POPULAR Doniford Farm has said goodbye to its exotic animals after deciding to relinquish its zoo licence because of the level of bureaucracy involved.

Now the farm, which has always focused primarily on its farm shop and café, is concentrating firmly on its roots – as well as keeping the farm and domestic animals for visitors to enjoy along with other attractions.

It is also planning changes over the winter to make it “even bigger and brighter by the spring”.

Steve Clothier and his wife Kay opened Doniford Farm in 2012 after their sales of home grown vegetables and produce became so popular they decided to open the farm shop and café.

But, said Steve, they had never thought of it as a zoo.

“We had to have a zoo licence because of some of the animals we had and then decided to show, but we had them as pets for years before we moved here,” he said.

“We are treated the same as Longleat or London Zoo, and it was fine when we were initially licensed – but now we need a vast amount of paperwork and we just felt we did not want to cope with the bureaucracy. We don’t charge an entrance fee, and it’s not cost effective.”

Now the 15 different species of animals, ranging from meerkats to kookaburras and coatis (a type of raccoon), have almost all gone to be re-homed at Axminster Wildlife Park and Noah’s Ark Zoo near Bristol.

“We felt sad to say goodbye,” said Steve. “It is a loss, but the decision had to be made. The farm shop and cafe has always been our core business.”

He said the café had just taken on another chef from an award winning pub, and there were still many animals to enjoy, as well as the wide range of produce sourced as locally as possible, along with other farm attractions.