Telford zoo takes action after inspection report

Details of Hoo Farm Animal Kingdom's last inspection were revealed following an Freedom of Information inquiry into the state of the country's zoos, which says it was given 46 conditions to improve.

The attraction, near Telford, says is has already met a number of conditions handed down to it following the inspection.

The findings, into a number of zoos across the country, were released after keeper Rosa King was mauled to death by a tiger at zoo.

Inspection details for Hoo Farm reveal a macaw labelled ‘anti-social’ was locked in a shed and a wallaby and its young were ‘loose in unexplained circumstances’.

But Will Dorrell, manager of Hoo Farm at Preston on the Weald Moors, said the macaw was being kept in a specialist indoor aviary after being brought in as a rescue and was receiving treatment, it was released in the interim between the inspection and its report being released.

The wallaby had been released by two visitors and had since been caught and a new 8ft perimeter fence has been put up around the park to prevent it happening again.

New zoo licences are issued for four years. Mr Dorrell said inspections involve the officer checking all areas of the zoo, including paperwork, and creating a list of areas where they would like to see changes made. Reports are then sent to the zoo and the local authority, in this case Telford & Wrekin, who are responsible for ongoing monitoring.

Informal Inspections take place in a calendar year where there is no Periodical Inspection taking place.

A Secretary of State’s Zoo Inspector carries out the periodical inspections, accompanied by a council licensing officer. Informal inspections are carried out by the council’s approved veterinary officer, accompanied by the council’s licensing officer. When carrying out inspections the council has regard to the Secretary of State’s standards of modern zoo practice which specifies minimum standards that zoos in England are expected to meet.

Mr Dorrell said: "Of the 46 conditions, I would say about 35 were related to paperwork. I hold my hands up and say that was an administrative error on my part, I had not sent off the correct forms at the time of the inspection but that was rectified between the inspection and the report."

He said the farm has since been working closely with Telford & Wrekin Council on the conditions.

The information was revealed following the request, which released reports from around the country.

Using Freedom of Information laws, 170 zoo inspection reports were obtained from local authorities across England and Wales.

At least 24 attractions are seen to have issues, while a further 17 were told they could only continue operating if they adhered to a lists of conditions.

Russell Griffin, of Telford & Wrekin Council, said it was working with Hoo Farm to clear up issues raised in the inspection.

He said : "On August 25 2016 a routine inspection of Hoo Farm was carried out by the Secretary of State’s Zoo Inspector.

“At the time of the inspection, an “anti social” macaw was housed temporarily in a shed as it had been moved from one enclosure and was waiting to be moved into a new one which was being completed. At the time of the inspection the macaw had been in the shed for three days. Council officers returned to Hoo Farm on September 2 and the macaw had been moved to its new enclosure with other macaws.

“At the time of the inspection, there was a wallaby within the grounds of Hoo Farm which had been deliberately released from the wallaby wood area by a couple of young visitors. The animal was later recaptured and the council imposed conditions on the licence regarding the security of the wallaby enclosure’s fencing and gates to prevent it happening again.

“Since these conditions were imposed, further inspections have been carried out and there is to be a further inspection again to ensure the conditions are being adhered to.”