18th December 2024

Recently we brought you news that the notorious Cumbria Safari Zoo, formerly known as South Lakes Zoo, was finally closing after years of our campaigning! We were delighted to hear that the doors would close on 31st of December, never again to open. However, as we expected, their announcement didn’t give the whole story...

The current operators of Cumbria Safari Zoo, formerly known as South Lakes Zoo, recently announced its closure at the end of the month. However, they own another site near Tebay and have submitted an application to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to build enclosures there. Their planning application details that these will house “a variety of exotic, non-native species, including white rhino, giraffe, honey badgers, zebras, red panda, sloth, and lynx” - they’re trying to move the zoo to a new site.

We must stop this from happening! For nearly a decade we have campaigned for the zoo to close amid multiple avoidable animal deaths and failures to provide adequate care for those held captive at Cumbria Safari Zoo. We cannot allow this misery to persist elsewhere. Use our form to object directly to Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

Earlier this year we published the results of a long-term investigation into Cumbria Safari Zoo that demonstrated just how much neglect and suffering was taking place behind the gates of the infamous zoo. From animals escaping, never to be recovered, to avoidable injuries and deaths, and squalid, cramped conditions, our five-part video series demonstrated that Cumbria Safari Zoo was continually failing its animals. Now, those same individuals behind the management team want to open a new venture that they’re calling ‘Into the Wilds’. Their planning statement claims that it will be a departure from their old business, but with plans to keep the same animals they have been failing for years, why would anyone think this new site would offer any improvement for the animals? It cannot be allowed to happen.

We need your help today to oppose this new business venture. Our goal has always been to see the local authority permanently revoke Cumbria Safari Zoo’s zoo licence and facilitate the removal of all animals held captive there to appropriate and accredited sanctuaries, as per our successful petition for the zoo’s closure which reached 8,826 signatures! This remains the best option for the animals, and the previous site’s closure is the best opportunity we have ever had to secure a safe future for them. 

Take action today and oppose Planning Application E/15/9B at Brockholes Farm, Tebay, Penrith, CA10 3XT.