Zoo starts rehoming animals after closure

A zoo which shut earlier this week ahead of a planned move said it had begun rehoming a number of its animals.

The company which runs South Lakes Safari Zoo near Dalton in Cumbria, which has been at the centre of a long and heated row over welfare concerns, plans to open a new facility about 40 miles (65km) away at Tebay.

The Dalton site closed to the public on Tuesday and its operator, Cumbria Zoo Company Limited (CZCL), said in a social media post it had moved several of its birds to a falconry centre in Oxfordshire.

Other animals have moved to locations in Scotland and south-west England.

South Lakes has had a troubled past and in October a BBC investigation heard allegations from former staff regarding avoidable animal deaths, welfare issues and a bullying culture, all of which CZCL denied.

In July, Westmorland and Furness Council added conditions to the zoo's licence after inspectors found "major causes for concern", including a work experience student being left alone with dangerous animals.

Later council inspections reported positive progress.

On Thursday, CZCL said its Inca terns, white-faced whistling ducks and cattle egrets had been rehomed in Oxfordshire.

It also said its coscoroba swans, ruddy shelducks and mandarin ducks had gone to an animal park in Scotland.

Two of the zoo's red-ruffed lemurs have been taken in by a Somerset zoo, the company added.

CZCL said it was still working on deals to rehome several of its other animals including kangaroos, red pandas, bears and its sloth, Stanley.

It is understood that, in addition to CZCL, the animals kept at Dalton are owned by various parties.

These include Zoo Investment Company (ZIC), which owns the land on which the closed zoo sits, as well as other groups which have loaned animals to South Lakes.

ZIC previously said four giraffes, which belong to two French zoos, are set to be given new homes.

Three females will return to France while the male will remain in the UK.

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