Was that because they didn't have the holding facilities to seperate mother and cubs from Sovereign?
Zoos differ on this practice, I know Howletts/Port Lympne leave the males in with the cubs over birth and so on, I take it this was the same at Dartmoor? Hence the reason for the cubs being hand-reared if Sovereign became aggressive? Whereas other zoos, close the male of, so even if the male was to be aggressive it would not effect the raising of the cubs by their mother.
After all males, especially of cats don't normally tolerate cubs, so it is not too surprising that this could occur.
Dartmoor was, and I use was, a park that did have potential and like many zoos and parks, the potential is always there, scope for making areas better will always be there.
The downside was Daw himself and the manner and attitude he had regarding everything. The house he lived in was squaller, falling down, inside was a mess and akin to a horder gone mad. The park was in a ruined state, the enclosures were in such a poor state of affairs that everything suffered, then there was Daw's own attitude towards everything, but he disliked authority so much that he made enemies everywhere including keeping staff.
Jaguar are always moody, smart and down-right feisty. I remember at Glasgow, the jaguar's put holes in the metal drinkers, paws would appear from nowhere and you needed eyes in all areas such as their stealth and cunning.
Trying to compare apples with oranges, such as Daw to Aspinal would not fair wise as both were in a different league in their own right, moreso, Aspinal would be seen as a greater player regarding exotics and breeding compared to that of Daw and some others.
Ben Mee, like many collections today have hit a finacial barrier, today's climate is so budget controlled and tight that I am sure that some well known collections will soon appear in the news due to cuts and even closures. My own personal feeling to the Mee's is that: At the start it was a struggle and very close to ending, then as months went by, a small wind of change appeared and all seemed brighter. Somehow, things have lost their way, a spirit has been lost and their is no hunger to make the park better or even upto a collection of repute. We all know that there are many reasons for such downward spirals at Dartmoor, some though are hidden and we may never know. Dartmoor is not in my eyes a place of endevour, a place that has spark and forward planning or conservation ready - ready for the next 10 years or so. It is surviving and that is how many will see it and see other collections too.
