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| Waiting for Flaviu: Dartmoor zoo takes softly-softly approach to missing lynx | Waiting for Flaviu: Dartmoor zoo takes softly-softly approach to missing lynx |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Benjamin Mee, zoo director and animal psychologist, gestured towards a pair of African lions, Josie and Jasiri, dozing in their wooded enclosure at Dartmoor zoo. “That is what the lynx will be doing right now, 500 metres or so from here – just over that way.” | Benjamin Mee, zoo director and animal psychologist, gestured towards a pair of African lions, Josie and Jasiri, dozing in their wooded enclosure at Dartmoor zoo. “That is what the lynx will be doing right now, 500 metres or so from here – just over that way.” |
| The problem for Mee is “just over that way”. And he does not mean in another corner of this picturesque animal park. Flaviu the lynx has upped and gone and, for the moment at least, cannot be tempted back into captivity. He chewed his way of his house a week ago, exchanging a pen surrounded by high walls and fences for the meadows, hedgerows and woods that border the zoo. | |
| Mee is sure he is safe and well. “He’ll be lying in a warm spot just now. He may sleep for 20 hours, hunt for four. There is plenty of food for him – rabbits, birds, mice. They certainly won’t be expecting him there.” | Mee is sure he is safe and well. “He’ll be lying in a warm spot just now. He may sleep for 20 hours, hunt for four. There is plenty of food for him – rabbits, birds, mice. They certainly won’t be expecting him there.” |
| Stories of mysterious wild cats haunting the moors of Devon and Cornwall have long swirled around this part of the world. That there definitely is one at large at the moment has caused a frisson of excitement. | |
| Visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of Flaviu have arrived en masse; journalists and television crews have been trying, and failing, to get the first picture of this “beast” of Dartmoor; Mee has heard disturbing reports of people out and about with rifles; one person arrived at the zoo equipped with a divining rod claiming God had told him where Flaviu was hiding. | Visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of Flaviu have arrived en masse; journalists and television crews have been trying, and failing, to get the first picture of this “beast” of Dartmoor; Mee has heard disturbing reports of people out and about with rifles; one person arrived at the zoo equipped with a divining rod claiming God had told him where Flaviu was hiding. |
| Related: Lynx on the loose after breaking out of Dartmoor zoo | Related: Lynx on the loose after breaking out of Dartmoor zoo |
| Actually, Mee and his team know roughly where Flaviu is. “The psychology of the animal is to stay in one place and own it,” he said. Soon after escaping on Wednesday 6 July, Flaviu was spotted by a police drone not far from the zoo’s perimeter fence. | |
| Since then, he is believed to have stayed around that same spot rather than headed for the wilderness of Dartmoor proper. Paw prints have been found, and he is thought to have taken meat from traps laid for him. Cameras have been set up by the zoo to track his movements and footpaths in the area closed by the county council. More than 20 people were originally searching for Flaviu but the team has been scaled back to just four and a softly-softly approach adopted. | |
| “It’s a watching, waiting game,” said Mee. The idea of getting within 50 metres of Flaviu and shooting him with a tranquilliser dart does not seem practical. Instead Mee is thinking outside the box. | |
| Flaviu, a two-year-old male about the size of a cocker spaniel, arrived at the zoo from a park in Kent after being separated from his mum and dad for the first time. Mee has sent for the mother’s sawdust bedding and is trying to source recordings of her calls. | Flaviu, a two-year-old male about the size of a cocker spaniel, arrived at the zoo from a park in Kent after being separated from his mum and dad for the first time. Mee has sent for the mother’s sawdust bedding and is trying to source recordings of her calls. |
| Mee is also trying to obtain ocelot urine, which might interest a missing lynx, though transporting a sample to Dartmoor has proved problematic – couriers are not keen on the idea. The idea is to build Flaviu a large wooden house filled with his mum’s bedding and lure him into it with comforting scents and sounds. Mee puts the chances of getting Flaviu back at “more than 50/50” as long as the area can be controlled. | |
| While outsiders are thrilled at the idea of a lynx on the loose, the locals in the nearby village of Sparkwell do not seem too bothered. “We’re certainly not scared,” said Ray Foss, a retired engineer. “It’s not a danger to anyone. You get used to the roar of the lions around here so a lynx isn’t going to worry us.” | |
| It turns out that some are pretty used to the sight of lions roaming in the village, too. Anton Piotrowski, the head chef at the Michelin-starred Treby Arms, remembers how as a child he and his classmates would be held at school from time to time when – under previous management – lions escaped. “They used to bring lion cubs into school as well. I don’t suppose that would be allowed now.” | It turns out that some are pretty used to the sight of lions roaming in the village, too. Anton Piotrowski, the head chef at the Michelin-starred Treby Arms, remembers how as a child he and his classmates would be held at school from time to time when – under previous management – lions escaped. “They used to bring lion cubs into school as well. I don’t suppose that would be allowed now.” |
| In more recent times a wolf escaped from the zoo and was found outside the pub and a jaguar escaped from its enclosure and ended up in a tiger’s cage. | In more recent times a wolf escaped from the zoo and was found outside the pub and a jaguar escaped from its enclosure and ended up in a tiger’s cage. |
| And what of the other wild cats said to roam these parts? Mee is one of the many locals convinced he has seen a panther in the woods near the village. “We raced back to the zoo to check all our cats were here,” he said. Happily, they were. | And what of the other wild cats said to roam these parts? Mee is one of the many locals convinced he has seen a panther in the woods near the village. “We raced back to the zoo to check all our cats were here,” he said. Happily, they were. |
| There are those who believe that lynx, once a British native, ought to be reintroduced. “It would give an extra edge to our wild places,” said Mee. At the moment, it is man rather than big beast that has the job of culling deer and Dartmoor ponies. The carcasses of the latter are fed to the big cats at the zoo. | |
| Mee, who used to write for the Guardian, believes that if Flaviu cannot be recaptured he will survive if he is left alone. “The problem is he is going to be harassed by halfwits trying to catch him or shoot him.” | |
| Hollywood has already come calling on Mee. His book of how he acquired this animal park – We Bought a Zoo – has been turned into a film starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson. But Flaviu’s tale is bound to make a great chapter in the follow-up. Mee already has the title: Never Buy a Zoo. | Hollywood has already come calling on Mee. His book of how he acquired this animal park – We Bought a Zoo – has been turned into a film starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson. But Flaviu’s tale is bound to make a great chapter in the follow-up. Mee already has the title: Never Buy a Zoo. |