ANIMAL rights extremists are to target Scottish Enterprise staff as part of their campaign against the reintroduction of elephants at Edinburgh Zoo.

The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) has said it considers the workers legitimate targets after the quango pledged £1.8m towards a big upgrade of the zoo.

Elephants will be reintroduced and a new polar bear enclosure built on the 82-acre site as part of the £58m upgrade.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland claims there are strong commercial and conservation reasons for putting the creatures on display. However, animal welfare groups have accused zoo bosses of reneging on a promise not to house elephants or replace Mercedes, the only polar bear at the zoo, when she dies.

For many years the zoo has featured a life-size elephant model with a plaque stating that it is unacceptable to keep them in restricted captive environments. Militant animal rights campaigners say they are prepared to use similar tactics in Edinburgh to those employed in their violent campaign against a planned £20m animal research laboratory at Oxford University.

The ALF’s campaign in Oxford forced the government to underwrite a multi-million-pound security operation.

Dozens of security experts, including former soldiers, have been recruited to protect workers, who have been forced to wear masks to protect their identities.

The ALF claims any academic, student or company connected to Oxford is a legitimate target and last year members claimed responsibility for a fire attack on a university boathouse.

Robin Webb, a spokesman for ALF, said similar tactics would be used against Scottish Enterprise and anyone else associated with the Edinburgh Zoo upgrade.

“Activists with the ALF will use their own tactics to encourage the zoo and its partners to abandon this deeply misguided and inhumane project. There would be no reason to doubt that employees and property owned by Scottish Enterprise would be considered legitimate targets,” he said.

Webb, a former member of the ruling council of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, added: “We would condone any type of action that does not endanger life. It would include all types of damage and destruction of property, including arson.

“It will be up to our activists to decide whether or not they would wish to go further and target the Scottish executive, which allocates funding to Scottish Enterprise.”

The upgrade at Edinburgh Zoo, which is expected to take 20 years, will also involve the introduction of threatened species including orang-utans, giraffes and kangaroos.

A spokesman for Scottish Enterprise said the zoo development would provide a vital boost for the economy. “Edinburgh Zoo is a leading tourist attraction,” he said. “It will lead to the creation of an estimated 320 new jobs over the next 20 years and generate an extra £4m for the economy.

“We have every confidence in the zoo’s conservation and welfare policies, which are a key part of their plan.”

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