A zoo in Salford? It’s more than just a pipe dream for thirty three year old recruitment manager Daniel Mortell. About Manchester talks to him.
Have you ever heard of a Pine Marten ? asks Daniel.Thinking that I half know the answer, I reply, yes I think it is a bird. That’s the answer I was hoping you would say came the reply but it’s wrong. Indeed it is well off the mark and an indication of just how detached from our native fauna we have become for Daniel.
The Pine Marten, (Martes martes) is a medium-sized mustelid native to Britain and Ireland and probably arrived here soon after the end of the last glaciation, once the second most common carnivore in Britain, now found in just a few areas and probably heard of by less than five per cent of our population.
Daniel’s dream is to make it as recognizable to people as the Zebra and Salford to lead the way. Recently flying in to Manchester airport, he thought of what brought people to the region, and apart from football was struggling.
Greater Manchester has a population of 2.7m people, has the second highest amount of overseas visitors outside of London, and yet, along with West Yorkshire, it is the only place with a population of more than a million without a Wildlife Park.
Inspired by the drive and determination of George Mottershead, the founder of Chester Zoo, Daniel wants to create ten hectares of cage less mixed habitant where people can once again connect with the native fauna through an immersive experience where vistors are inside enclosures, not outside them.
Not only that but create an environment where there is real conservation and breeding programmes for the release of endangered animals back into the wild.
There will be a strong focus on UK wildlife past and present, as well the Pine Marten, the Grey Wolf, Brown Bear and Eurasian Lynx and interactive exhibits where visitors will see animals from innovative angles as well as natural exhibits and recreated nocturnal environments to provide real animal habitat viewing.
It is already a little more than just a pipe dream though.Peel Holdings are interested in working with the idea and providing the land, currently six sites are being considered across Greater Manchester and Salford council are also behind the scheme.
Daniel would love it to be in Salford, which he reminds me has sixty per cent green space, and is unusually a place where badgers are actually an endangered species.
He is, by his own admission, not a zoo proprietor but he is an animal studier. He has visited twenty eight zoos across Europe and is a wildlife photographer.His enthusiasm, combined with his managerial and organisational experience with the right support and backers, go well back this happen.
If you want to help, take a look and find out more about the UKtopia project here at Kickstarter and maybe you could be part of the dream of a wildlife park for Manchester.
As for the Pine Marten, from a low point, its populations are expanding in number and range in Scotland and Ireland although in England and Wales, the population has not recovered from its decline and sightings are confined to the Lake District, Pennines, Cheviots and North York Moors.
