10th February 2021

Borth Wild Animal Kingdom looks set to permanently close after the company was today compulsorily wound up and had its assets liquidated after racking up more than £100,000 in unpaid debts.

The news comes after months of campaigning by Freedom for Animals to close down 'Britain's worst zoo'.

The zoo's debts of £67,567 owed to HMRC stem back to July 2017 but it emerged that it also owes further money, bringing the figure to over £100,000.

The infamous zoo also owes another £22,000 to Ceredigion Council.

At an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing, HMRC's Justina Stewart said that "the debts are based on the company’s own returns and go back to 2017. The company had previously entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement in 2018 but that was terminated in 2019 for failure to make the agreed payments."

The court was told that contingency plans for the animals had been made by Ceredigion Council.

Sam Threadgill, Freedom for Animals' Director, welcomed the news:

Freedom for Animals has been calling for the permanent closure of Borth Zoo for many months and we are glad that this now looks to be the case. Animals have suffered lives of deprivation at the zoo for too long and many have even been killed there. We hope that the animals held captive at the site will now get justice and will no longer be forced to endure such unnatural lives at the site.

In September 2020, Borth Wild Animal Kingdom was ordered by Ceredigion Council to rehome their big cats after the zoo failed to meet its licence conditions. In a Facebook post, Borth Zoo announced that its lions, Zulu and Wilma, will be rehomed to Port Lympne Wildlife Park near Ashford, Kent within the next few days.

Indu, the serval, was subsequently rehomed at the Cat Survival Trust. Just prior to the council's order, an investigation carried out by Freedom for Animals found Indu pacing repeatedly up and down her small enclosure, a clear sign of zoochosis. We also estimated that she was confined to just 0.0001% of what her natural range could have been.

The zoo's three lynx were also permanently moved to the Isle of Wight Zoo in November 2020. 

More information to follow.

We are responding to this breaking campaign and doing all we can to protect the animals, but we can't do it without you.

Please send a one-off or monthly donation which will be put to use straight away. Thank you.

DONATE NOW