Nearly two years on from a devastating fire, Fife Zoo is yet to receive a payout from its insurance company.
The fire ripped through the soft play centre at the visitor attraction just six days after it reopened following the first Covid-19 lockdown.
It left owners Michael Knight and Briony Taylor heartbroken, having only opened the zoo in the summer of 2019.
Mr Knight said the fire was started by faulty electrics in their solar panels, which were kept next to the soft play.
It was hit by a second fire last July. That blaze destroyed a barn, a caravan and a car.
Nobody was hurt in either incident.
‘Out of our hands’, says Fife Zoo boss
And approaching the second anniversary of the soft play centre fire, Mr Knight said the zoo is still waiting on a pay out from its insurance company.
“We try and look at it glass half full but it’s very difficult,” Mr Knight said.
“Nobody was in the building and there was no animals, so it was purely assets we lost.
“It has been really tough.
“We haven’t received anything yet. It looks like it’s heading in the right direction but there’s no end date.
“We have an assessor who’s working on it, and we’ve provided them all the information they’ve asked for.
“It always feels like it’s out of our hands – there’s nothing we can do to speed it up.
“We’re having to wait weeks for someone to get back to us.”
Expansion plans put on hold
Mr Knight did not confirm how much the insurance claim is for. However, he said plans to develop the zoo have been put on hold.
Fife Zoo features mainly African animals, and the owners plan to introduce more South American and Asian animals in the future.
There are also plans to create an education and meetings space.
“Our education centre that was being renovated pre-Covid but we lost part of the roof in the fire, so that’s taken two steps back,” Mr Knight added.
“We can’t do much with that until we get some kind of pay out.
“Once we do, we’ll have a space where we can offer workshops.”
Conversation