to have to deal with licencing-compliance issues that gets me...... :p
 
What do you mean by 'hybrid' lion?

The new male is African, coming through a collection in the UK (presumably a safari park I imagine). So he is just as African as everyone else!
 
Riziki said:
What do you mean by 'hybrid' lion?

The new male is African, coming through a collection in the UK (presumably a safari park I imagine). So he is just as African as everyone else!
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I assume alfiethetortois meant to ask whether the new lion is a generic African, or a pure subspecific form.
 
'Generic' African, but the debate about seperate African subspecies if something ongoing at the moment
 
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