Final curtain for lion tamer as licence refused
BRITAIN’S last lion tamer has been refused a licence in a move likely to spell the end for performances starring big cats.
Thomas Chipperfield has been told that he cannot use his three big cats in circus performances. The move follows the UK Government’s commitment to banning wild animals in circuses by 2020.
That pledge came after the Daily Mail helped rescue Britain’s last circus elephant, Anne, who was abused by staff.
Mr Chipperfield, 28, who comes from a long line of animal tamers, has been told he cannot perform with the two lions and a tiger he keeps in a field in Staffordshire. Only two circuses still perform in England with wild animals but they do not have big cats. Scotland prohibited wild animals in circuses last year and Wales is looking to do the same.
A Government consultation found per cent of the public favour a ban.
Welfare campaign group Animal Defenders International (ADI) said Mr Chipperfield had been off the road for more than two years after withdrawing his first licence application when a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs inspection found his animals’ accommodation was not big enough.
A 2015 tour of Wales, where regulations do not apply, sparked a public outcry.
ADI claimed the big cats were confined to cages on the back of a truck with restricted access to an exercise area.
The lion tamer, of Winchester, Hampshire, said no welfare concerns had been raised and he planned to appeal.
ADI president Jan Creamer said the decision was ‘a victory for common sense’.