Riber Castle Zoo closes Riber Castle Zoo, near Matlock in Derbyshire, closed in September 2000. The zoo, featured in our Sad Eyes and Empty Lives video, had been a subject of much criticism by ourselves and others. CAPS discovered that the animals, fixtures and fittings were being auctioned off on October 11th. Our investigator went along to watch the proceedings.
Included in the list of ‘livestock’ to be sold, were wallabies, peccaries, reptiles, birds, otters, lynx and goats. At auction, a male lynx was sold for a mere £20. Our investigator watched the failed attempts to capture the otters and lynx so that they could be taken away by their buyers. The animals were chased for hours. Eventually a lynx buyer was told he would have to return with a vet so the animal could be sedated. From the conversation that transpired it appeared there had been no vet on site to over see the sale and capture of any of the animals. A wallaby was chased until his sides were heaving, another was carried from the field held upside down by the tail. The auction of animals and their treatment described above was apparently legal. As we have made clear before, legislation to protect captive animals in zoos is weak and should be addressed.
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