THE owners of a zoo in North Somerset have denied allegations tigers and camels are being bred to be used in circuses.

Claims were made by the Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS) after an undercover investigation at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm in Wraxall over the summer.

The BBC expose, which showed a female investigator, who had secured volunteer work at the zoo for two months, was aired on the broadcaster's Inside Out programme on Monday night.

CAPS, a registered charity, claims that as well as the zoo breeding animals for the Great British Circus, owned by Martin Lacey, the zoo was also in breach of animal disposal regulations following the death earlier this year of Bengal Tiger Tira.

The Mercury has been inundated with calls following revelations Tira had her head and paws cut off, her skin removed and was buried in the zoo grounds.

The charity's campaigns director, Craig Redmond, said: "What we discovered was shocking but really only scratched at the surface of

what goes on in zoos.

"We initially planned just to confirm the zoo was a breeding centre for the circus owner, but the fate of the tiger Tira – her mutilated body dumped in a hole – shows how these animals are treated as commodities, bred to attract tourists."

CAPS reported its findings to various authorities, including North Somerset Council and the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and is calling for the owners Anthony and Christina Bush, to have their zoo licence revoked.

A spokesman for North Somerset Council said: "We have received a number of complaints from this animal welfare group about Noah's Ark and our environmental protection team, which is responsible for licensing Noah's Ark, will be investigating them."

But Mr and Mrs Bush, who opened Noah's Ark in 1998, deny the allegations.

In a statement they said: "We are saddened by the actions of the BBC.

"After filming on our property without permission they edited the programme to sensationalise their agenda using questionable sources to which we are already in discussions with Ofcom.

"Noah's Ark does not own or hold Circus tigers - they are not the property of the Great British Circus.

"The tigers at the zoo belong to Linctrek Ltd, a company providing trained animals for use in film, other collections and TV.

"A director of Linctrek is Martin Lacey who also owns The Great British Circus.

"We have never, when questioned, withheld information regarding this.

"It has always been well known that our tigers and camels come from a private collector in the North of England."

The statement also says that Tira died from a pre-existing condition found following a thorough and legal postmortem.

"Being a zoo and a farm we buried the tiger under regulations covering farm land, however, subsequently being informed of other regulations we acted instantly to remedy this situation.

"The tiger skin, head and feet will be used for secondary education here and is common practice within the zoo community.

"The welfare of the animals is exceptional with Noah's Ark passing government and institutionally accredited inspections.

"Our team of dedicated and well trained staff provide excellent animal care and we continue to manage our animals in the best way possible.

Kushkja and Tira, both female Bengal tigers, arrived at the zoo in July to live in the new £200,000 tiger enclosure.

Tanvir, a two year-old Bengal male tiger, arrived a month later and Khan arrived at the zoo last month.

Tira died in August this year after giving birth to three cubs, all of which subsequently died.

A spokesman for Lintrek said: "One of the tigers is a male named Khan.

"Because of filming requirements, he has occasionally been housed at Mr Lacey's circus.

"This has been, for example to undertake 'blue-screen' filming for insertion in a production.

"Although thus present at times, Khan has never performed in the circus; he is used for 'close work', and circus tigers are trained and handled differently.

"To illustrate this type of non-circus connection, in his time Khan has publicised the Berlin Underground system, and one of Mr Lacey's lions has been hired-in to publicise two Safari Parks, though the animal has no actual connection with either.

"When these particular three tigers reached a size and age at which it was no longer practical to take them on a lead into a studio, it was decided that a sensible course would be to home them where they could breed.

"Accordingly they were homed at Noah's Ark from earlier this year, as soon as the park had been able to construct purpose-built accommodation for them."

"Sadly Tira, died of cancer, revealed in a post-mortem, on August 9.

"Her body was disposed of, but without head, feet or skin, which were removed for attention by a taxidermist with the ultimate intention of their being returned to Noah's Ark for educational use, though Mr Lacey hoped to make this a surprise gift after the taxidermy.

"As there was to be a delay before the taxidermist could attend to them, these parts were deep-frozen."

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