A Year in the Life of DZP

A Year in the Life

Over one and a half hours of behind the scenes footage following the lives of the staff and residents of Dartmoor Zoo.

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In 2006 the former Dartmoor Wildlife Park was in trouble.

The license to operate had been revoked and with no visitors, dwindling finances and no income things were getting desperate.

If a buyer could not be found then much of the animal collection, including its impressive range of big cats, would have to be destroyed.

Whilst looking for a large home for mother, Amelia, the Mee family came across the details of the zoo and fell in love.

After a desperate race to get the necessary funding together, the park was purchased in August of 2006.

There then followed months of arduous work to get the park back up to required standards to regain its license to operate.

On July 7^th 2007 the park, renamed Dartmoor Zoological Park, reopened to the general public.

The whole process was recorded for a BBC documentary called “Ben’s Zoo,” whilst Benjamin Mee committed his experiences to a memoire.

Called “We Bought a Zoo,” the book was published in over 20 countries, and in 2011 a film adaptation starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson hit the big screen.

Much of the past 5 years has been an up-hill struggle, and whilst there is still a long way to go, staff and animals can now look forward to a more promising future.

This film shares just a few of the interesting moments over the past twelve months.