Dartmoor Wildlife Park has had a sad history. It was opened about 30 years ago, with a variety of native UK rescued animals. Over the years, it grew and developed, and expanded its collection into more exotic “zoo†species. It became the largest collection of cat species in the South-West of England. About 10 years ago, it ran into financial troubles and the owners had difficulties keeping up with changes in Zoo Licensing regulations. The park went into a major decline, and the owners were prosecuted for bad animal management issues. The zoo licence was taken away.
Last year, the park was eventually sold to the Mee family, a family with no zoo keeping experience, but a great love of animals and they were ready to take on the challenge of the zoo.
The Curator and I were contacted by the Mee family at the start of 2007, to run the animal department of the zoo. I have always believed that bad zoos should not be shut down, they should be renovated and brought up to modern standards, and this was my opportunity to try.
It hasn’t been an easy process. The enclosures were extremely dilapidated, with rotten fence posts and gaping holes in the wire mesh. The staff already at the park had no formal training and needed to be taught basic husbandry of the animals. Diets were appalling – chocolate cake for the tapir and jam sandwiches for the coati. The animals hadn’t been seen by a vet in years. The concept of enrichment had been lost on the previous owners. The record keeping system was incomprehensible and largely useless, as most of the animals had the same name and were unable to be identified as individuals.
One of my first jobs was to relocate an Amur tiger. There were two tigers sharing an enclosure, but they were incompatible and had been using the enclosure on a rotational basis for the past 8 years. 24 hours in the den and then 24 hours outside. This was a welfare issue, the indoor den was tiny and unsurprisingly they didn’t want to go back inside at the end of their turn outside. I was fortunate enough to be helped by the tiger studbook keeper and coordinator, and we managed to find a zoo in France that only keeps cats. After ploughing my way through vast amounts of paperwork, CITES licences and animal transport legislation, the zoo in France came and collected our tiger. She is now enjoying a beautiful enclosure in the French countryside, and our remaining tiger has free access to her enclosure and den.
The Mee family brought much needed funds, and great enthusiasm to the park and we were able to start work on the zoo. The Curator and I were able to bring in new qualified staff, so between us we now have over 76 years of zoo keeping experience. Enclosures have been modified and enlarged, diets sorted, vets visited and the animals have been enriched. We have a conservation and education programme and are rebuilding links with other zoos. We haven’t had a day off in months and rarely finish work before 9pm.
This work has paid off, as we have achieved the standards necessary to be awarded a licence to operate a zoo, and we opened on 7/7/07! We recognise that we still have years of work to do, but are on our way to becoming (in our opinion) a nice little zoo. We want to join BIAZA and get involved in breeding programmes and finally shake off the history and sadness that came with the zoo.
Last year, the park was eventually sold to the Mee family, a family with no zoo keeping experience, but a great love of animals and they were ready to take on the challenge of the zoo.
The Curator and I were contacted by the Mee family at the start of 2007, to run the animal department of the zoo. I have always believed that bad zoos should not be shut down, they should be renovated and brought up to modern standards, and this was my opportunity to try.
It hasn’t been an easy process. The enclosures were extremely dilapidated, with rotten fence posts and gaping holes in the wire mesh. The staff already at the park had no formal training and needed to be taught basic husbandry of the animals. Diets were appalling – chocolate cake for the tapir and jam sandwiches for the coati. The animals hadn’t been seen by a vet in years. The concept of enrichment had been lost on the previous owners. The record keeping system was incomprehensible and largely useless, as most of the animals had the same name and were unable to be identified as individuals.
One of my first jobs was to relocate an Amur tiger. There were two tigers sharing an enclosure, but they were incompatible and had been using the enclosure on a rotational basis for the past 8 years. 24 hours in the den and then 24 hours outside. This was a welfare issue, the indoor den was tiny and unsurprisingly they didn’t want to go back inside at the end of their turn outside. I was fortunate enough to be helped by the tiger studbook keeper and coordinator, and we managed to find a zoo in France that only keeps cats. After ploughing my way through vast amounts of paperwork, CITES licences and animal transport legislation, the zoo in France came and collected our tiger. She is now enjoying a beautiful enclosure in the French countryside, and our remaining tiger has free access to her enclosure and den.
The Mee family brought much needed funds, and great enthusiasm to the park and we were able to start work on the zoo. The Curator and I were able to bring in new qualified staff, so between us we now have over 76 years of zoo keeping experience. Enclosures have been modified and enlarged, diets sorted, vets visited and the animals have been enriched. We have a conservation and education programme and are rebuilding links with other zoos. We haven’t had a day off in months and rarely finish work before 9pm.
This work has paid off, as we have achieved the standards necessary to be awarded a licence to operate a zoo, and we opened on 7/7/07! We recognise that we still have years of work to do, but are on our way to becoming (in our opinion) a nice little zoo. We want to join BIAZA and get involved in breeding programmes and finally shake off the history and sadness that came with the zoo.
