Safari Zoo Cumbria inspection planned after welfare worries raised

Born Free said it found animal welfare issues but the zoo denied all the allegations

Inspectors will visit a zoo after an animal rights group raised welfare concerns.

Born Free, which campaigns to keep animals in the wild, said it had found issues at Safari Zoo Cumbria.

Zoo bosses said they denied all the allegations and claimed Born Free's "inaccurate" assessment was based on "presumptions".

Barrow Council and a government zoo inspector will visit the park, a council spokesman 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.

Born Free said its representatives visited the zoo in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, on 17 October after receiving "multiple public reports of concern".

They said they saw particular issues in the zoo's African area, including:

• One female giraffe being thought to have "extremely" overgrown and curved hooves

• A lack of "browse provision" such as branches and leaves for the giraffes with too much emphasis on visitors feeding the animals

• Rhinos and zebras not getting enough time outdoors

• An Andean bear showing signs of "zoochosis" with "no attempts at food-related enrichment" being observed

• A "sub-standard" heating provision for sloths and tortoises

• A lack of staff supervision in walk-through areas where visitors can get close to animals

Born Free said: "It is our strong view that the zoo continues to fail to meet even basic standards of animal welfare and visitor safety in a number of respects."

A bear showed signs of "zoochosis" according to the animal welfare group Born Free

Samantha Brewer of the Cumbria Zoo Company, which runs the park, said the claims were of the "utmost seriousness", adding: "We refute all allegations made by the Born Free Foundation."

She said the zoo welcomed and respected the campaign group's principles but Safari Zoo Cumbria was "committed to direct conservation on the ground, and to enriching the lives of the much loved animals in our care".

She said: "The [Born Free] report contains inaccurate presumptions and, understandably, inaccurate clinical assessment.

"Cumbria Zoo has, in our last four years, been inspected by over 35 government-appointed independent inspectors with the overwhelming outcomes of those inspections being hugely positive, and the continuing progress we make here at safari zoo recognised."

She also said there was a weekly regime of hoof-care carried out.

Born Free said the rhinos were not getting enough time outside

Barrow Council said the claims made by Born Free would be"fully investigated" with an inspection including staff from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to be held in November.

A council spokesman said: "We have acted quickly following concerns being raised about animal welfare at the zoo.

"Availability issues with the qualified Defra zoo inspector mean our inspection will be carried out later than we would have hoped."

The council said the zoo's licence was agreed for a further six years in 2021 with some additional conditions place upon it.

An inspection in February failed to flag any animal welfare issues but one direction to fix drainage in the Africa paddock was made to be completed by the end of the year.