Aspinall part 2 – The Gambler
John Aspinall’s exploits as a gambling club host are well documented, and not the subject of my post, just to mention that gambling was the source of his fortune that enabled him to invest in his hobby of keeping exotic animals.
John, known to all his friends as 'Aspers', was born in Delhi, India, on 11 June 1926, the son of Dr Robert Stavali Aspinall, a British Army surgeon. He used gambling to move to the centre of British high society in the 1960s, founding the Clermont Club in London's Mayfair in 1962. It has been claimed that some of the wealthiest people in Britain were swindled out of millions of pounds, thanks to a gambling con known as 'the Big Edge'
With his first wins he bought a flat in Belgravia and built an enclosure in the garden for a tiger, bought from Harrods of all places when only nine weeks old, plus two bears and a capuchin monkey. In time, he would take Tara, his tiger, with him to his London club, at which no gentleman would blink an eye. Those gentlemen included Lord Lucan, a close friend and all-too-often losing gambler, who in 1974 murdered his children's nanny and disappeared.
He purchased his new home, Howletts, a Palladian mansion standing in 70 acres following a substantial win in 1958, in order to house his collection of animals. He opened the Park to the public in 1975. Port Lympne was purchased in 1973 to house his growing collection and opened to the public in 1976.
But his method of keeping wild animals was unorthodox. He insisted on close social contact between his keepers and the animals in their care, believing that this and the development of a bond of affection and trust was crucial to animal welfare. He believed, and taught his children, that "Bonding" begins early in the animal's life, in the hope that it would be carried on to adulthood, allowing the keepers to check for signs of injury, illness or pregnancy, and reducing the occasions on which the animals may have to be immobilised or anaesthetised, routine practice in other zoos.
Aspinall said that his methods were also intended to give the keepers an insight into the individual personalities and social relationships of their animals and provide emotional and intellectual stimulation for the animals. To this end, keepers regularly entered the cages of large and potentially dangerous animals such as gorillas, elephants and tigers. John himself would enter the enclosures and play with the animals, sometimes taking his children or grandchildren with him. I saw him with his gorillas on more than one occasion.
There can be little doubt that John liked animals more than people. He railed against overpopulation as he feared threatened animals would soon have nowhere to go. "The extinction of animals and plant species and the depletion of non-renewable resources are irremediable crimes” he said, and he was right of course.
[Continued in part 3]
Aspinall part 2 – The Gambler
John Aspinall’s exploits as a gambling club host are well documented, and not the subject of my post, just to mention that gambling was the source of his fortune that enabled him to invest in his hobby of keeping exotic animals.
John, known to all his friends as 'Aspers', was born in Delhi, India, on 11 June 1926, the son of Dr Robert Stavali Aspinall, a British Army surgeon. He used gambling to move to the centre of British high society in the 1960s, founding the Clermont Club in London's Mayfair in 1962. It has been claimed that some of the wealthiest people in Britain were swindled out of millions of pounds, thanks to a gambling con known as 'the Big Edge'
With his first wins he bought a flat in Belgravia and built an enclosure in the garden for a tiger, bought from Harrods of all places when only nine weeks old, plus two bears and a capuchin monkey. In time, he would take Tara, his tiger, with him to his London club, at which no gentleman would blink an eye. Those gentlemen included Lord Lucan, a close friend and all-too-often losing gambler, who in 1974 murdered his children's nanny and disappeared.
He purchased his new home, Howletts, a Palladian mansion standing in 70 acres following a substantial win in 1958, in order to house his collection of animals. He opened the Park to the public in 1975. Port Lympne was purchased in 1973 to house his growing collection and opened to the public in 1976.
But his method of keeping wild animals was unorthodox. He insisted on close social contact between his keepers and the animals in their care, believing that this and the development of a bond of affection and trust was crucial to animal welfare. He believed, and taught his children, that "Bonding" begins early in the animal's life, in the hope that it would be carried on to adulthood, allowing the keepers to check for signs of injury, illness or pregnancy, and reducing the occasions on which the animals may have to be immobilised or anaesthetised, routine practice in other zoos.
Aspinall said that his methods were also intended to give the keepers an insight into the individual personalities and social relationships of their animals and provide emotional and intellectual stimulation for the animals. To this end, keepers regularly entered the cages of large and potentially dangerous animals such as gorillas, elephants and tigers. John himself would enter the enclosures and play with the animals, sometimes taking his children or grandchildren with him. I saw him with his gorillas on more than one occasion.
There can be little doubt that John liked animals more than people. He railed against overpopulation as he feared threatened animals would soon have nowhere to go. "The extinction of animals and plant species and the depletion of non-renewable resources are irremediable crimes” he said, and he was right of course.
[Continued in part 3]