Several disturbing images from Britain’s “worst zoo” have revealed the harrowing scale of alleged animal abuse at the scandal-hit zoo.
South Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton in Furness, Cumbria, has been embroiled in controversy with a keeper, who was mauled to death by a tiger more than a decade ago and nearly 500 animals died at the facility in the space of three years.
The zoo has also been marred by a list of other safety problems, including the death of 30 lemurs in a fire and the escape of a white rhino, which was later shot to death.
A 2022 inspection by international wildlife charity the Born Free Foundation also uncovered a number of hygiene and welfare issues at the zoo, including rhinos kept in compartments so small they could not turn.
But numerous harrowing photographs captured between 2017 and 2019 and provided to the BBC show injured and dead animals at the zoo.
Among the heartbreaking images at South Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton in Furness, Cumbria, is a zebra that became trapped in the bars of the pen (pictured)
Other graphic images show a bloody capybara (left) and an injured giraffe (right).
One graphic image shows a zebra lying on the floor of the pen with its hoof trapped between the bars of its enclosure.
Former employees told the BBC that the animal had become angry after being kept inside and management ignored their concerns. The animal was later sacrificed.
Another worrying image shows a capybara peppered with bloody cuts after an alleged fight.
According to the BBC, a giraffe can be seen with an injured head after injuring itself on the bars of its enclosure during public feeding sessions.
Zoo bosses have denied “any and all allegations”, pointing to several positive independent inspections.
Former zoo staff members have spoken out against the facility, with one alleging that “fighting” and “inbreeding” were common due to animals being kept in “inappropriate social groups.”
Another former employee, who reportedly worked at the facility in 2022, said: “A peacock flew into the giant otter enclosure and the two giant otters ripped its head off in front of a school group.”
In 2017, the Captive Animals Protection Society urged Westmorland and Furness Council to withdraw the zoo’s license after it emerged that almost 500 animals had died at the facility between 2013 and 2016.
That same year, the RSPCA also launched an investigation into the zoo before the zoo’s owner, David Gill, was refused a licence.
A kangaroo being transported in a wheelbarrow at the zoo (pictured)
A bear inside a cage at Dalton in Furness Zoo, Cumbria
South Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton in Furness, Cumbria, has been embroiled in controversy with a keeper, who was mauled to death by a tiger more than a decade ago and nearly 500 animals died at the facility in the space of three years.
Following this, Cumbria Zoo Company Limited (CZCL) was created, with the new organization promising improvements to the zoo, according to the BBC.
Despite the promises, former employees claimed that “nothing changed” under the new guidelines “and the animals suffered greatly.”
The former staff member continued: “I saw staff crying, I saw staff leaving regularly.”
Another told the publication: ‘At times the staff were devastated, completely devastated.
“There was shouting and belittlement of people. The morning meeting ended up isolating and humiliating people.’
Cumbria Zoo Company “completely denied and disputed” claims made to the BBC that it has ever “engaged in practices that have resulted in the death, injury or mistreatment of animals”.
They also added: ‘We do not accept that there is a ‘bullying culture’ or that staff are overworked.
“We take any allegations of harassment very seriously and, when made, need to be fully investigated and addressed.”
A young monkey clings to netting under a heat lamp at the zoo amid concerns its habitat will not stay warm enough in 2022.
Macaw seen at zoo with ‘severe feather loss around neck and missing feathers on top of head’ in 2022
A turtle and sloth snuggle under a heat lamp at Safari Lakes Zoo in Cumbria in 2022.
A litany of hygiene and welfare issues were identified at South Lakes Safari Zoo in Cumbria (pictured), following an investigation by international wildlife charity Born Free Foundation in 2022.
MailOnline has contacted South Lakes Safari Zoo for comment.
This comes after an inspection by international wildlife charity the Born Free Foundation uncovered a number of hygiene and welfare issues at the zoo.
The charity, which carried out an inspection on 17 October 2022, had previously called for the zoo to close and told MailOnline it had had “more than enough time to take corrective action”.
Samantha Brewer, of Cumbria Zoo Company, which runs the Safari Zoo, said at the time: “These allegations are of the utmost seriousness.” We reject all allegations made by the Born Free Foundation regarding their visit to the zoo on October 17 and their subsequent report on their website.’
According to the report, raw meat was seen left in a bucket outside the tiger enclosure covered in flies, rats were seen in the raccoon and turtle enclosures, and the rhinos were kept in compartments so small that they were only able to face each other. lap.
A series of bleak photographs showed the apparently poor conditions some of the animals were suffering, as “cold” primates were seen clinging to heat lamps in an attempt to keep warm due to incorrect temperature settings.
One heartbreaking image showed a turtle with a sloth on its back as they appeared to huddle together for warmth.
Elsewhere, a macaw was seen with “severe feather loss around its neck and missing feathers on the top of its head,” while a brown bear inside its enclosure was seen poking its head out of a small window.
A brown bear looks out a small window at South Lakes Safari Zoo during an inspection in 2022
The rhinos were reportedly kept in compartments so small that they were only able to turn around in 2022.
A bear looks through a fence inside its enclosure at South Lakes Safari Zoo in Cumbria in 2022.
A rat in an enclosure behind a turtle in 2022
Raw meat seen dumped in bucket outside tiger enclosure in 2022
According to the 2022 report, there were sometimes no staff present in walk-through enclosures that allowed the public to interact with “Category 1 dangerous animals,” a categorization for zoos that refers to predators such as tigers, lions, elephants and lynxes.
The alleged failings come after keeper Sarah McClay, from Glasgow, was mauled to death by a tiger at the zoo in 2013. Bosses were subsequently fined £297,500 for health and safety breaches.
In 2017, a council report revealed that 486 animals had died between December 2013 and September 2016.
While a Barrow Borough Council inspection in 2021 left inspectors “impressed” with the improvements made, they added there was “still a lot of work to be done”.