Aspinall is Caught in Big Cat Fight

Aspinall is Caught in Big Cat Fight
Like the script from a bizarre version of Tarzan, casino entrepreneur Damian Aspinall is being sued by conservationist Todd Dalton, who famously won a court battle to keep leopards in his South London garden.
Aspinall, whose late father John founded the Clermont Club and a private zoo, has been accused by Dalton of breaking an agreement to return three highly-prized and rare clouded leopards that he claims he sent him for safekeeping.
According to Dalton, the animals were sent to the Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent while his own conservation centre was under construction. In a High Court action, Dalton, who runs an internet food business called Edible, has also demanded the return of three giant ant eaters he loaned to Aspinall.
Dalton and Aspinall had been on cordial terms until they fell out over the leopards at a meeting last year.
"Damian donated the leopards to me for conservation purposes," claims Dalton. "They subsequently had a cub. I gave him the giant ant eaters as a breeding loan and they, too, have had a baby.
"While building my own centre in Kent I returned the leopards to Howletts. But now Aspinall is trying to deny the fact that they were ever given to us. He isn't willing to honour the agreement. He is a ruthless individual with an attitude problem."
Dalton, 31, whose parents came from Louisiana in the U.S., is claiming damages of up to £50,000 in a writ issued against Howletts and the John Aspinall Foundation. Aspinall, 47, who inherited his twin passions of animals and the gaming business from his father, was a close friend of the late nightclub proprietor Mark Birley, whose son Robin was savaged by a tiger at Howletts.
Last night Aspinall, who recently split from his TV presenter partner Donna Air, with whom he has a four-year- old daughter, Freya, was unavailable.
Bob O'Connor, managing director of Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks, tells me: "We feel strongly we hold the legal and moral high ground. It is at an early stage, but in the fullness of time we will find out who is right and who is wrong."
Two years ago, Dalton won the right to keep his collection of wild animals in his South London garden despite protests from neighbours.
Daily Mail: 6th February 2008