We were clueless, admit owners of lynx escape zoo

A COUPLE of novice zookeepers who gave up their jobs to run a wildlife park in Wales have ended up hundreds of thousands of pounds in debt after the death of two lynx. They admitted: “we didn’t have any idea what we were doing”.

Dean Tweedy, 50, and his wife Tracy, 47, moved 200 miles from Kent with their three young children and left careers as a street artist and psychotherapist to run Borth Wild Animal Kingdom, near Aberystwyth, Wales, in 2017.

But, after just 15 months, the couple reportedly owe creditors around £350,000 due to the temporary closure of the zoo. They have also been threatened with a ban on keeping lions and leopards after they were blamed for the death of two lynx.

Mr and Mrs Tweedy had planned to use the zoo as a sanctuary for animals and to provide therapy sessions for adults, and the zoo was featured in a three-part report on BBC’S The One Show.

The couple had already amassed 40 pets at their previous home in Kent and were originally looking for a petting zoo before seeing that the zoo, then named Borth Animalarium, was up for sale last year for £625,000.

“I qualified as a psychotherapist and we wanted a small petting farm to do animal and people therapy,” Mrs Tweedy told the Cambrian News. She added: “We didn’t have much of an idea what we were doing but everything I don’t know I research.”

The couple’s dream went awry though when Lillith, an 18-month-old lynx, was shot dead by council marksmen after escaping from her enclosure by jumping over an electric fence last October. A week later a second adult lynx was accidentally strangled by staff at the zoo after becoming twisted in a catch-pole a keeper was using to control the animal.

The site was closed down by the council, but later allowed to reopen on condition that it recruited additional expert staff or face losing its licence to keep “dangerous animals”.

Mrs Tweedy told The Daily

Telegraph: “The good news is this summer has been busy, our customers are happy and business is picking up.”

A High Court hearing earlier this month gave the couple a reprieve and the case was adjourned until Sept 19 to allow them to come up with a payment plan.