Real life: We Bought a Zoo

On Saturday I took my boyfriend to Dartmoor Zoological Park for his birthday. He's animal crazy and we were curious about seeing the real life zoo that inspired the recent film 'We Bought a Zoo' starring Matt Damon and Scarlet Johansson. The real life story of this zoo is that it was opened in 1968 by infamous Ellis Daw. In the early 2000's, there were multiple charges of animals being kept in inhumane conditions, in particular Siberian tigers which were being bred outside of an approved breeding programme, and being kept in appalling conditions. The place was forced to close in 2006, but was bought later that year by the Mee family who underwent a major renovation project, opening it to the public a year later.

I must say, for somewhere that allegedly was once a dump, this zoo is now beautifully restored. There are a plethora of plans to further improve the park, giving the place the reputation it always deserved and never had with previous ownership. I haven't seen the film, but the bf assures me the place looks completely different (not a surprise considering the movie was set in So. Cal!). Enjoy the pictures :) and let me know what you think of the movie if you've seen it!