I worked at Basildon Zoo in the early 1990's and remain good friends with the family. Sadly Yolande Surcouf passed away last year. Species held at the zoo included lion, leopard (spotted and melanistic), European Lynx, servals, leopard cats (inc. Amur subspecies at one time), Lesser spot-nosed guenon, Brown capuchin, squirrel monkey, cotton-topped tamarin, common marmoset, white-fronted and red-fronted lemurs, thick-tailed bush baby, Arctic foxes, raccoons, short-clawed otters, porcupine, wallaby (Bennetts), guanaco. Also a large collection of parrots and birds of prey, plus occlude domestics. The zoo closed early 2002 but the pet shop remains with the rest of the land (4.5 acres or 1.8 hectares) currently for sale for redevelopment.