When I heard that Colchester zoo had lost one of its owls to one of its lions, my first thought was: "That could have been us, or any other zoo in the country." Although our falcon display takes place a good distance from the bears, wolves, lions and tigers, the birds do sometimes, become distracted and make forays into areas they shouldn't.

Fortunately, so far, they have always – eventually – returned to the capable gauntlet of David our falconer. Being on the edge of Dartmoor, where big buzzards and falcons are not uncommon other wild birds often fly nearby. I once watched one of our falcons become a speck in the sky a mile away while it checked out a potential mate or rival, and my greatest concern then was actually for our two meerkats, who are the natural prey of such birds – luckily they never forget it, constantly checking the sky and darting into their burrows even when a plane flies past.