Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2010/January 2011 | Page 59

social scene

Island Life - December 2010
Remarkably he was not a naturalist or a
biologist, but a construction engineer with a
company in Manchester. “He saw the zoo was
up for sale and bought it,” says Charlotte.
His company was sold and the family brought
to the Island, to a zoo in a desperate state.
It was branded the slum zoo of Britain. The
left-over exotic animal collection was in a
miserable state and some individuals were
beyond saving. Charlotte’s parents used to
remark “at least the zoo has an excellent
resident rat collection!”
Charlotte can’t explain what triggered her
father’s interest in animals, but clearly feels
that the zoo’s mission is to ignite similar
commitment in others. Jack’s original plan
was that the zoo should specialise in snakes,
but realised that though they were his own
passion they are not everyone’s cup of tea.
“Then Twycross Zoo donated a young tigress
in need of hand-rearing. Tamara was just
weeks old – the first of many rescue cats. My
mum hand raised her.”
Jack was, says Charlotte, exceptionally
visionary and determined: his wife Judith,
you can’t help thinking, must be a candidate
for sainthood at the very least. Raising tigers
alongside two lively little girls was just the
start of it. Bear cubs also had the run of the
house: “Winnie and Ginny used to open the
dishwasher and hide inside. They completely
trashed the kitchen: they became so attached
to it that when we eventually moved them to
an enclosure in the zoo we had to move the
kitchen furniture there as well!”

Photo: Casper the white Lion
Photo: Charlotte's late father Jack pictured
walking Tamyra on Sandown beach

Naughty bears were one thing: a husband
milking venomous snakes quite another. “He
got bitten quite regularly,” says Charlotte.
“Once mum was cooking and my dad
wandered into the kitchen with his hand
behind his back and said he was just popping
out. She assumed he’d gone to the Crab &
Lobster, until eventually she got a phone call
from a journalist asking if she knew how her
husband was getting on in intensive care!”
As for Charlotte, life was never
run-of-the-mill. “There was that moment
when you realised it’s not that normal for a
leopard to be sitting in the passenger seat of
your 2CV when your mum picks you up from
school.” To concentrate on exams, she began
boarding at Bembridge School, returning to
find her bedroom was now “some sort of
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