Dartmoor Zoo Responds

7 days into the search and the team at Dartmoor Zoo have responded to this petition via their blog. This is what they said regarding the concern this petition has raised: "Some people have expressed concern that Flaviu has been separated from his mother and have questioned the ethics of doing so. We can fully understand how the implications of separating the mother/child bond would inspire feelings of anxiety in people; some have assumed that his escape was an attempt to get back to his mother. However, with regard to animals, and the lynx in particular, the opposite is actually true. Flaviu is a two year old male approaching sexual maturity. It is at this age, and often earlier, that we would expect him to be leaving the immediate care of his parents and setting off to establish a territory of his own. In the wild, there would be no further contact with the parents and any close proximity might well lead to territorial conflict. Throughout this operation we have been in close contact with the keepers at Port Lympne who are of course very familiar with Flaviu and his mum Klementyna. They have assured us that while mum and dad were very patient caring parents they are likely pleased that he has now moved on." A message from petition creator Sam: The statement Dartmoor Zoo have given us seems contradicting to what the Zoo owner Ben has said. The statement reads "some have assumed that [Flaviu's] escape was an attempt to get back to his mother. However, with regard to animals, and the lynx in particular, the opposite is actually true." Firstly, this is not an assumption that was made by the public. Ben the Zoo owner said to BBC News on 11th July 2016, "Flaviu is a bit of a mummy's boy, so we think he is really missing his mum. That is why he could have escaped last week, because he was trying to get back to her." I am in complete understanding that a Lynx does not live with it's parents for the rest of it's life. I also understand that they will reach sexual maturity. Also often the Lynx cat enjoys a life of isolation, preferably not in a zoo, but unfortunately that is his future and we can't change that. However, this cat does not seem ready to leave his parents, if as the zoo owner himself said, he wants to return to his mother? I hope this petition will bring to light whether anything was done to slowly separate the 2 year old from his parents? Was it a quick separation and move to a new zoo that has resulted in stressing the animal? Again the fact the animal is stressed is not an assumption I have made, it is a quote from the Zoo's owner in a video interview saying that 'the animals very stressed himself.' Video link: http://bcove.me/egp54yd3 Sam the petition creator will be talking about the petition on BBC Three Counties radio tomorrow morning. If this is not your local radio station you can listen online. Please leave comments on the petition page of anything you would like mentioned.