Dartmoor Zoological Park is a zoo with an area of 12 hectares [1] [2] . It is located near the village of Sparkwell, in the southwest of Dartmoor , in the county of Devon.
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The park was opened in 1968 by Ellis Dow under the name Dartmoor Wildlife Park. E. Dow managed it for several decades, but in 2006 the park closed. In the same year, the park was acquired by Benjamin Mi, who paid 1.1 million pounds for it. After the reconstruction, the park reopened in July 2007. Benjamin subsequently wrote a book about his experience in acquiring a park called “We Bought a Zoo” (2008). In 2011, a film was released with Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson in the lead roles, shot on this work.
History
The zoo was located on the territory of the Gudamur estate, which was bought by the Ellis Dow family in 1948 [2] [3] . Gudamur House was built in the 17th century by Paul Warry Trebi and his family lived on the estate until the end of the 19th century.
Following the opening of the zoo, Dow acquired many different species of animals for his collection, including lions, tigers, jaguars and cougars. Allison Dow also took an active part in the design and construction of buildings and fences around the park.
After the 2001 report of the Captive Society for the Protection of Animals raised questions about the conditions in which animals are kept, the park was at the center of the scandal [4] [5] . The conditions of keeping animals and their well-being in general were criticized. The society called for the license to be taken from the zoo [6] . The founder denied all charges, citing the absence of any accidents in the history of the zoo [6] . The council did not dare to take the license from the zoo, because then the animals would be left to their own devices [6] , however, during the investigation it turned out that Ellis Dow was really guilty of several offenses [7] . All the charges were dropped except one: he was found guilty of breeding Siberian tigers outside the organized breeding program, and also that their conditions were poor [7] . For this, Dow received a fine of £ 200 and was sentenced to probation [7] . Tigers were sent to a wildlife center in the Netherlands [7] [8] .
The zoo closed on April 23, 2006 [3] . In 2006, Ellis Daw's autobiography “From the Lamb to the Tiger” was released, in which he told the whole story of the zoo [9] .
In August 2006, the Mi family acquired the zoo for £ 1.1 million. After 4 days of the family’s arrival, one of the jaguars escaped, but later he was found in a tiger pen and returned. A few months later, the Mi family received £ 500,000 for the restoration of the facility and on July 7, 2007 the Dartmoor Zoological Park was reopened to visitors.
Now Dartmoor Zoological Park has more than 70 different species of animals. It contains some endangered and endangered species.
Notes
- ↑ Break-out zoo is being reopened ( July 6, 2007). Date of treatment April 22, 2019.
- ↑ 1 2 Dartmoor Wildlife Park sale completes . web.archive.org (January 10, 2009). Date of treatment April 22, 2019.
- ↑ 1 2 Wildlife park ends public access (English) (April 22, 2006). Date of treatment April 22, 2019.
- ↑ Devon - BBC News (unopened) ? . BBC News. Date of treatment April 22, 2019.
- ↑ Zoos . Freedom for Animals. Date of treatment April 22, 2019. Archived August 4, 2019.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Zoo's anger over closure call (English) (November 7, 2001). Date of treatment April 22, 2019.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Zoos . Freedom for Animals. Date accessed April 22, 2019. Archived February 23, 2019.
- ↑ Devon wildlife park up for sale ( February 16, 2005). Date of treatment April 22, 2019.
- ↑ British & Irish Zoos (Specific) - The Bartlett Society . www.zoohistory.co.uk. Date of treatment April 22, 2019.
Links
- - official site of Dartmoor Zoological Park