Zoo Licence I learnt something new

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garyjp

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Today I took a trip to Van Hagues in Ware,Herts. It is a large garden centre with what I can call a pets corner with a few exotics there.It is also free to acess but I saw they had a Zoo Licence.
I was just wondering whether fellow Zoochatters could enlighten me as to why they would need one? Would it be because of public access or because they held a few exotics or both or ather reasons ?
 
Anywhere that has animals and is open to the public for more than 7 days a year needs a zoo license. There are different degrees of license, so they wouldn't be able to have elephants or anything.
 
mrcriss said:
Anywhere that has animals and is open to the public for more than 7 days a year needs a zoo license. There are different degrees of license, so they wouldn't be able to have elephants or anything.
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So are there different levels of license the ?
 
garyjp said:
I was just wondering whether fellow Zoochatters could enlighten me as to why they would need one?
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Because UK law set definition of 'a zoo' too low, so a petting corner is 'a zoo'. Actually, a big aquarium in a restaurant also might qualify as 'a zoo'.

Possible way around would be to become a pet shop and offer some small animals for sale - rabbits, guinea pigs, aquarium fish etc.
 
Jurek7 said:
Because UK law set definition of 'a zoo' too low, so a petting corner is 'a zoo'. Actually, a big aquarium in a restaurant also might qualify as 'a zoo'.

Possible way around would be to become a pet shop and offer some small animals for sale - rabbits, guinea pigs, aquarium fish etc.
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Dont think as a this was a garden centre
 
Macaw16 said:
Do zoos legally have to display it, as at Harewood Bird garden I saw it displayed?

http://www.zoochat.com/200/zoo-license-406547/
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Displaying your licence

You must display your licence or a copy of it at each entrance to the zoo.

Fines and penalties

You could get a fine of up to £2,500 if you run a zoo without a licence or don’t follow the conditions of a licence.

You could also get a fine of up to £1,000 if you:
stop a zoo inspector doing their job properly
don’t display your zoo licence properly

(https://www.gov.uk/zoo-licence)
 
I don't believe that it is true that all places with animals on display in the UK need a zoo licence. Anywhere that only keep domestic species are fine without one, otherwise all farm parks would need to go through the licensing procedure. Obviously some farm parks do have a zoo licence because they keep some exotics. Van Hage has skunks, coati, raccoon, meerkats, barn owls and marmosets on permanent display, thus they do require a zoo licence. As for where that fine line on what is a 'domestic species' it can be difficult to gauge. Some parks with primarily domestics have had to get rid of certain species such as emus because they would have required the licence or be shut down.
 
tetrapod said:
I don't believe that it is true that all places with animals on display in the UK need a zoo licence. Anywhere that only keep domestic species are fine without one, otherwise all farm parks would need to go through the licensing procedure. Obviously some farm parks do have a zoo licence because they keep some exotics. Van Hage has skunks, coati, raccoon, meerkats, barn owls and marmosets on permanent display, thus they do require a zoo licence. As for where that fine line on what is a 'domestic species' it can be difficult to gauge. Some parks with primarily domestics have had to get rid of certain species such as emus because they would have required the licence or be shut down.
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So how does this affect domesticated or farmed exotics? I'm thinking of the four species of camelid, bison, yak and ostrich. I'm sure that somewhere even tried crocodile farming during the BSE crisis but that may be a false memory.
 
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Brum said:
So how does this affect domesticated or farmed exotics? I'm thinking of the four species of camelid, bison, yak and ostrich. I'm sure that somewhere even tried crocoodile farming during the BSE crisis but that may be a false memory.
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A farmer on his sheep farm still farms Crocodiles, I think they are Nile Crocodiles, but I can't be certain.
 
Van hages displays it's zoo license just on the first enclosure by the ferrets. Any establishment with has exotic animals ( i.e. Non domestics) requires a of license if it is open to the public for more than 7 days in a year.

You can get a dispensation but that is usually only if you have a handful of exotics e.g a farm with wallaby or meerkats.

Bison and ostrich etc are kept under DWAL
 
I think this has probably been clarified now. However, there is a degree of interpretation by the Local Authority too. About ten years ago a local natural history museum looked as though it would have to close. On behalf of my school, I offered to rehome some perch, a medium sized pike and an elderly piranha, as well as some common tropical species. We were all set to go but the LA then decided we would need a zoo license. Fortunately the museum remained open and no rehoming was needed.
 
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