More monkey business as Carrie charity is handed ban
FIRST, Carrie Johnson’s charity provoked an international incident over plans to ‘rewild’ a herd of elephants to Kenya. Now, I can reveal the Prime Minister’s wife and her boss, Damian Aspinall, have been slapped down again over their ambitious and controversial animal projects.
Super-rich casino and wildlife park tycoon Damian, who runs the Aspinall Foundation, tells me he’s been banned from releasing gorillas into the wild.
The all-powerful European Association of Zoos and Aquaria has withdrawn a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ [MoU] which gave its blessing for reintroductions.
This will be a huge blow to the king of ‘rewilding’, who frequently sends gorillas from his Kent wildlife park to Africa. Indeed, his late father, the gambling and society figure John Aspinall, was credited with the reintroduction of the primates to Gabon.
Damian tells me: ‘The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria [EAZA] have cancelled the understanding with the Aspinall Foundation that allows the release of gorillas into the wild.’
He claims: ‘They’ve done this because of my own personal views on zoos. So, because they don’t like what I say about zoos, because I point out a few home truths that they don’t want to hear, they’ve now cancelled an MoU that allows gorillas to be released into the wild.’
A spokesman for the association confirms it’s cancelled this agreement after discovering that Aspinall lobbied Boris Johnson to close down zoos. ‘Through its representations to Government, the Aspinall Foundation has undermined EAZA’s trust in its motivations and made it impossible for us to continue the relationship on the basis of mutual respect,’ the spokesman tells me.
Damian’s daughter Freya, 18, whose mother is actress Donna Air, is likely to be disappointed, as she decided to spend the next year working on conservation, largely with gorillas, instead of going off to university.
After Carrie’s charity announced plans to send 13 elephants to Africa earlier this year, the Kenyan Wildlife Service claimed it had not given permission. However, the parties involved later said it had been a misunderstanding and the relocation would go ahead.
The Charity Commission also recently launched a probe into the Aspinall Foundation after investigations by this newspaper raised issues around the use of its funds.
Aspinall has vowed to fight the EAZA and does not mince his words about his fellow zookeepers. He tells me: ‘I find these people disgusting.’