Saving Animals in Danger - Both Native and Exotic
There are only six pumas kept in zoos in the UK - and two of them are at Dartmoor Wildlife Park. They are one of the world's endangered big cat species, which is exactly why the previous owner wanted to protect them.But now, the new owners of the park want not only to preserve endangered species worldwide, but those which are often overlooked closer to home.
For example, the population of the house sparrow has dramatically declined in Britain in recent years, possibly because of the increased use of pesticides in gardens, resulting in less food for the birds.
And right on the doorstep of the park, Dartmoor ponies are officially classified by the Rare Breed Survival Trust as a "vulnerable" species, which means that there are less than 900 registered breeding females.
New owner Benjamin Mee, relocated from France with his wife and two children to set up a new life working with animals. He is passionate about his ideas for improving the quality of life for all the animals at the park and to introduce some new ones.
"I want to create hawthorn hedgerows to divide up the paddock area, which will act as a habitat and a feeding ground for water voles and sparrows which are also indigenous and endangered," he enthused.
"And we want to help support the Dartmoor ponies - we could look after eight, possibly 10 ponies in the paddock in the winter, and then they are deployed back to the moor where they maintain the land in a traditional way."
The plan for the Dartmoor ponies is just one of many ideas Mr Mee wants to incorporate in his ten-year plan for the park. Monkeys, tigers, lions, bears, servals, virtually every animal we passed had a new home to look forward to in future - or at least, a bigger enclosure.
Mr Mee, who has studied animal intelligence in dolphins and monkeys, first took me to the one and only monkey enclosure as he guided me around the park.
It looked old and fairly small for the dozen or so vervet monkeys that lived there. But Mr Mee has big plans for the primates - introducing new species and creating a much larger enclosure, which incorporates some of the bigger trees in the park.
His vision is to have squirrel monkeys, tamarins and lemurs together in one large area. It will be accessible to visitors who will be able to get up close and personal with the more friendly and inquisitive species. The vervets, who have a nasty bite, will have a larger enclosure made for them nearby.
In the short time he has been there, Mr Mee has clearly already established his favourites.
"I want to spend all my time with the vervets, watching and learning about them. They are quick to learn new things and we are coming up with ideas for them, to keep them busy and entertained," he said.
Mr Mee and his family, together with his mother Amelie and brother Duncan, are all living and working together on the wildlife park. Their decision to take on the business, which requires committed investment of their time and money, came quite out of the blue for them. But once it was suggested, the ball kept rolling until they found themselves all quitting their previous jobs and moving into the house together in Devon, situated in the centre of the park. That was five weeks ago.
"The first month has been incredibly hectic," he said. "It's been hard, hard work, learning new things every day. There's so much to take in and to consider. But it's all so exciting and very enjoyable."
After only four days, the new owners faced their first huge problem - an escaped jaguar. The big cat got out of the enclosure because a member of staff - who has since been dismissed - did not follow strict procedures when locking the animal up in the evening. "It was a miracle no one was hurt," said Mr Mee. "But all the jaguar wanted to do was jump into the tiger's enclosure and fight him."
The two animals were soon separated and the jaguar was sedated and taken back to his enclosure, giving the vet the chance to give her a quick toenail check en-route.
Plans for the wildlife park are moving fairly swiftly, budget permitting. A workshop has been created on site, so staff can start building some new structures, using as much local and natural resources as possible - a theme that was established at the park by the previous owner and founder.
One of the most ambitious changes will be a new, lowered viewing platform for visitors to observe the tigers in their moat. Since they spend a lot of time in the water when it is hot, Mr Mee wanted to let people see them enjoying themselves. Steps will lead down to a level where visitors can look through a reinforced glass window to see the tigers playing underwater on the other side.
The entrance area, which as it stands lets people view a selection of birds, including flamingoes, and deer from a distance, will be redesigned so that visitors can walk right through the middle of the enclosures. And Mr Mee is hoping to get a family a giraffes as a backdrop to the wildfowl area in a neighbouring field.
A natural river at the top of the park is planned to be diverted so that it flows down through the bear enclosure, allowing them to play and fish as they would in the wild.
There are even plans for romance and matchmaking for those animals which are currently alone. For example, one sad but stunningly beautiful serval (a medium-sized cat native to Africa) was grieving after her boyfriend of ten years had recently died and Mr Mee was already on the case of finding her another male to keep her company.
The redesign of the park will be a gradual process, ensuring that the delicate ecosystem, nestled on the southern edge of Dartmoor, is not disturbed. And following the Mee family with the challenges that lie ahead, a television production company is in the early stages of setting up a possible series to document their highs and their lows as they deal with the daily decisions as new park managers.
Dartmoor Wildlife Park hopes to regain its licence to be a zoo in the new year. If so, it could reopen to the public in time for Easter.
Western Morning News: 30th December 2006
