A MID Wales zoo looks likely to permanently close over an unpaid tax bill amounting to more than £100,000.

A London court on Wednesday issued a winding up petition against Borth Wild Animal Kingdom, in Ceredigion, over unpaid debts of £60,567 dating back to July 2017. The zoo – home to a number of category one animals, including lions, lynx, wolfdogs, monkeys and pythons – also owes an extra £40,000 in “further amounts” as well as £22,000 to their local authority, Ceredigion County Council (CCC).

The zoo’s owners, Dean and Tracy Tweedy, have been besieged by problems in recent years – including having to kill two lynx within days of each other in 2017. Eurasian lynx Lilleth was “humanely destroyed” after escaping from the zoo in October and wondering on to a nearby caravan site, while a second lynx, Nilly, died at the zoo a few days later following a “handling error”. The council then ordered that the zoo must have one member of a firearms team on duty every day in case of an escape.

In March last year three African Antelope broke out but were returned safely.

In a defiant post on the Borth Wild Animal Kingdom Facebook page following the decision, the directors said they were busy now trying to find new homes for their animals, but hoped that they would be able to reopen at some point in the future.

“We wanted to reassure you that, despite Borth Wild Animal Kingdom Ltd, being wound up today by HMRC, we are not planning to close the zoo permanently,” the directors said in a statement.

“Once the dissolution of the company has been finalised, we are hoping that the zoo will be able to reopen. Meanwhile, we would like to assure you that all of our animals are continuing to be cared for by our dedicated staff and their welfare will not be compromised during this transition period.

“We would like to thank you all for your continued support and look forward to seeing you all again when we are able to open.”

Mr and Mrs Tweedy had offered to pay off the tax debts at £200 a month but that was deemed “not acceptable” by Judge Sebastian Prentis at Wednesday’s hearing.

Mrs Tweedy told the judge the “nominal amount” offered was due to the zoo being shut for most of 2020 due to coronavirus restrictions and, hence, a lack of income stream. She said they could offer to pay higher amounts once they reopened.

But Judge Prentis made the winding up order regardless, pointing out that this was the seventh hearing of the petition, which was first presented in January 2020. Although he acknowledged the pandemic had played a part he said the petition is based on the company’s own returns and VAT returns, which had been due from the end of July 2017.

Borth Wild Animal Kingdom initially opened as Borth Animalarium in the late 1980s. Owners Ron and Ann Crowther sold in 2000 to Jean and Alan Mumbray who ran it for 15 years before putting it up for sale in June 2015. Mr and Mrs Tweedy bought it for £625,000 in 2016.

And they have encountered problems throughout their tenure. The zoo was banned from keeping certain dangerous animals, including wild cats, by the county council in November 2017, although that decision was reversed, subject to conditions, in 2018. One included having a member of a firearms team on duty every day in case an animal escaped.

In early 2020 it was served with a notice to shut its dangerous animal enclosures because of inadequate firearms arrangements. It reopened in February and began taking in visitors again from July after the lifting of pandemic restrictions.

But it shut again in September and had to rehouse its big cats because of more licence problems.