John Aspinall (zoo owner)
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John Victor Aspinall (11 June 1926–29 June 2000) was born in Delhi, India but was a United Kingdom citizen. He was a zoo owner and a gambler. In 1956, with proceeds from his gambling, Aspinall purchased a country house and estate called Howletts near Canterbury, Kent. He lived in the house and set up a private zoo, Howletts Zoo, in the grounds. He opened the animal collection to the public in 1975.
In 1973, because of need for further space for his animal collection, Aspinall bought another estate at Port Lympne near Hythe, Kent. He opened the estate to the public in 1976 as Port Lympne Zoo.
Both zoos have been run by the John Aspinall Foundation since 1984.
The zoos are known for being unorthodox, for the encouragement of close personal relationships between staff and animals, and for their breeding of rare and endangered species.
In 1962 he founded the Clermont Club in London's Mayfair.
Aspinall was a close friend of James Goldsmith and Lord Lucan, and held both eccentric and extremely right-wing views. He once stated that Britain was in need of "a Franco-ite counter-revolution." The three were known to discuss the possibility of violently overthrowing the elected government of James Callaghan with a coup. [1]He also expressed the wish that "3.5 billion people should be wiped out" of the world's population "within the next 150-200 years", [2] adding he would be happy to join them.
John Aspinall's pioneering work with wild mammals and his outspoken personal philosophy made him a unique and revolutionary figure. He was the subject of two award-winning documentary films by Roy Deverell, "ECHO OF THE WILD" and "A PASSION TO PROTECT".
In 2005, Aspinall's son Damien Aspinall opened Aspers Casino (part funded by late Australian gambling tycoon Kerry Packer) in Newcastle upon Tyne. Damien had previously attended Millfield - the UK's then most expensive public school.
