Carrie Symonds’ zoo charity Aspinall Foundation is probed by watchdog

1956 John Aspinall, who worked as a professional gambler, found inspiration in Nada the Lily by H. Rider Haggard – a book about an illegitimate Zulu prince who lived outside his tribe among wild animals.

He decides to build a garden shed housing a Capuchin monkey, a 9-week-old tigress and two Himalayan bears – with seemingly little regard for the annoyance of his neighbours.

1962 John opens the exclusive Clermont Club – a casino based in Mayfair – which was limited to 600 and included 5 dukes, 5 marquesses and 20 earls.

John Aspinall had been close friends with Lord Lucan and Sir James Goldsmith (pictured)

1970s He uses the proceeds from the Clermont Club to finance the opening of his first zoo at a neo-Palladian mansion – called Howletts – outside Canterbury and begins breeding gorillas with the dream of one day returning them to the wild. 

1972 The entrepreneur sells the Clermont Club and establishes his second park on a 275-acre estate at Port Lympne near Folkestone.   

1984 John sets up the Aspinall Foundation – an animal conservation charity dedicated to protecting animals around the world.

Darren Cockrill, 27, (pictured) dies after being found with multiple injuries

Darren Cockrill, 27, (pictured) dies after being found with multiple injuries

1980 Two members of staff, Brian Stocks and Bob Wilson, were mauled to death within weeks of each other by the same tigress called Zeya. 

1984 Mark Aitken, a 22-year old keeper at Port Lympne, was crushed to death by a bull elephant called Bindu.  

1989 Two-year-old Matthew McDaid has his left arm torn off after approaching the enclosure of a chimp called Bustah in an attempt to stroke it.

1994 Trevor Smith, a keeper at Howletts, was killed when a two-year-old Siberian tiger pounced on him.

1998 The Aspinall charity sets up orphan gorilla project in Gabon. 

February 2000 Darren Cockrill, 27, dies after being found with multiple injuries in the stall of a female Indian elephant at Port Lympne.

June 2000 John Aspinall dies of cancer in Westminster at the age of 74, and his son Damian takes over. He sets about revamping the zoo charity.

2011 The charity returns gibbons to Java.

John Aspinall pictured with Djoum, Britain's biggest gorilla at the time, who weighed 470lb at his Howletts zoo

John Aspinall pictured with Djoum, Britain’s biggest gorilla at the time, who weighed 470lb at his Howletts zoo

2017 Lowland gorillas are returned to the Congo.

2019 The Aspinalls send African painted dogs from Kent to their native homeland of Gabon. They had not roamed the country for 25 years.

January 2020 The charity becomes the most successful in the UK at breeding rare clouded leopards. 

February 2020 The charity becomes the first in the world to send captive bred cheetahs from the UK for re-wilding in South Africa.