Evans bred dachshunds for dog shows and began selling some of the animals, which allowed her to set up a pet shop in her home town.
[1] The pair lived together above the pet shop in Sutton Coldfield and kept chimpanzees in the flat, among the first of which were two called Sue and Mickey, who were trained to eat at the dinner table and use the toilet.
[3][4] Badham and Evans came to accept that the activity exploited the animals, ceased the tea parties at their premises, and ended involvement with Brooke Bond in 1977.
[4] Hints was overwhelmed by the number of visitors it received, and the escape of a large antelope into a nearby orchard caused bad relations with their neighbours.
[3] Evans and Badham decided to move to larger premises and, partly with revenue from Brooke Bond, purchased a Victorian house and 12 acres (4.9 ha) of land near Twycross, Leicestershire.
[1] The Brooke Bond money helped to fund Twycross' conservation programmes that led to the first colobus monkey to be born in the United Kingdom, in 1969, and the first bonobo in 1994.
[1] The zoo was reorganised with ownership granted to the East Midlands Zoological Society, a charitable trust founded by Evans and Badgham, in 1972.
[1] The zoo became renowned as a centre for the care of endangered animals, with successes including a bow-legged former circus lion and an otter injured in a fight.