IT'S A ZOO
Who is Kyle Thomas’ mum Zena Foord?
Plus, everything you need to know about the two BBC docs featuring the animal-crazy family
KYLE Thomas is a TikTok star from Northern Ireland who came to prominence for creating a multitude of videos featuring exotic animals.
His mother Zena Foord landed herself in hot water when she tried helping her son out with his own private ‘zoo’ by importing an unlicensed dangerous animal.
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Who is Kyle Thomas' mum Zena Foord?
Kyle Thomas has tens of millions of online followers, mainly from creating content about exotic animals, including his pet meerkat Mylo.
He has nearly 35million followers and 1.7billion likes on TikTok, as well as 1.3million followers Instagram.
In August 2023, his mother Zena Foord made headlines when she was convicted of smuggling an unlicensed capybara from Cambridgeshire into Northern Ireland.
The capybara incident
Kyle's mother Zena contacted Michael Dickinson, a County Antrim pet shop owner, about getting one of the animals.
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Dickinson arranged for an associate named James Hammond to pick up a capybara and transport it to Northern Ireland from Cambridgeshire, where they can legally be kept as pets.
Capybaras are listed as dangerous animals in Northern Ireland and require a licence to keep.
The capybara, which Kyle named Queen Elizabeth, became a hit on TikTok when he dressed it up in jewellery, tiaras and frocks.
Unfortunately, the capybara died shortly after being taken into their family home in Lisburn.
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Legal consequences
In June 2023, Zena Foord was given a two-year conditional discharge at Lisburn Magistrate's Court for keeping a capybara without a license between October 6 and 24, 2022.
Michael Dickinson and James Hammond were also convicted of charges related to smuggling the animal.
Homemade slime made me a TikTok star at 12 - but then I got death threats & my mum was arrested after stupid mistake
Aftermath
The death of the capybara and other animals led to investigations and concerns about animal welfare.
According to his mother, the TikToker’s controversial zoo for exotic animals was reportedly closed and the land was sold.
Ms Foord told Belfast Live: "He has done absolutely nothing wrong.
“I’ve had to move every single f****** animal from here because people were killing them and poisoning them."
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The incident sparked debates about the ethics of keeping exotic pets and the influence of social media on the exotic pet trade.
It also received significant media attention, raising questions about the responsibilities of influencers and the regulation of exotic animals as pets.
BBC documentaries
The first documentary featuring Kyle and his mother is called The Exotic Pet Crisis: Truth Behind the TikTok Stars.
It first aired on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer on September 25, 2023.
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The doc, presented by Mobeen Azhar, explores the controversial world of exotic pet ownership, as well as its promotion on social media platforms like TikTok.
We Built a Zoo, the second doc featuring the TikToker and his mum, is a one-hour film following Kyle’s journey as he attempts to build a zoo for his exotic animals.
It addresses his controversial past, including posts about his animals that drew criticism from animal rights activists, and the challenges he faced in finding suitable homes for the animals following his previous zoo’s closure.
The show documents his collaboration with Co Tyrone Builder Phil Hughes to transform a modest petting farm into a world-class wildlife park for Kyle's animals and other unwanted exotic pets.
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It also follows him on his trip to South Africa to learn how to take better care of his meerkats.
The documentary first aired on BBC Three and BBC Northern Ireland on August 2, 2024.
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