sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
As some bloke once wrote, "reason not the need"! Anyway, I'm not sure whether anyone's Edenic vision would include anything that resembled the place under discussion in this thread - so back to South Lakes....
South Lakes Wild Animal Park Safari Zoo 2017 news
- Thread starter Nisha
- Start date
As some bloke once wrote, "reason not the need"! Anyway, I'm not sure whether anyone's Edenic vision would include anything that resembled the place under discussion in this thread - so back to South Lakes....
New company pledges animal welfare is top priority as it takes the reins at Dalton zoo
Fantastic news if David Armitage is involved again
Fantastic news if David Armitage is involved again
Safari Zoo Facebook is claiming that Gill has agreed to sell the park to Cumbria Zoo and they are now in 100% control... that said they seem to be stating that they have no money which is rather worrying!
I would dearly love to see this park turn things around, but after so many false dawns I just don't believe it anymore, however we shall see. As an aside, it amazes and appals me how many people on social media are still saying they want to visit the zoo and dismissing the cruelty claims as tabloid gossip because 'the animals looked happy when I went'! Whatever happens, I sincerely hope that David Gill is held accountable for all the suffering he has caused to the animals in his care, not to mention the many other issues he has left someone else to address. I won't hold my breath though!
I would dearly love to see this park turn things around, but after so many false dawns I just don't believe it anymore, however we shall see. As an aside, it amazes and appals me how many people on social media are still saying they want to visit the zoo and dismissing the cruelty claims as tabloid gossip because 'the animals looked happy when I went'! Whatever happens, I sincerely hope that David Gill is held accountable for all the suffering he has caused to the animals in his care, not to mention the many other issues he has left someone else to address. I won't hold my breath though!
I really wish that the zoo would stop deleting people's comments on Facebook. If what they claim is true and they have nothing to hide then why hide it?!
I am banned from all his Facebook pages because I said he should not have allowed his young children into the pen containing a day old giraffe. He rudely said I knew nothing about giraffes, but I am in good company. He also told one of the world's (if not the world) experts on giraffes that he also knew nothing about giraffes.
He once told me there was no such thing as subspecies of giraffes
I've had that one, and then his claims he holds the most endangered subspecies
Oh yeah I heard about that; Kordofan giraffes signed as West African ones...!
FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
Possibly one solution would be for an existing zoo or zoological society to be 'awarded' control of the zoo in order to prevent it being shut down, which would be a big loss to the local community. I'm sure this would be tricky legally, but the fundamental problem seems to be management; as far as we know the zoo is profitable. A more responsible owner would presumably want to make some changes to the site, but perhaps a nice big fine for the previous owner might cover these?
Reading the long statement posted by the 'new' team on the website yesterday, it appears they are in line for yet another Zoo inspection this month, after which they hope to be granted a new licence 'later in the year'. So it seems Monday's Council meeting may only refuse the Owner a fresh licence and that the saga will continue, unless its already deemed that the new Company personell they have presented are unsuitable, given their existing contacts with him.
On the Facebook page today the new safari zoo are staying the first thing they did when they took over was ordered bedding for all the animals. They are also stating they are now feeding them healthy balanced diets.
What this reads as to me isn't wow the zoo is doing amazing things now, it's that they are admitting the animals didn't have proper bedding and were previously under fed.
What this reads as to me isn't wow the zoo is doing amazing things now, it's that they are admitting the animals didn't have proper bedding and were previously under fed.
What makes me think is this, if this new licence is applied for by exactly the same staff that were also involved during all those years of bad practice and management, and during those years the compassion and care wasn't shown and practiced naturally and routinely, without any prompting then, How is it feasible that with a new name, things could possibly be any different whatsoever. im just wondering whether a governing body like the local council would take that into account on the Karen Brewer application?
Is it part of the procedure that facts like it is exactly the same people applying but in a new name would be part of the consideration? Genuine question.
Is it part of the procedure that facts like it is exactly the same people applying but in a new name would be part of the consideration? Genuine question.
Presumably, if the Council felt that the keeping staff - perhaps supported by an outsider with appropriate skills and experience - were capable of managing the place effectively if the influence of the previous licence holder was removed ... then a licence might be appropriate.
If ...
If ...
simon lloyd
Well-Known Member
some people will believe anything , the whole get in free malarky was just to get the public on their side , it didnt cost them any money but made lots of friends
i keep hearing the new management are doing this and the management are doing that , ITS THE SAME BLOODY MANAGEMENT just under a different disguise !
Who actually runs Dalton zoo? (And other questions we know you want the answers to...)
David Gill's licence application will be decided by the council tomorrow (6th March)
David Gill's licence application will be decided by the council tomorrow (6th March)
A Cumbrian zoo is accused of covering up the death of a hand-reared Sumatran tiger cub killed by its parents after being put in their cage to make room for another animal.
The claim has come to light as South Lakes Safari zoo, Dalton-in-Furness, faces the threat of closure following revelations that 486 of its animals have died over the past four years, many from horrific injuries, neglect and hypothermia.
The female Sumatran tiger cub, Kadi, was one of the zoo’s star attractions and its birth in 2010 was a triumph for David Gill, the zoo’s owner. A picture of him cuddling the bottle-fed cub rejected at birth by its parents appeared on the cover of his autobiography, Nine Lives.
After announcing that it was reintroducing Kadi to the adult enclosure for the first time in 2012, the zoo abruptly stopped giving updates. Members of the public who had “adopted” the cub were told Kadi had been “transferred”.
However, Sarah McClay, the keeper who was killed by a tiger at the zoo in 2013, had returned home from work one evening the year before in tears, telling David Shaw, her boyfriend, that the cub had been “eaten” by its parents.
According to Shaw, Gill, 55, had decided to take the risk of reuniting cub and parents because he needed Kadi’s cage for another animal. “Gill ordered the cub to be put in with her parents against the advice of experts,” Shaw said.
Zoos are under no obligation to publicise animal deaths but members of the public who had “sponsored” Kadi were disappointed to be left in the dark.
“I cannot get any straight answers as to where she is,” wrote one on an online forum.
When approached by The Sunday Times for comment at his farm near Scafell Pike, Gill responded: “Piss off, f*** off.”
After he had calmed down, he confirmed the tiger cub had been killed by its father but denied misleading the public by claiming Kadi had been transferred, saying: “I don’t know anything about that. I delegate things, I had lots of people working for me. Do you think Richard Branson sits in his private jet, knowing everything that’s going on in his company? No, he delegates.”
Kadi’s fate is part of a wider controversy threatening the zoo after government inspectors found “deplorable” conditions and recommended that Barrow borough council consider prosecuting Gill under the Animal Welfare Act.
Their report revealed a catalogue of horrors, including two snow leopard cubs found partially eaten in their enclosure and a jaguar that had chewed off its own paw.
A monkey’s decomposing body was found behind a radiator. Various birds were run over by the “Safari Park” train, a tortoise was electrocuted and a lemur savaged by wolves.
Gill denied knowing about the animal mistreatment. He said: “I had no idea a jaguar had bitten its paw off. I didn’t know anything about that.
“This has destroyed my wife,” he added, possibly referring to revelations in The Times that Frieda Rivera-Schreiber, his wife and head vet at his zoo, is not authorised to treat animals in Britain.
As for the council, which is due to decide tomorrow whether to issue the zoo a new licence or to order its closure, Gill said: “I’ve been taking crap from that council for 24 years.”
Gill claimed he had not been managing the animals for more than 18 months and that the council had not shown him the report by the inspector.
He also claimed the zoo had in fact been a “fantastic success”, adding: “For Christ’s sake, I’ve bred two rhinos there.”
A visit to the zoo last week, however, revealed birds drenched by rain in an aviary with no shelter and a pack of Arctic wolves howling on a mound of mud as traffic whizzed past just yards away on the A590. The lavatories were out of order and a capybara, the world’s largest rodent, was rummaging around near the bins.
The Captive Animals’ Protection Society has also investigated the zoo and was appalled by its findings. “I was really shocked to see no bedding or heating,” said Maddy Taylor, its spokeswoman.
“The zoo should have closed when Sarah died,” said Stephen McClay, 31, her brother. “It took a trial to prove it was the zoo’s fault that she died,” he added, referring to the £297,500 fine imposed on the zoo last year.
‘Cover-up’ after tiger cub killed in zoo of horrors
The claim has come to light as South Lakes Safari zoo, Dalton-in-Furness, faces the threat of closure following revelations that 486 of its animals have died over the past four years, many from horrific injuries, neglect and hypothermia.
The female Sumatran tiger cub, Kadi, was one of the zoo’s star attractions and its birth in 2010 was a triumph for David Gill, the zoo’s owner. A picture of him cuddling the bottle-fed cub rejected at birth by its parents appeared on the cover of his autobiography, Nine Lives.
After announcing that it was reintroducing Kadi to the adult enclosure for the first time in 2012, the zoo abruptly stopped giving updates. Members of the public who had “adopted” the cub were told Kadi had been “transferred”.
However, Sarah McClay, the keeper who was killed by a tiger at the zoo in 2013, had returned home from work one evening the year before in tears, telling David Shaw, her boyfriend, that the cub had been “eaten” by its parents.
According to Shaw, Gill, 55, had decided to take the risk of reuniting cub and parents because he needed Kadi’s cage for another animal. “Gill ordered the cub to be put in with her parents against the advice of experts,” Shaw said.
Zoos are under no obligation to publicise animal deaths but members of the public who had “sponsored” Kadi were disappointed to be left in the dark.
“I cannot get any straight answers as to where she is,” wrote one on an online forum.
When approached by The Sunday Times for comment at his farm near Scafell Pike, Gill responded: “Piss off, f*** off.”
After he had calmed down, he confirmed the tiger cub had been killed by its father but denied misleading the public by claiming Kadi had been transferred, saying: “I don’t know anything about that. I delegate things, I had lots of people working for me. Do you think Richard Branson sits in his private jet, knowing everything that’s going on in his company? No, he delegates.”
Kadi’s fate is part of a wider controversy threatening the zoo after government inspectors found “deplorable” conditions and recommended that Barrow borough council consider prosecuting Gill under the Animal Welfare Act.
Their report revealed a catalogue of horrors, including two snow leopard cubs found partially eaten in their enclosure and a jaguar that had chewed off its own paw.
A monkey’s decomposing body was found behind a radiator. Various birds were run over by the “Safari Park” train, a tortoise was electrocuted and a lemur savaged by wolves.
Gill denied knowing about the animal mistreatment. He said: “I had no idea a jaguar had bitten its paw off. I didn’t know anything about that.
“This has destroyed my wife,” he added, possibly referring to revelations in The Times that Frieda Rivera-Schreiber, his wife and head vet at his zoo, is not authorised to treat animals in Britain.
As for the council, which is due to decide tomorrow whether to issue the zoo a new licence or to order its closure, Gill said: “I’ve been taking crap from that council for 24 years.”
Gill claimed he had not been managing the animals for more than 18 months and that the council had not shown him the report by the inspector.
He also claimed the zoo had in fact been a “fantastic success”, adding: “For Christ’s sake, I’ve bred two rhinos there.”
A visit to the zoo last week, however, revealed birds drenched by rain in an aviary with no shelter and a pack of Arctic wolves howling on a mound of mud as traffic whizzed past just yards away on the A590. The lavatories were out of order and a capybara, the world’s largest rodent, was rummaging around near the bins.
The Captive Animals’ Protection Society has also investigated the zoo and was appalled by its findings. “I was really shocked to see no bedding or heating,” said Maddy Taylor, its spokeswoman.
“The zoo should have closed when Sarah died,” said Stephen McClay, 31, her brother. “It took a trial to prove it was the zoo’s fault that she died,” he added, referring to the £297,500 fine imposed on the zoo last year.
‘Cover-up’ after tiger cub killed in zoo of horrors
Indeed, this is the problem. If animals were treated that badly - and they were- how can you stay at such a place as a director? I understand that keepers stayed for the animals, but Brewer and other "directors" are responsible for the situation, even if Gill made all the decisions. So they cannot be trusted to have a 8 year license. Better close the place, it will be possible to find a solution for most animals.