More animals die at lynx death zoo
CONWY and d C Caernarfon f castles tl have h been the most popular visitor attractions in Wales over the past year.
Figures released by heritage body Cadw show Conwy Castle welcomed 218,907 people, followed closely by Caernarfon Castle on 206,185. More than 907,000 paying visitors explored Cadw sites since January, generating
£4.4m in TWO more animals have died at a zoo where two lynx died earlier last year.
Borth Wild Animal Kingdom confirmed that a snake and a squirrel monkey had died, but said there was “no mystery behind the deaths and certainly no mistreatment”.
In a post on social media, the zoo near Aberystwyth said that Bernie the Burmese python had a cancerous tumour on its lower jaw that was not responding to treatment. Surgery would have been “too invasive”, so it was put down last month. The squirrel monkey died from a viral infection two weeks ago.
Owner Dean Tweedy said: “They’ve both been treated for months. Bernie the python had been ill since we took over. The vet had been coming in every week to treat her but the biopsy turned out to be cancerous.
“The squirrel monkey was very old and frail and she’d had a viral infection for a few months. We spent around £3,000 on vet fees for her, but unfortunately she didn’t make it.
“It’s not great but animals do get old and die.”
The zoo hit the headlines in November when Eurasian lynx Lilith was shot dead by marksmen after escaping from her enclosure.
In the same week, the zoo revealed that Lilith’s penmate, Nilly, had also died when she was strangled when they tried admissions d i i revenue – a rise i of f almost l t 20% on 2016.
The number of Cadw members is also higher than ever, with more than 32,000 registered – up 10% on 2016.
The results show the success of Wales’s 2017 Year of Legends – a highlight of which being the Live the Legends campaign in which a family of dragons was brought to life.
Over July and August, dragons Dewi, Dwynwen, Dylan and Cariad helped attract more than 100,000 families to Cadw sites – up 15% on the same period last year. Figures from the Tourism Barometer show 2017
has to move her prior to an inspection by the authorities. The zoo said it was a “terrible handling error” and that staff had been under “incredible pressure”.
After the deaths, the zoo was forced to close until a full inspection had been carried out by Ceredigion Council.
After the inspection, the zoo was told that it faced losing around 10 of its animals after the council served it with a list of restrictions, including on keeping “Category 1 dangerous animals”.
But Mr Tweedy and partner Tracey have said they have appealed against the decision, and will appear in court this month.
The zoo remains closed while improvement work is being carried out.
In a statement on Facebook, the couple said: “The zoo remains closed until been a successful year for the tourism industry as a whole in Wales, with 42% of businesses reporting having more visitors than last year. Minister for Culture Dafydd
Elis-Thomas said: “Our further notice although all the staff are still on site as care for the animals must continue.
“Improvements to the site are also continuing as we address serious flooding issues and the whole zoo is having a complete new electrical wiring system installed.
“Extra heating for the animals that we installed several months ago have put a real strain on the old electrical system ● historic sites play a vital role in Welsh tourism and we hope we can continue to capture the imagination of locals and visitors alike as we approach the end of Wales’s Year of Legends and enter the Year of the Sea in 2018.” and could have proved a real fire hazard if left in its previous condition.”
Dean added: “We hope that come the new year we can work closely with Ceredigion Council to resolve any outstanding issues and open the zoo again to the public.
“We will get through this and it will make us stronger.”