Animal Deaths & Giraffe Transport

Dear Ms Foxall

 

Thank you for your email dated 21 December 2008 requesting information
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  Your request was received by
Belfast City Council on 22 December 2008 and has been passed to me to
reply.  I can confirm that the Council does hold the information you have
requested.

 

With regard to your request for information on the number of animal deaths
at Belfast Zoo in the past 30 years, including details of the species
concerned and the cause of death where known, I must advise you that the
Council has decided that it cannot disclose this free of charge.  The
information which you have requested is not readily available and to
provide you with this will require the Council to undertake an extensive
review of electronic and paper records.  The Council considers that the
cost of searching these records and retrieving the information you have
requested will exceed the appropriate limit set out in the Freedom of
Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations
2004, which is £450.00.  To process your request will cost £3,325.00,
which is calculated on the basis of 133 hours of staff time at the rate of
£25.00 per hour.

 

Under the Regulations the Council has the right to require you to pay the
total cost prior to undertaking the search of the records.  If you wish
us to proceed, please forward to me the payment of £3,325.00.

 

Alternatively you may to wish to refine your request to keep it below the
£450.00 appropriate limit referred to above.  I can, for example, advise
you that the Council could provide you with, free of charge, the
information you have requested for a five year period.  If an amendment
to your request is acceptable to you, please advise me.

 

The Council has decided it can disclose to you the information you
requested concerning giraffes specifically, free of charge.  Accordingly
I can advise you that we have moved giraffe a total of 25 times, 10 were
imports and 15 were exports. We have moved 13 males and 12 females. 18
of these moves have been within Great Britain. I estimate that these
moves covered a total of some 8000 miles. There have been no deaths
during transport. One giraffe being exported died soon after arrival,
though a post mortem carried out by a Ministry pathologist failed to
identify the cause of death.

 

If you are dissatisfied with how the Council handled your request for
information, you have the right to request that the Council formally
review this decision.  If you wish to do so, please write to the Records
Manager, Belfast City Council, Adelaide Exchange, 24-26 Adelaide Street,
Belfast, BT2 8GD.

 

Should you remain dissatisfied following the Council's internal review,
you can seek an independent review from the Information Commissioner. 
Requests for an independent review should be made in writing to: The
Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire,
SK9 5AF.  However, I would advise you that the Information Commissioner
has indicated that a review will not be undertaken unless the Council has
first had an opportunity to re-consider its decision.

 

If you have any queries about this email, please contact me.

Yours sincerely

Mark

 

Mark Challis

Zoo Manager

Belfast Zoological Gardens, Antrim Road, Belfast, BT36 7PN

t. 028 90 776 277

dd. 028 90 782 080

f. 028 90 370 578

m. 07796 277 412

[1]www.belfastzoo.co.uk

Visitor Attraction of the Year, Northern Ireland Tourism Awards 2007

Best NI Visitor Attraction 2007, NI Travel and Tourism Awards

Visitor Attraction of the Year, Go Belfast Gong Awards 2007

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References

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1. http://www.belfastzoo.co.uk/