The zoo was opened as Dartmoor Wildlife Park by Ellis Daw in 1968 on the Goodamoor Estate that his family had bought in 1948.

In the following years Daw acquired many species to add to his collection, including lions and tigers, jaguars and pumas.

[5][6] The group criticised the living conditions for the animals and the safety barriers, calling for the zoo's licence to be revoked.

[4] Ellis Daw's autobiography, From the Lamb to the Tiger, in which he recorded the history of the zoo during the time that he owned it, was published in 2011.

The following February the zoo obtained the £500,000 it needed for refurbishment of the site[2] and reopened as the rebranded Dartmoor Zoological Park on 7 July 2007.

The film, starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Colin Ford and Maggie Elizabeth Jones, was released in the U.S. and other major territories on 23 December 2011, and in the UK on 16 March 2012.

The story also differs in that Mee buys the zoo after the death of his wife,[14] whereas she died aged 40 of a brain tumour several months after the purchase.