Troubled South Lakes Safari Zoo announces closure and plots move to Yorkshire

A zoo and safari park in Cumbria has announced its closure – but is eyeing up a new wildlife experience in Yorkshire.

The South Lakes Safari Zoo has faced a fair amount of controversy over the years, including the death of a zookeeper who was mauled by a tiger in 2013, and the death of 500 animals in the span of just three years.

The Cumbria Zoo Company Limited (CZCL) took over the attraction in 2017 when its previous owner was denied a licence – but has now announced the zoo’s closure.

And while the South Lakes Safari Zoo in Ulverston, just outside the Lake District, will close at the end of this year, it looks like a move to Yorkshire is on the cards.

Plans have been submitted to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority for a 120-acre visitor attraction and wild animal reserve at Brockholes Farm.

The application states that, along with farm animals, the attraction will be home to white rhinos, honey badgers, zebras, red pandas, sloths, giraffe and lynx.

In a statement shared on social media, the South Lakes Safari Zoo said that the new site has holiday cottages, farm animals, and ‘native wild flora and fauna full of biodiversity from grasslands, trees, Ancient Woodland, Pond, rivers, waterfalls, bluebells, and an array of plant life’.   

Even before work begins they added that the site is home to bats, badgers, breeding birds, woodpeckers, grouse, amphibians, otter, brown hares, Lapwings, nodding birds, and squirrels.

The new Yorkshire attraction from the South Lakes Safari Zoo is set to partially open in 2025.

Speaking of the closure of their Cumbria zoo, they wrote: “When we took over in 2017 we did so because of our love and passion for the animals in our care and the wider world.

“When we look back –  hand rearing Cupcake the parma wallaby, training Tibor the giraffe for his jugular blood sample, Remi the jaguar and his cancer removal, Wolfgang the snow leopard and his eye operation, hand rearing capybara, Eloise the giraffe’s pedicures, transforming the lives of Snoopy and the bears with their new enclosure. 

“From day 1 when we opened the doors for free, to today when we will do the same for December, we cannot thank the 3million plus of you who have, over the last 7 years, visited us, supported our ventures and ultimately celebrated with us our amazing animal world.”

You can read their full statement below.

What do you think of the plans for South Lakes Safari Zoo to move to Yorkshire?

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Featured image: Wikimedia Commons