Now, I’ve had this in my drafts box for ages.
The zoo/farm is near Bristol and I’ve been kicking around the idea of a field trip for some time – the lack of desire to give them any money being one deterrent.
What is it? It’s a tourist attraction, specialising in school trips, pushing a creationist agenda. It’s the kind of thing I’d expect to see in the Bible Belt of the States but it’s been nestled in South West England for some time now.
You could be forgiven for thinking “that’s a bit harsh” and that they are in fact a decent, educational establishment. The website is fairly innocuous until you reach the far-right tab ‘Evolution and Creation‘, which links to a ‘sister website’, Earth History: A New Approach.
Some gems:
We believe the fossil record does not show one evolutionary tree of life but rather genetically controlled diversification from a number of original forms
As the currently measured value of an element’s decay rate (or half-life) has no theoretical basis, the only way we can test which is true is to compare the results against the primary evidence.
ORLY?!
They keep winning awards – including this year’s Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge – and this hasn’t gone unnoticed, at least by the BHA.
Edit: Righteous Indignation ran a report on the zoo back in August from Dr*T (from around 19:00), in which he explores the whole of the bible passage about Noah & the flood; it’s, um, interesting…
James Gray hits the nail on the head (emphasis mine):
‘This is an appalling decision. It is entirely inappropriate that the Council should support an establishment that advances creationism and seeks to discredit a wide variety of established scientific facts that challenge their religious views, such as radio carbon dating, the fossil record and the speed of light.’
‘Teachers and parents look to the Council for assurance that children will experience high quality educational visits that meet the relevant government guidelines. Awarding this particular zoo a Quality Badge risks exposing hundreds of children to anti-scientific dogma.’
‘This is not a freedom of speech or freedom of religion issue. The question is whether the information displayed by this zoo meets the tests of accuracy and truth that parents, teachers and other educational professionals expect.’
I was first made aware of the Zoo through Facebook as some people from one of the Atheist Bus Campaign/Richard Dawkins groups (I forget which) had visited and posted their photos, which included T-Rex models in the ark and shots of the merchandise in the gift shop; mostly books about Christianity’s creation myth. Marketed at school trips, remember.
Do have a look at Paul Sims‘ write-up and particularly the photos at the end. You can see the kind of things they put in their ‘educational’ material; why apes aren’t related to man, proof the ark was real and so on.
Welfare Worries
Aside from its religious fundamentalism and anti-scientific propaganda, the zoo has animal welfare issues too. Last year they had their BIAZA membership revoked because of a failure to disclose information about their acquisition of tigers from circuses. The RSPCA also criticised their plans for an elephant enclosure.
[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMLeqmvxiaM]
There have been (and probably still are) protests there because of alleged animal cruelty. If you look around reviews* of the place, they range from enthusiastic thumbs-up, through it’s-ok-if-you-ignore-the-crazy, all the way to outrage both at the ‘educational’ content and animal welfare.
*…The giraffe had one pole in a field with a empty twig to chew on. One of the tigers looked a little crazy as he just walked around the same route in his little house bashing his head on the glass each time. Most of the animals had cuts on their legs, is this normal?!
They were also accused of killing some of the animals to reduce Winter spending; however, it is difficult to pick out the substantial accusations as there are always plenty brought by ARE groups, which are likely to be full of twisted-truths and exaggerations. There are a few legitimate reasons why this may have happened; to feed the carnivores, to maintain healthy stocks, etc.
Reality Check
This is the 21st century; genetics tells us more every day about our evolutionary past and place in the gigantic web of life on this planet. In an increasingly secular state, why does a place such as this exist? Claiming to be educational yet ignoring much of what we already know.
This is not an alternative theory; it’s ridiculous denialism, likely permitted because religious belief is a handy excuse to push agendas whilst avoiding a lot of the controls placed on non-religiously-motivated activity.
Why is it still open after all this? How much more exposure is necessary?
Shall we go?
January 3, 2011 at 15:33
I’ve been here before.
It is run down. It’s not the nicest place to be.
On the plus side, the only places I really saw kids were the play areas, not the “learning” areas.
January 3, 2011 at 15:43
This should be funny, but its “here” in the UK which makes it too close to home for me to laugh.
Instead, words just fail me.
January 3, 2011 at 15:52
I did a news bit on Righteous Indignation Podcast about their ‘Education Award’ a few months ago which complements your post nicely:
http://parafort.com/ri/?p=1023
Amazing it’s still in existance!
January 3, 2011 at 16:28
I see from the LOTC website that their ‘Quality Badge’ was developed in conjunction with The Department for Children, Schools and Families. So that’s yet another government agency that should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.
January 3, 2011 at 19:15
There used to be an excellent photo set on Flickr which showed all of the zoo’s signs, captions and displays. It was enraging stuff, packed with half-truths, fallacious arguments and what I’ll generously assume was shocking ignorance, rather than lies.
Unfortunately it seems to have disappeared (or my google-fu is weak), but IIRC they were originally posted by someone from the Bristol skeptic community, so there’s a good chance you’ll be able to track them down if you’re interested. Definitely worth a look (and a valuable resource for campaigning against them), and saves giving them extra money and perceived popularity.
As a side note, I recently heard that Anne Widdicombe is a fan of theirs. I can’t remember the source for that though, so don’t take that as gosp– er, I mean, “don’t take that as rigorously tested”.
January 4, 2011 at 01:10
If there are reports of sick animals in bad conditions at Noah’s Ark, the RSPCA should be contacted. If there is evidence that children are being taught myth as fact, then Ofsted should be contacted (though did I read somewhere that Ofsted liked the Ark?)
Regarding a visit without paying, you could always write a letter along the lines of:
“I believe in creationism, but I have a couple of friends who are waivering on the issue. One is a teacher who may decide to bring her class later in the year. Could you please send me 4 tickets so I can take them along and show them the truth about our beautiful planet and our Lord God?
Yours sincerley
Jo King”
Or something along those lines.
January 4, 2011 at 10:46
I was surprised that you still show old discredited film and displays that are not displayed here now. The CAPS under-cover investigator was found by the subsequent Zoo Inspectorate to be lying and CAPS allegations unsubstantiated. Professor Steven Harris is a hypocrite; he has access to one of the biggest animal part collections in the country at Bristol University. Noah’s Ark was not breaking the law over tiger burial. Off show animals may be buried. The sick tigress was off show for her final week. But anyway her body had been exhumed and buried by the time of the BBC’s programme – which was a cynical attempt at harming a squeaky-clean award-winning zoo.
BIAZA officials knew very well that our tigers came from Martin Lacey. They told me so in September 09. They got frightened when our boundary fence was cut in 7 places, our sign graffiti’s by animal rights activists, and we called out the police helicopter for a break-in. Illegal violence, alas, is sometimes successful.
Our tigers are now owned by us.
Do you understand the science behind our doubts about both Creationist dating and constant radioactivity dating? Try our http://www.earthhistory.org.uk/questions-of-age if you are willing for some surprises.
January 4, 2011 at 21:04
Yes, I’ve a biochemistry & genetics degree, but can ask some people who have studied geology, physics and chemistry to give their two cents as well, if you like…
January 4, 2011 at 10:49
typo in my last: for buried read burned in line 6
January 5, 2011 at 17:41
I’ve been to this place before and was shocked by the ignorance of the various posters adorning the walls. As someone with a biology degree it’s particularly disturbing that North Somerset Council allow school trips to this place. It’s an educational disgrace and a pretty poor day out as well, the animals there seem to have Spartan enclosures with very little inside to stimulate them.