A Ceredigion zoo has been forced to rehome all their primates and antelope after being denied a Dangerous Wild Animal Licence.

In February of this year, Dean and Tracy Tweedy’s Borth Wild Animal Kingdom was wound up by courts over unpaid debts of more than £100,000 and, consequently, they were unable to hold a zoo licence or any other similar licence.

In April, Ceredigion County Council received an application for a Dangerous Wild Animal Licence from Mr and Mrs Tweedy, the owner of a new business known as the ‘Animalarium’ at Borth.

After an inspection on 12 May 2021, Ceredigion council decided not to grant the Dangerous Wild Animal Licence.

The owners were then advised that they could no longer keep any dangerous wild animals and would have to remove the primates and lechwe, or horned antelope, from the premises.

On 15 June, the council was notified that their primates had all been moved to Monkey World in Dorset without any issues. The owners are also in the process of finalising arrangements to move the lechwe.

The zoo’s unpaid debts, which go back to 2017, to HM Revenue & Customs amount to around £100,000. Additionally, the court heard they owe £22,000 to Ceredigion council.

Cllr Gareth Lloyd, Ceredigion Cabinet member for finance and public protection, stated: “The county council is extremely grateful for the assistance and professionalism of Monkey World in rehoming all the apes and the Aspinall Foundation who previously rehomed two lions earlier this year.”

Officers of Ceredigion County Council are closely monitoring the situation and say that Mr and Mrs Tweedy are co-operating with the council and taking steps to carry out improvements to ensure animal welfare matters are being managed and addressed appropriately.

In 2017, a report in the zoo, commissioned by the council, was launched following the escape of a Eurasian lynx, which was shot dead by a marksman when it was found at a nearby caravan site, and the death of a second lynx due to a “handling error”.

In November 2017, Ceredigion Council issued a ban on the zoo keeping category one animals, but this decision was reversed in July 2018 following an appeal. This was subject to conditions being met, including having a member of a firearms team on duty every day in case an animal escaped.

In January 2020, the zoo was served again with a council notice to shut its dangerous animal enclosures because of inadequate firearms arrangements.

In March 2020, the council said they had “lost confidence” in the zoo after three antelopes escaped.

In September 2020, the zoo appeared before Aberystwyth magistrates to appeal the closure of the Category 1 enclosures, and reached a “compromise” with the council, who allowed them to surrender and rehome only their category 1 animals rather than revoke their licence entirely.

As a result, their lions, lynx and serval animals were rehomed.