South Lakes Safari Zoo (formerly South Lakes Wild Animal Park) is a 51-acre (21 ha) zoo established in 1994 by David Gill, and located in Cumbria, England. Its name refers to its proximity to the Lake District, though it lies entirely within the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness on the outskirts of Dalton.
After an initial rapid growth, the zoo became one of Cumbria’s most successful tourist attractions. However, under Gill’s onwership the zoo had a number of controversies, emerging both from his personal life and his management of the zoo. Significant concerns over animal welfare and the death of an employee eventually led to Gill losing his license to operate the zoo in 2017, which has under a new management team seen a “marked improvement” in animal welfare.
Since 2017 the zoo has been operated by Cumbria Zoo Company Ltd, of which Karen Brewer is the manager. Prior to this, it had been owned and operate by its founder, David S. Gill. Gill retains ownership of the land on which the zoo sits, though in 2018 his company was placed into administration following financial difficulties.