Herbert Whitley (1886 - September 15, 1955)Whitley wildlife Conservation Trust - History
retrieved 17 July 2012 was a

millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short scal ...

and animal breeder who established

Paignton Zoo Paignton Zoo is a zoo in Paignton, Devon, England. The zoo is part of South West Environmental Parks Ltd which is owned by the charity Wild Planet Trust, formerly known as the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust. The charity also runs Newquay ...

zoological garden A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zool ...

on his estate at Primley,

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...

, in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

in the 1920s."Hugh Whitley"
Paignton Zoo. Retrieved 24 September 2013. Paignton Zoo was founded initially as his private collection. Whitley was an early conservationist and a contemporary of people such as Sir

Peter Scott Sir Peter Markham Scott, (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest in ...

and Jean Delacour, the famous French ornithologist. Paignton Zoo first opened to the public in 1923. It was one of the earliest combined zoological and botanical gardens in Britain and the first that was opened with education as its mission. When Herbert Whitley died in 1955, the

Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust Wild Planet Trust, formerly known as the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust (WWCT), is a registered charity, set up to run Paignton Zoo after the death of its founder, Herbert Whitley, who established the zoo on his estate at Primley, Paignt ...

(WWCT) was set up to continue his work. Since 2003, WWCT has owned and operated

Newquay Zoo Newquay Zoo is a zoological garden located within Trenance Leisure Park in Newquay, England. The zoo was opened in Cornwall on Whit Monday, 26 May 1969 by the local council (Newquay Urban District Council, later Restormel District Council). It w ...

and Living Coasts. His estates also included the site of several local nature reserves in Devon, including

Slapton Ley Slapton Ley is a lake on the south coast of Devon, England, separated from Start Bay by a shingle beach, known as Slapton Sands. Slapton Ley is the largest natural freshwater lake in south-west England being long and has two sections; the Low ...

, now also run by the WWCT.

Timeline

A brief history and photograph of Herbert Whitley can be found on the Paignton Zoo website. A fuller life story was published by Jack Baker in the book ''Chimps, Champs and Elephants'' (currently out of print). * 1923 - Primley Zoological Gardens (later Paignton Zoo) opened to the public. * 1955 - Herbert Whitley died. * 2003 - August 14 - Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust purchased

to operate as part of the charitable trust with

and Living Coasts.

References

External links

Newquay Zoo official website

Paignton Zoo official website

Living Coasts official website
Zoo directors Zoo owners 1886 births 1955 deaths {{UK-business-bio-1880s-stub