Visionary who built haven for big cats
Ellis Daw Founder of Dartmoor Wildlife Park BORN SEPTEMBER 15, 1928 - DIED MARCH 15, 2018, AGED 89
WHENEVER he visited the zoo as a child Ellis Daw was always appalled at the cramped, horrifying conditions the animals were forced to live in. It was the reason many years later that he opened Dartmoor Wildlife Park, a haven which offered animals the chance to roam and which once boasted the biggest collection of big cats in the South-west.
For 20 years Daw’s family had owned 30 acres of farmland near the village of Sparkwell, on the southwest edge of Dartmoor, Devon but in 1968 he opened Dartmoor Wildlife Park, starting off with a collection of birds before introducing animals including foxes, badgers and deer and then moving on to more exotic species including lions, tigers, jaguars and pumas.
He was also instrumental in the design and construction of many of the buildings and enclosures around the park.
Born in St Stephens, near Launceston, Daw grew up the son of a farmer and at the age of 13 became the youngest “front-line” member of the local Home Guard helping to defend Plymouth against German bombers. After the war he recognised that there was a rising demand for timber to help with post-war building and saw an opportunity in forestry and began felling and planting trees for use in construction.
His interests were wide-ranging and he served for many years on Sparkwell Parish Council. He was also a stock car driver, qualifying for the world finals and coming in fourth on one occasion.
Daw had hoped to pass on the wildlife park to a member of his family but after retiring in 2006 he sold it to Benjamin Mee and his family for £1.1million.
Two years later Mee wrote a book called We Bought A Zoo which was turned into a successful film in 2011 starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson.
He was married twice, first to Marie, who died from cancer some years ago and later to Lynne, from whom he was separated. He passed away in a nursing home and leaves daughters from his first marriage, Rose, Valerie and Elizabeth and a daughter Selina and son Jolyon from his second marriage.
His autobiography From The Lamb To The Tiger, in which he recorded the history of the zoo during the time that he owned it, was published in 2011.