When we got to the 300-seater restaurant we began an inventory which included 300 knives and forks, 300 plates, 300 sauces and 7 cups. When we moved in I began to realise how hard it had been for the sister to negotiate with me, which took six months, over the phone.
We went into negotiations even though he didn't want to sell and I ended up talking not to him, but his sister who would talk to him and then call me back. He was a very cranky old guy and he'd had a lot of good offers over the years and he'd managed to spike every single one and he tried very hard to spike ours. The old guy that was selling the zoo had lived there for 40 years and he didn't want to sell it, he had too. We thought it was crazy but made the mistake of actually going to visit the place and then we realised that if we didn't buy it, it was going to close and the animals would be destroyed. The Estate Agent came across a big place with 12 bedrooms, 30 acres and 250 exotic animals. Question: When you first heard about the zoo being first sold, did you immediately choose to buy it or was it a longer process?īenjamin Mee: I was looking for a big house for my Mum to live in with my sister (who now has six children) after my dad died - we were looking for a big place that needed some work and where a lot of people could live. I am so impressed at how vibrant the place is including the people and the confident modern architecture. I came to explore my home country when I was in my 20's but this is the first time I've been back since then as the last time I came I only got to go from Sydney up to the Great Barrier Reef. I stayed here for 6 months after birth and then we went back. Benjamin Mee still runs Dartmoor Zoo.įor more information, visit Interview with Benjamin Meeīenjamin Mee: I was actually born in Melbourne, 47 years ago. His amazing story was the subject of a 4 part television series Ben's Zoo and he also wrote a book about his experiences We Bought A Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Broken-Down Zoo. Grief stricken, Benjamin and his two children Ella and Milo, turned this tragic loss into something truly inspirational, when they worked together to restored the Zoo and open it to the public. Tragically Benjamin's wife Katherine, who was in remission from cancer, passed away a few months after purchasing the Zoo. Benjamin Mee We Bought A Zoo DVD Interviewīenjamin Mee's incredible true story of how he 'more or less accidentally decided to buy a zoo' with his young family inspired the hugely successful Cameron Crowe movie We Bought a Zoo, starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, which has taken almost $8mil at the Australian box office.Ī newspaper columnist, Benjamin Mee took on the biggest challenge of his life when he purchased Dartmoor Zoo in 2006.
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