Hoo Farm bosses say animal care comes first

Will Dorrell, partner at the Telford attraction, said they had received a number of complaints recently about empty enclosures – despite only one enclosure actually being empty.

He said they refused to compromise the quality of care they give for animals just so people find it easier to see them.

"Many of our animals are rescues and because of this will not perform on cue.

"All our animals are provided with plenty of hiding spaces to allow them to get away from people throughout the day and approximately 90 per cent of these hiding spaces are viewable – they just take a bit of looking for.

"We refuse to compromise on the quality of care we give our animals so these hiding places are 100 per cent necessary."

He said visiting families are given a piece of paper with the day's activities on, and that those activities give people a chance to see animals that would usually be hidden away.

He also advised people to take their time while visiting and to revisit enclosures throughout the attraction so that they get the chance to see everything.

"We know when you've got little ones in tow this can be difficult but we very much want people to get the most out of their visit to us.

"From our end, over the next couple of weeks we are going to implement signage to help point out each individual animals hiding area

"However if we find this is being abused to harass animals they will be removed."

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