The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Welsh zoo under fire after second lynx dies
Animal accidentally asphyxiated during transfer
A zoo is facing calls to close after it emerged that a second lynx was accidentally asphyxiated within days of the shooting and killing of Lillith the lynx, who escaped from her enclosure at the seaside attraction.
Borth Wild Animal Kingdom near Aberyswyth, west Wales, has been criticised for having “no understanding of wild animal behaviour or welfare needs” by the Lynx UK Trust, who said a second cat had died after keepers at the zoo tried to move it to another enclosure using a dog noose.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the zoo confirmed that Nilly, an adult female who was unrelated to Lillith but shared an enclosure with her, had died after the decision was taken to move the animal to “a more suitable enclosure” when they were give 24 hours’ notice of an inspection.
Borth Wild Animal Kingdom said: “Unfortunately, there seems to have been a terrible handling error where it seems she twisted in the catch-pole and became asphyxiated. An internal investigation is under way. The authorities were notified and will be carrying out their own full investigation.”
“Will it take the death of a human for someone to take action?”
Lillith, an 18-month-old Eurasian lynx and twice the size of a domestic cat, was killed on Friday night after the local authority received advice from a specialist vet- erinary surgeon that the risk to public well-being had increased from moderate to severe.
Park staff said that the animal, which had been missing since October 29, did not pose a threat to humans and were “devastated and outraged” by her death.
The trust, which campaigns for the re-introduction of lynx into the wild in the UK, said it had been investigating the circumstances surrounding the escape and shooting of Lillith when it was informed that the second lynx had died.
Chief scientific adviser to the trust Dr Paul O’Donoghue said he visited the zoo.
He said: “What if it had been Borth’s crocodile that escaped? Or their two lions? Will it take the death of a human for someone to take action?”
Dean and Tracy Tweedy took over Borth Wild Animal Kingdom less than six months ago.
In their statement they said they knew that there were serious issues with how some of the animals were housed and had been working hard to make “vast improvements”.