Motorists hurrying along the A590 towards Barrow can hardly believe their eyes. Was that really a herd of giraffes they saw grazing on a hillside just outside the town of Dalton? Well, the stately creatures are real enough. And yet they are part of a dream - the vision of one man.

David Gill created the South Lakes Wild Animal Park from scratch. Tourists flock to this award-winning visitor attraction because they appreciate its unique style.

Many of the creatures live and interact together just as they would in the wild. There is a feeling of space and visitors can get much closer than usual to the animals and birds - sometimes literally walking through the areas where the livestock wander free.

Walkways above ground give another perspective so you can look a giraffe in the eye or study the Rodrigues Fruit Bats close up and personal.

When David Gill set out in 1994 he wanted to create a successful business venture and his game plan hoped for 10,000 visitors in year one. In that first 12 months a staggering 55,000 people turned up. This year could break the 250,000 barrier.

And the success story has given him the chance to reach out into the wild places of the world with practical help to conserve creatures under threat from mankind. It all started with a rabbit called Retsina.

‘I have no idea why it was called Retsina,’ says David. ‘It was an orphan wild rabbit that my grandad brought to the house and we reared it as a pet. But you can never take all the wild out of a wild creature.’

One of five children growing up in an overcrowded terraced house in Dalton, David had no silver spoon. But he had plenty of time to explore and enjoy the countryside of the Furness peninsula and had a leisure time job on a farm before he was a teenager.

‘I discovered that I had a gift in working with animals - then it was cattle, now its lots of other things.’ But David chose a career in the animal feed industry and shared a suburban home with his wife and their children. ‘We had some land behind the house and I rescued a goat off a farm I used to visit. It needed a good home.’

The collection of animals grew and David Gill was featured in the local paper, not for the last time. The zoo idea formed in his mind because he wanted a challenge - to achieve something that he felt was missing in his life.

The initial stake was the profit from a house move. He left a well-paid and successful job and, in 1994 South Lakes Wild Animal Park opened its doors for the first time on the outskirts of Dalton. The car park had been a council refuse tip and there was an old iron mine shaft nearby.

Sheep used to graze the 14 acre site. Gradually, an industrial wasteland turned into a haven where the public could interact with creatures from the four corners of the globe and learn something about them.

Like a latter-day Noah, 46-year-old David collected more and more animals, birds and reptiles. His policy was to give them as much freedom as he could and as much space.

As the business developed so did his support for conservation projects supporting endangered animals - tigers in Sumatra, giraffes in Africa, bears in Peru. Visitors are left in no doubt about the threat to wild creatures from activities like logging and mining which damage their habitat, the poachers who kill them for meat, for their bones sold on to make folk medicine, and their skins.

Newspapers have described David Gill as a multimillionaire.

He chuckles at the suggestion and admits: ‘It is certainly true that my lifestyle now is a lot different than it once was.’

He is able to travel extensively, often on trips linked to conservation projects, but he still lives in Dalton although he is building a swimming pool at his home. ‘I always dreamed of owning a Bentley and when I finally drove it out of the showroom I thought: what is this about? Then I thought: I always wanted one and I've worked so hard for it.’

Very much a hands on boss, David wears the uniform of his staff and gets involved in anything and everything from building work to litter picking. His daughter Amy is part of the park team and so is son Ben when he's home from university. Five-year-old Hari - his name is Indonesian and he's named after a tiger at the animal park - has the run of the site and likes to give dad a hand. David - call sign Tiger One on the park radio - demands high standards.

He takes a passionate pride in the park where his aim now is to make things better, not bigger. His favourite animals are rhinos. ‘They are misunderstood. People think they are difficult to handle but they just want to be left alone to get on with their lives.’

Looking back, David says he never dreamed the project would grow like it has.

‘Sometimes I look around and I think: I can't believe this.

Then I look again and I think: Yes! I built this. I made it happen.’

South Lakes Wild Animal Park, Crossgates, Daltonin- Furness, Cumbria. Phone 01229 461310 Email office@wildanimalpark.co.uk