South Lakes Wild Animal Park South Lakes discussion thread

Nisha

Nisha

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
The "Free entry" with a donation promotion has now been changed to a minimum donation of £5 per person from today.. :rolleyes:

Due to the comments made in response to the previous post and to end the confusion we feel we have to apply a policy of a minimum donation to enable us to carry on offering a lower priced entry to the families that cannot afford to visit at full costs. This idea was devised to give opportunity to those in our communities that are less fortunate and to assist larger families . The other reason was to enable us to employ ALL our full time staff all year round instead of laying off over 20 people for 5 months. Sadly we got it wrong this year because the fact that so many people felt it "fair" to only give £1 or attempt to get in for free has left the Zoo not able to cover its costs and continue to employ all of its staff.
It costs over £8,220 per DAY in overhead costs to run the Safari Zoo.
From 10am today, Sat 10th January 2015 .
There will now be a minimum donation of £5.00 per person until February 13th 2015.
 
Sadly we got it wrong this year because the fact that so many people felt it "fair" to only give £1 or attempt to get in for free has left the Zoo not able to cover its costs and continue to employ all of its staff.
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I can't believe the nerve of some people! Expecting to get in for free when there was a free entry promotion!
 
And a rant by Gill expanding on the same topic:

The most difficult thing I do in my life is GIVE to others. I find it easy to do but I have then had money stolen, been treated with contempt and criticized in public for being generous. It is a very sad world we now live in that manages to complain about generosity or to then take advantage of it. I have witnessed incredible negative reactions despite the fact I have given freely all my life..... I want to give... but this modern world and now social media giving a voice to armchair critics simply saps the will. It is true that doing good deeds doesn't get you praise but it certainly gives satisfaction. The critics of course usually take from everyone and complain about everything.
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Grateful thanks for everyone's support and understanding . Sometimes simply trying to help others is made very difficult . We are not unprofessional here , we are passionate humans who make errors as anyone else does. It is a real shame that recent increased costs of operation and expansion gave us financial pressures forced this change to our pricing but as with any other business the product is priced differently to suit need. Every business has huge sales and then puts prices back up it is part of the retail culture. We are no different to them in that we decided to give a special offer and now we have to end this. Anyone who has an original voucher for reduced admission has been and still will be honoured until Feb 13th . It is so rewarding to all our staff who have relied on your generous support to keep their jobs this winter instead of being laid off to read the awesome comments made by the true supporters and people who understand our mission to conserve and protect animals in the wild by our zoos activities and funds we look forward to having you as our guests in 2015."
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"This Zoo has had the best year in its history in 2014 following on from last years record attendances. A rise of an incredible 17% on 2013s all time high numbers. This year is going to be a special and memorable 21st anniversary for the zoo as we open the new entrances access roads and the unique and only SAFARI ZOO in the UK. From January South Lakes Wild Animal Park will no longer exist and South Lakes SAFARI ZOO takes its place. Look out for some amazing innovative ideas and concepts to move the zoo forward in every way.
All new huge car parking area by the new inviting entrance building and great new facilities for children of all ages and don't forget all the new animals for you to see and walk amongst in our totally unique environment and experience."
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"This Zoo has had the best year in its history in 2014 following on from last years record attendances" - I find this comment to be very dismissive of all the issues and matters that have taken, from the death of a keeper, keeper injuries to the criminal behaviour and the rest. Dave Gill as we all know is one person who we all dislike and that dislike gathers pace, especially when he posts such nonsense on his own Facebook page; " but this modern world and now social media giving a voice to armchair critics simply saps the will." If Dave Gill hates the "armchair critic" then his beloved ranch is where he should be. I, like the rest have been banned from posting on both his and the parks FB pages, but as we know this refusing to publish any negative comment only serves to drive down his reputation and continue to give his own ego and his followers ego a burst of false life. Anyway, I a sure 2015 will have some very interesting incidents as we all know, Dave and his park has history and this new year makes no difference.
 
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I've merged your posts to make them easier to read, bigcat speciali - try to remember to put any comments you are copying from other sources into quote boxes so that it is clear where you are quoting something, and where you are personally saying something :)
 
Every time i see a rant about 'armchair critics I always wonder if he is actually talking about zoochat? Haha
 
Was hoping to head over on my next free and clear day. Unfortunately the weather has not allowed since the return of kids going back to school. Looks like I'll be paying my £5 now then! Did find it amusing that Gill's band of followers were 'disgusted' that people were only putting a pound in the donation bucket... I have to say that whenever I've been over this winter (several times) the cafe has always been full and the gift shop is equally busy:eek:
 
dublinlion said:
and some equally tedious rants from the "critics" to keep us neutrals amused.
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This would be the "neutrals" who only post on zoochat these days in order to defend SLWAP and propose the criticism is all a conspiracy then? ;) :p
 
TeaLovingDave said:
This would be the "neutrals" who only post on zoochat these days in order to defend SLWAP and propose the criticism is all a conspiracy then? ;) :p
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Dos'nt come accross as balanced criticism, just a smear campaign and ganging up. It is the duty of all fair minded people to stand up against this type of one sided blustering. (bristling with indignation :rolleyes:)
ps
On the other hand it is all mildly amusing and very predictable.
 
dublinlion said:
Dos'nt come accross as balanced criticism, just a smear campaign and ganging up. It is the duty of all fair minded people to stand up against this type of one sided blustering. (bristling with indignation :rolleyes:)
ps
On the other hand it is all mildly amusing and very predictable.
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To be fair dublinlion, to launch a "free winter admission" scheme and then to complain that some people are coming in for free takes a certain type of outlook on life.
 
South Lakes is our nearest zoo and it's quite a collection, but I'm becoming tired of Gill and his outbursts which are often nasty and unneeded. How can you say that that your welcoming large families, and unemployed people giving them 'free' entry which makes it affordable for many people and then start complaining that these same people are selfish, don't care about how much it's costing him to run his zoo or care about his animals and that they should be putting more money in as donations?! It's wrong on many levels in my opinion...
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I've merged your posts to make them easier to read, bigcat speciali - try to remember to put any comments you are copying from other sources into quote boxes so that it is clear where you are quoting something, and where you are personally saying something :)
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Thanks for that dave.
 
dublinlion said:
Thanks for that dave.
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Thank you Dave, but I feel there may be an air of zzzzzz from dublinlion regarding fair criticism in response to Dave Gill and his safari park. This criticism is both fair and correct. However, "neutrals" as dublinlion puts it is something that is more symbolic than held to to believe. You cannot sit on the fence and hold a neutral stance as that is meaningless in its whole context. That's like saying you agree with the anti-zoo lobby and yet work in a zoo; you agree against animals being kept in cages and captivity and yet work in a zoo and have a pet; you agree with the conservative party but pour money into labour and so on. Dave gill has brought all of his troubles and that of the parks problems upon himself and if you disagree with that then fine.
 
Posted on SLWAP facebook page

"South Lakes Wild Animal Park Ltd started on 28th May 1994 today almost 21 years later it has ended trading. From the amazing success of this unique zoo environment a new Zoo has arisen and developed. Tomorrow we are a new company and a new future. South Lakes SAFARI ZOO Ltd will bring you the very first SAFARI ZOO in the UK and continue with the unique , special and exciting adventure...... every day !"

Unique? Honestly!

UK's first Safari Zoo? err really!

Amazing success? Oh do come on Dave Gill, you can't count South Lakes as a success, from animal escapes by the score and greater, breaching zoo and health & safety reg's, death and injuries to keepers, criminal record and unlawful firearm holdings, and so on...mmmm not much of a success really is it?
 
I have never been to this zoo but this one certainly gets a lot of attention from the chatters - why ?
 
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