A zoo should present how its rhinos are ready to graze and exercise open air after a report discovered they had been topic to what it referred to as a “time-share” rotation.
South Lakes Safari Zoo, close to Dalton, came under the spotlight at a special meeting of Barrow Borough Council’s licensing regulatory committee.
The council inspection additionally recommended the zoo, which should have a written plan in place by February 2024.
Anna Gillard, zoo director, stated enchancment work “speaks for itself”.
The council carried out the inspection in November, which adopted studies from the Zoo Funding Firm (ZIC), the owner of South Lakes Safari Zoo (SLSZ), and a single report from animal welfare charity the Born Free Foundation (BFF).
Ms Gillard told the assembly on Thursday assertions it was not working the zoo because it ought to do had been “ridiculous”.
“Our data of enchancment over the past six years – for instance, veterinary care to dramatically lowered mortality charges to dietary diets – speaks for itself,” she stated.
The zoo has had a chequered previous 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 supervisor at SLSZ, stated: “There’s an unavoidable previous that should not have occurred, and we do not shrink back from that.”
After prolonged discussions, the licensing regulatory committee reached quite a lot of conclusions, which had been introduced by committee chairman Tony Callister.
Amongst them was that the zoo should submit a written plan to the council “for the way they shall present grazing and exercise alternatives for all of the rhinos inside the zoo”, which has to be applied by no later than 16 February 2024.
Drainage works accomplished
SLSZ was additionally ordered to be certain that it was implementing efficient pest management measures, the Local Democracy Reporting Service stated.
Pest management was a priority raised within the November inspection, with rodents being present in “a number of areas” of the positioning.
The difficulty of drainage on the zoo’s Africa Home – the place the rhinos are saved – was additionally raised on the assembly.
Prior to the assembly, it was confirmed in a report by Graham Barker, head of public safety on the borough council, that drainage works on the Africa Home had been accomplished for the reason that November inspection.
Mr Callister stated the zoo now wanted to submit a report on the effectiveness of the draining system on the Africa Home to the council regularly.
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