South Lakes Safari Zoo told to improve rhino outdoor exercise access

A zoo must show how its rhinos are able to graze and exercise outdoors after a report found they were subject to what it called a "time-share" rotation.

South Lakes Safari Zoo, near Dalton, came under the spotlight at a special meeting of Barrow Borough Council's licensing regulatory committee.

The council inspection also commended the zoo, which must have a written plan in place by February 2024.

Anna Gillard, zoo director, said improvement work "speaks for itself".

The council carried out the inspection in November, which followed reports from the Zoo Investment Company (ZIC), the landlord of South Lakes Safari Zoo (SLSZ), and a single report from animal welfare charity the Born Free Foundation (BFF).

Ms Gillard told the meeting on Thursday assertions it was not operating the zoo as it should do were "ridiculous".

"Our records of improvement over the last six years - for example, veterinary care to dramatically reduced mortality rates to nutritional diets - speaks for itself," she said.

The zoo has had a chequered past with fines imposed after a keeper was killed by a tiger in 2013, but it has been under new management since 2017.

Kim Banks, animal manager at SLSZ, said: "There's an unavoidable past that shouldn't have happened, and we don't shy away from that."

After lengthy discussions, the licensing regulatory committee reached a number of conclusions, which were announced by committee chairman Tony Callister.

Among them was that the zoo must submit a written plan to the council "for how they shall provide grazing and exercise opportunities for all the rhinos within the zoo", which has to be implemented by no later than 16 February 2024.

SLSZ was also ordered to make sure it was implementing effective pest control measures, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Pest control was a concern raised in the November inspection, with rodents being found in "multiple areas" of the site.

The issue of drainage at the zoo's Africa House - where the rhinos are kept - was also raised at the meeting.

Prior to the meeting, it was confirmed in a report by Graham Barker, head of public protection at the borough council, that drainage works at the Africa House had been completed since the November inspection.

Mr Callister said the zoo now needed to submit a report on the effectiveness of the draining system at the Africa House to the council on a regular basis.

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