Overview

Dartmoor Zoological Park is a 30acre zoo near the village of Sparkwell, on the southwest edge of Dartmoor, in the county of Devon in the South West of England. It was opened in 1968 by Ellis Daw who ran it until its license was revoked and it was forced to close in 2006. The zoo was bought in August 2006 by Benjamin Mee who reopened it in July 2007, later writing a book about his experiences called We Bought a Zoo. A 2011 film of the same title was loosely based on the book.HistoryThe zoo was opened as Dartmoor Wildlife Park by Ellis Daw in 1968 on the Goodamoor Estate that his family had bought in 1948. Goodamoor House was built in the 17th century by Paul Curry Treby of the Treby family in the parish of Plympton St. Mary. The Treby family lived on the estate until the late 19th century. In the following years, Daw acquired many species to add to his collection, including lions and tigers, jaguars, and pumas. He was also instrumental in the design and construction of many of the buildings and enclosures around the park. Dartmoor Wildlife Park became the subject of local debate after a 2001 report by the Captive Animals Protection Society raised questions about the welfare of the animals and the conditions in which they were kept. The group criticized the living conditions for the animals and the safety barriers, calling for the zoo's license to be revoked. Ellis Daw denied the allegations, pointing to the lack of accidents in the zoo's 33-year history. The council was reluctant to revoke the zoo's license, due to concerns over the future of the animals, but did charge Ellis Daw with 16 offenses after the zoo was investigated. All but one of these charges were dropped, but Daw was found guilty of breeding Siberian tigers outside of an organized breeding program, and of keeping them in poor conditions. For this, Daw received a 200 fine and a conditional discharge, and the tigers were sent to a wildlife center in the Netherlands.