Science column of The Guardian. In August 2009, the British Humanist Association (after 2017 Humanists UK) urged tourist boards to stop promoting the zoo on grounds that it would "undermine education and the teaching of science", a campaign continued as recently as February 2014. (In June 2015, the BHA named Alice Roberts "Humanist of the Year", in part because she had spearheaded its complaint against Noah's Ark Zoo.) In a letter to the Anglican Church Times, the Rev. Michael Roberts, an authority on Darwin and geology and a long-time opponent of the teaching of creationism in schools, argued that the British Humanist Association was justified in criticising the zoo and that "church groups should have been more forthright in their criticism". 2009 charges of professional misconduct In October 2009 the BBC and the Captive Animals Protection Society charged that the zoo's tigers and camels belonged to the now defunct Great British Circus owned by Martin Lacey; and the zoo said a number of animals were on loan from Linctrek Ltd, a company associated with Lacey, though none had taken part in any circus performances. In December 2009, BIAZA stripped the zoo of its membership for what it claimed was a refusal of Noah's Ark to provide BIAZA requested information and for bringing "the association into disrepute." In 2018, the zoo regained membership in BIAZA. Also in 2009, the Western Animal Rights Network (WARN) and the Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS) said that the zoo had culled healthy chickens. CAPS claimed that the zoo regularly culled animals during winter months to reduce costs. The zoo explained that it had euthanised some chickens to protect the quality of its flock. A March 2010 report of an investigation by North Somerset Council called the CAPS allegations "grossly unfair", though because zoo inspectors found some failures to comply with the Secretary of State's Standards of Modern Zoo Practice, tighter licence conditions were imposed on the zoo, including inspection by independent veterinarians every six months. Animal exhibits Africa The first animals arrived in the African section in 2005: two South African white rhinos. A Giraffe House opened in 2006, two African lions joined the Big Cat Sanctuary in 2010, and Elephant Eden introduced its first African elephant in 2014. In 2015, Noah's Ark included four giraffes (two of which were born at NAZF), four lions, two African elephants, two white rhinos, two zebras, and a