Borth zoo can keep dangerous animals after meeting court order

Lilleth evaded traps put out to catch her after her escape

A zoo which saw two of its lynx killed just days apart has been allowed to keep dangerous wild animals after complying with a court order.

In July, Borth Wild Animal Kingdom was given six months to hire a qualified, competent manager in order to keep its category one animals.

Co-owner Tracy Tweedy said the zoo was "just finalising their start date".

Ceredigion council said it understood "two competent persons have been employed by the operators".

Lilleth the Eurasian lynx escaped between 24 and 29 October 2017 before being found at a nearby caravan site where she was shot dead by a marksman on 10 November.

Nilly died in what owners called a handling error on 7 November, but her death was not made public for six days.

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Dean and Tracy Tweedy bought the zoo for £625,000 in 2016

The council blamed the zoo for its failure to catch Lilleth before she posed a risk to the public and issued a ban on it keeping category one animals in November 2017.

This decision was reversed in July 2018 following an appeal, but was subject to conditions being met.

The category one animals at Borth zoo are two lions, three lynx, two wolfdogs, two capuchin monkeys, one grivet monkey, two patas monkeys and a python.

A council spokeswoman said: "With the deadline in respect of the consent order between the parties approaching, the council understands that two competent persons have been employed by the operators and will begin their contract of employment soon."

Ms Tweedy said the zoo had until 11 February to meet the terms of the order and the council had approved their chosen candidates for zoo manager and assistant zoo manager, meaning they had complied with the necessary requirements.