Damian Aspinall | |
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| Born | John Damian Androcles Aspinall 24 May 1960 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman and conservationist |
| Notable work | Raising and releasing zoo-bred lowland gorillas |
| Spouses |
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| Partner | Donna Air (2000–2007) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent |
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John Damian Androcles Aspinall (born 24 May 1960) is an English businessman and conservationist. He has raised and released a number of zoo-bred lowland gorillas in Gabon.
Aspinall is the son of Jane Gordon Hastings and John Victor Aspinall who was a casino and zoo owner, founder of Aspinall's, conservationist, and the stepson of Sir George Osborne, 16th Baronet. Aspinall's step-mother is Lady Sarah Aspinall. In 1972, his father married Lady Sarah "Sally" Courage, widow of the racing driver Piers Courage and daughter of Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe. [1] From the age of six, Aspinall was educated as a boarder at Millfield in Somerset. [2]
Aspinall's wealth is estimated to be around £200m. After his father's death in 2000, Damian bought back the family casino interests with the help of Australian associate James Packer, son of Kerry Packer. [3] [4]
He runs the John Aspinall Foundation founded by his father, and his stated goal is to breed gorillas and return them to the wild. He manages Howletts Wild Animal Park and nearby Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, where at least 120 gorillas have been born.
Kwibi, the celebrity gorilla released when five years old in 2005 in Gabon, had been born and raised at Howletts, a wild animal park in Kent. Aspinall tracked Kwibi in 2010 and the video of the reunion became widely viewed on YouTube. [5]
Since 2008, Aspinall has spearheaded conservation efforts [6] to save the critically endangered greater bamboo lemur. The estimated population size of the greater bamboo lemur has risen since 2009 from 100 to 1,000 individuals. Thanks to the work of Aspinall's charitable foundation and partners, the greater bamboo lemur was removed from the list of 25 most threatened primates in the world. [7]
Aspinall started the Javan Primate Project in 2012 and has since released more than 135 primates including Javan langurs, moloch gibbons and grizzled leaf monkeys [8] into protected sites in Java. The animals are a mix of those rescued from the local illegal pet trade and rewilded from Aspinall's two UK wildlife parks. [9]
In October 2019, Aspinall – alongside an international team of conservationists – rescued 11 elephants, 4 giraffe, 19 buffalo and 29 wildebeest from Blaauwbosch in South Africa's Eastern Cape after a sustained period of drought and neglect at a mismanaged game reserve. [10]
In February 2020, The Aspinall Foundation, of which Damian Aspinall is chairman, became the first organisation in the world to send captive bred cheetahs from the UK for rewilding in South Africa. Aspinall personally released the two male cheetahs, who were born at Port Lympne, into their new home close to Cape Town. [11]
A BBC report in 2014 stated that the facility said that it had "successfully reintroduced more than 50 gorillas back into the wild since 1996" and that the Aspinall Foundation managed two gorilla rescue and rehabilitation projects in Gabon and Congo, respectively. [12] In fact, Aspinall had purchased about a million acres in Africa and turned the area into a park in an attempt to protect gorillas whose numbers have been reducing due to the loss of habitat and poaching. Gorillas from his Port Lympne animal park were being sent to this area. [13]
Aspinall has said he would like to close all zoos and send the captive animals into the wild. [13] Over the years however, not all of the gorillas introduced into Africa survived, possibly due to having been primed to humans and being unable to care for themselves in the wild and attacks by other gorillas. [14] One report in 2014 stated that a family of ten zoo-born silverback gorillas were sent to Gabon and at least five were killed, an outcome many had predicted. [13]
In a 2016 interview, Aspinall blamed one gorilla that the Foundation had released for killing the five others in 2014. He also criticized the negative publicity about the event stating, "What about the 60 we released that survived? There's no glory if you get it right. We get no press, no publicity – but boy, if anything goes wrong, they jump on you." [15]
Aspinall was married to Louise Elizabeth Julia Sebag-Montefiore for 15 years. Louise is the mother of two of Aspinall's daughters. [16] [17] [18] After his divorce from Louise, Aspinall dated Kirsty Bertarelli and Donna Air, the mother of his third daughter. [19] In 2016, Aspinall married the then 29-year-old Victoria Fisher.
The Saint Louis Zoo, officially known as the Saint Louis Zoological Park, is a zoo in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It is recognized as a leading zoo in animal management, research, conservation, and education. The zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Admission is free based on a public subsidy from a cultural tax district, the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District (ZMD); fees are charged for some special attractions. A special feature is the 2 ft narrow-gauge Emerson Zooline Railroad with passenger trains pulled by Chance Rides C.P. Huntington locomotives that encircle the zoo, stopping at the more popular attractions.
Bristol Zoo was a zoo in the city of Bristol in South West England. The zoo's stated mission was to "maintain and defend" biodiversity through breeding endangered species, conserving threatened species and habitats and promoting a wider understanding of the natural world".
The Philadelphia Zoo, located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, is the first true zoo in the United States. It was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, but its opening was delayed by the Civil War until July 1, 1874. The zoo opened with 1,000 animals and an admission price of 25 cents. For a brief time, the zoo also housed animals brought to U.S. from safaris by the Smithsonian Institution, which had not yet built its National Zoo.
John Victor Aspinall was an English zoo and casino owner. From upper class beginnings he used gambling to move to the centre of British high society in the 1960s. He was born in Delhi during the British Raj, and was a citizen of the United Kingdom.
Howletts Wild Animal Park in the parish of Bekesbourne, near Canterbury in Kent, was established as a private zoo in 1957 by John Aspinall. In 1962, the House known as Howletts was being restored. A small cottage was inhabited by an employee. The animal collection was opened to the public in 1975. To give more room for the animals another estate at Port Lympne near Hythe in Kent was purchased in 1973, and opened to the public as Port Lympne Zoo in 1976.
Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve near the town of Hythe in Kent, England is set in 600 acres (2.4 km2) and incorporates the historic Port Lympne Mansion, and landscaped gardens designed by architect Sir Herbert Baker, for Sir Philip Sassoon.
Mysore Zoo, officially known as Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, is a composite of zoological gardens and animal park located in the southern Indian city of Mysore, Karnataka. Stretching across a 157-acre (64 ha)-expanse and situated at about 700 metres from Mysore Palace, it is the oldest zoo in India and one of the oldest in the world. One of the most popular zoos in India and one of the city's most popular attractions, it is home to a wide range of over 168 species.
The Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre is a 65-acre (26.3 ha) ape and monkey sanctuary and rescue centre near Wool, Dorset, England.
Apenheul Primate Park is a zoo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. It specializes in apes and monkeys. It opened in 1971 and was the first zoo in the world where monkeys could walk around freely in the forest and between the visitors. It started with just a few species, now it displays more than 30 different primates, among them bonobo, gorilla and orangutan.
The Little Rock Zoo was founded in 1926 and is located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. It is home to more than 725 animals representing over 200 species, and covers an area of 33 acres (13 ha). The Arkansas Zoological Foundation is a private 501 c (3) organization that raises funds for zoo development. The Little Rock Zoo is a department of the city of Little Rock. It is the largest zoo in Arkansas, and the only Arkansas zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity that campaigns to "Keep Wildlife in the Wild". It protects wild animals in their natural habitat, campaigns against the keeping of wild animals in captivity and rescues wild animals in need. It also promotes compassionate conservation, which takes into account the welfare of individual animals in conservation initiatives. Born Free also creates and provides educational materials and activities that reflect the charity’s values.
James Michael Cronin MBE was the American co-founder in 1987 of Monkey World in Dorset, England, a sanctuary for abused and neglected primates. He was widely acknowledged as an international expert in the rescue and rehabilitation of abused primates, and in the enforcement of international treaties aimed at protecting them from illegal trade and experimentation.
Ragunan Zoo is a zoo located in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, Indonesia. The zoo has an area of 140-hectare (350-acre). The zoo has an aviary and a primate centre, and employs over 450 people. Many of the animals in the zoo are endangered and threatened from all parts of Indonesia and the rest of the world. There are a total of 2,288 animals inside the zoo. Laid out in a lush tropical habitat, rare animals such as crocodile, gorilla, orangutan, tapir, anoa, sumatran tiger, babirusa and peacocks are given ample room. The zoo is located in South Jakarta and is easily accessible through the Jakarta Outer Ring Road and TransJakarta Corridor 6 bus.
A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals.
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The Aspinall Foundation is a British charity which works to promote wildlife conservation. It was set up by casino owner John Aspinall in 1984 and runs the two zoos he established, Port Lympne Wild Animal Park and Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent, England. It also runs conservation projects overseas to protect endangered species and return captive animals back to the wild. The charity is now run by Damian Aspinall, son of the founder.
Cousins is a nature documentary TV series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, England, first transmitted in the UK on BBC One in August 2000. The series looks at the primates, the closest living relatives to human beings.
Francesco Romano Nardelli is an Italian naturalist who has dedicated his life to the protection and conservation of endangered species. He is also the co-founder, with John Aspinall, of the Sumatran Rhino Project, one of the most important coordinated efforts to save a critically endangered species.
Lady Sarah Aspinall .. the daughter of Earl Howe... met John Aspinall in 1967...
He packed me off to Millfield to board when I was six and then never ...
... daughter ...Joanna (Ethne Julia)..
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