[FEL-L] UK - Break-out zoo is being reopened

[BigCatSimba at aol.com]

By Jonathan Morris 
BBC News South West 
Father-of-two Mr Mee had written books about DIY and even had a column 
in The Guardian newspaper. 
But fixing a cage which a jaguar had just leapt over, or making an 
enclosure wolf-proof? 
That was a whole new adventure for Mr Mee and his family who are 
reopening the Dartmoor Wildlife Park which they bought last year. 
There was plenty of room for improvement when Mr Mee, his brother 
Duncan and mother Amelia took over the park, now renamed the Dartmoor 
Zoological Park, last year. 
They had bought it for £1.1m with money from the sale of the family 
home in Surrey. 
But it had deteriorated so badly the authorities had refused to grant 
another licence and they had to borrow another £500,000 to bring it up 
to standard 
Pathways, enclosures, restaurants, shops all needed upgrading. 
The issue was brought home starkly four days after they moved into the 
house on site when a jaguar escaped from its enclosure, followed 
earlier this year by a wolf found wandering near the village. 
He said: "At about 5.30pm I was sitting with the head keeper, Robert, 
in the kitchen when Duncan burst in, shouted, "One of the big cats is 
out! This is not a drill!" and ran off again. 
The park's jaguar, Sovereign, was inside the tiger's enclosure with 
its inhabitant, Tammy. 
"Both animals were agitated, and if they began fighting one would have 
to be shot," he said 
Suddenly the jaguar lunged at the tiger's hindquarters, and the tiger 
turned and swiped the jaguar's head, spinning him like a doll." 
Kelly, the cat keeper, then ordered all available men to go to one end 
of the cage. 
"On command we yelled as loudly as we could. 
"The tiger's tail twitched, her ears flattened and after a couple of 
minutes she jumped off the rock and into her house. 
"In the morning, the crisis officially ended when a ranger from 
another park arrived with a dart gun, and returned the comatose jaguar 
to his proper enclosure." 
Sovereign's cage was strengthened and improved, with old wooden posts 
replaced with metal posts and a four-strand electrical fence. 
Zoos 'increasingly important' 
But the zoo again made headlines in February this year when a wolf 
called Parker clambered over the top of its enclosure and went 
walkabout before being recaptured. 
The old enclosures at the wildlife park had been criticised by animal 
rights groups who said people should boycott it. 
But Mr Mee is adamant that all the animals are now in better 
conditions 
And the zoo has been checked by the local council and the Department 
of Environment Food and Rural Affairs. 
The name change to zoological park reflects new concerns said Mr Mee, 
with the accent now on breeding and conservation of species. 
"I wish that there were huge areas for them to roam free," said Mr 
Mee, speaking from the new enclosure for Sovereign who was in 
quarantine. 
"But with market forces being what they are, I think many will be 
extinct in the wild in our lifetime. 
"Zoos are becoming increasingly important as a seed bank for wild 
animals." 
Mee has been obsessed with animals since he was young, so when he 
heard the zoo was for sale, he jumped at the opportunity to put his 
knowledge into practice. 
"I had written a book on awareness in animals, but I had never done 
any hands-on management," he said. 
"It's been a very steep learning curve." 
There are 218 animals in the 30-acre zoo, including five tigers, three 
lions, three bears and seven wolves. 
In the future Mr Mee hopes to add orang utans, gorillas and giraffes 
and zebras. 
Right now he is looking forward to re-opening the zoo on Saturday. 
"It is all a bit tight, but at last we shall have income coming the 
other way, rather than just going out," he said. 
_http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6246342.stm_ 
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6246342.stm)  



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