- British businessman and conservationist leading The Aspinall Foundation
- Known for pioneering large-scale animal rewilding projects worldwide
- Built wealth through casinos and property investments
- Raised among wild animals in a highly unconventional childhood
- Father of three daughters, all actively involved in conservation
- Currently suspended as a trustee amid an ongoing charity governance inquiry
Damian Aspinall is a British businessman and conservationist best known for his radical approach to wildlife conservation — returning captive animals back to the wild. As chairman of The Aspinall Foundation, he has helped reintroduce gorillas, cheetahs, elephants, and other species to their natural habitats, challenging traditional zoo practices along the way.
Beyond conservation, Aspinall built significant wealth through casinos and property ventures before stepping back from the gambling industry entirely in 2023. His life combines privilege, controversy, and an unusually deep personal connection with animals, making him one of the most distinctive figures in modern conservation.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | John Damian Androcles Aspinall |
| Date of Birth | 24 May 1960 |
| Age | 64–65 (as of 2025) |
| Birthplace | England |
| Nationality | British |
| Profession | Businessman, Conservationist |
| Years Active | 2000–Present |
| Net Worth | Estimated ~£200 million (as of 2018; no official figure disclosed) |
| Known For | Animal rewilding, The Aspinall Foundation |
| Wildlife Parks | Howletts Wild Animal Park; Port Lympne Reserve |
Early Life & Background
Childhood Surrounded by Wild Animals
Damian Aspinall grew up at Howletts estate in Kent, where gorillas, wolves, and tigers lived alongside humans as a matter of daily routine. It wasn’t the kind of childhood that prepared you for normal social life — and it wasn’t meant to. This environment shaped his worldview from an early age, forming a lifelong belief that humans and animals can coexist with genuine trust rather than fearful distance.
That upbringing matters because it directly influenced his later conservation philosophy. He has never viewed animals as distant specimens. To him, they are beings capable of emotional connection — a conviction that has driven every major decision in his career.
Influence of His Father
His father, John Aspinall, was a casino owner, zoo pioneer, and close friend of the notorious Lord Lucan — a man who fundamentally rejected conventional ideas about animal captivity. When Damian was six, his parents went through a bitter divorce and his father won full custody, immediately sending him to Millfield boarding school in Somerset. As a result of his father’s influence, Damian never saw his mother again.
Inheriting this legacy meant balancing financial survival with an ambitious conservation mission — a tension that continues to define his public life.
Education and Early Challenges
The contrast between Howletts and boarding school couldn’t have been sharper. At 16, Aspinall left Millfield to travel the world, teaching himself guitar along the way and later becoming Australia’s best-selling encyclopaedia salesman in his early twenties. His childhood isolation — partly a consequence of growing up among dangerous animals — left a lasting mark, shaping a preference for animal company that he has never tried to hide.
Career Journey
Taking Over the Aspinall Foundation
When his father died in 2000, Aspinall inherited very little cash but enormous responsibility. The wildlife parks were struggling financially and the foundation needed a serious injection of direction and funding. That transition marked a turning point: he transformed what could have become a failing legacy into a globally recognised conservation operation.
Building a Rewilding Model
Rather than simply maintaining the parks, Aspinall pushed them toward a more ambitious goal — rewilding. The idea of returning captive-born animals to functioning wild ecosystems challenges everything the traditional zoo industry stands for, and it made Aspinall a controversial figure within conservation circles as much as outside them.
The significance is hard to overstate. His work has demonstrated that rewilding is operationally possible at scale, particularly for western lowland gorillas — a species that many experts believed could never successfully adapt after captivity.
Business Ventures and Wealth Creation
After his father’s death, Aspinall partnered with Australian businessman James Packer to acquire Crown London Aspinalls Casino. In 2001, he expanded his casino holdings through a £44 million reverse takeover, growing the business considerably over the following decade. He resigned from the casino group’s board of directors in 2023, severing his formal ties with the gambling industry.
This financial background matters — his conservation work has always depended heavily on private funding, making his business acumen directly tied to his environmental impact.
Global Conservation Projects
The Aspinall Foundation operates across Africa and Asia, running programmes in Congo, Gabon, Indonesia, Madagascar, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. These projects span anti-poaching initiatives, wildlife monitoring, community education, and large-scale habitat restoration. The scope is genuinely unusual for a private charity.
Major Works / Achievements
Rewilding Success
- Reintroduction of over 75 western lowland gorillas into Congo and Gabon
- Release of cheetahs born at Port Lympne — the first UK-bred cheetahs rewilded in South Africa (2020)
- Rescue and rewilding of more than 1,500 animals in total across multiple continents
- Relocation of 13 captive-bred elephants from Kent to Kenya
- Rescue of over 916 animals in Southern Africa, including pangolins, lions, and crocodiles
These achievements carry weight not just symbolically but scientifically. The foundation has achieved several world firsts, including the first cheetah cubs born in the wild to captive-born rewilded parents — evidence that the model works across generations, not just in initial release.
Wildlife Parks Management
- Howletts Wild Animal Park, Kent
- Port Lympne Reserve, Kent
Both parks function as more than visitor attractions. They serve as breeding centres and transition environments for animals preparing for release, holding world records for breeding several species in captivity.
Conservation Impact
The foundation owns approximately one million acres in Gabon alone, into which it has reintroduced gorillas over several decades. Across its 39-year history, the scale of its operations — combining UK wildlife parks, overseas reserves, and local community partnerships — places it among the most active rewilding organisations operating anywhere in the world today.
Net Worth
Estimated Wealth
Damian Aspinall has never publicly disclosed his exact net worth. However, estimates place it at around £42 million in 2012, rising to approximately £200 million by 2018, reflecting strong returns from casino investments and property holdings during that period.
Sources of Income
- Casino business ventures, including Crown London Aspinalls
- Property investments sold strategically ahead of the early 1990s recession
- Inherited family assets and estate
Financial Controversies
Recent investigations have raised serious questions about the use of charity funds. Allegations reported in the Telegraph include claims that staff employed by the foundation were used to perform personal roles at Aspinall’s family home — including as a chef, maid, chauffeur, housekeeper, and security guard. Further allegations relate to charity credit cards being used for club class flights, chauffeur-driven cars, and taxis.
These claims matter beyond the personal — they go directly to the integrity of the conservation mission he has built his public identity around.
Personal Life
Relationships
Damian Aspinall has been married once — to Louise Sebag-Montefiore, from 1987 to 2002 — and has since been in several long-term relationships. Between 2001 and 2007 he dated television presenter Donna Air, with whom he has his youngest daughter. He has also been linked publicly to Elle Macpherson and Naomi Campbell. His most recent relationship ended in separation in 2022.
Children
- Tansy Aspinall (born 1989)
- Clary Aspinall (born 1992)
- Freya Aspinall (born September 2003, mother: Donna Air)
All three daughters are involved in conservation work. Freya, in particular, has built a significant public profile as a model and social media figure — with over 1.6 million Instagram followers — and is widely considered a likely future chairperson of the foundation.
Lifestyle and Personality
Aspinall is openly candid about preferring animal company to most human interaction, and regularly enters enclosures with large predators and primates. He once described growing up in a household where gorillas, tigers, and wolves roamed freely — and much of his adult behaviour suggests that world never fully left him. It’s an unusual trait in modern public life, and it’s one of the reasons people find his story hard to dismiss even when they disagree with his methods.
Latest Updates / Current Status
Ongoing Investigations
As of late 2024 and into 2025, the Charity Commission for England and Wales — which opened a statutory inquiry into the Aspinall Foundation back in 2021 — has suspended Damian Aspinall as a trustee of the Howletts Wild Animal Trust. The inquiry, now spanning more than four years, is investigating whether charity funds were used improperly. Interim managers have been brought in to oversee specific areas of the Aspinall Foundation’s operations.
Current Role
Despite the scrutiny, Aspinall remains a central and vocal figure in the foundation’s public-facing conservation work. The organisation has not paused its international projects, and the parks continue to operate. His supporters argue the mission remains intact regardless of the governance questions surrounding it.
Public Perception
His reputation continues to divide opinion sharply. Among conservationists and wildlife advocates, he is genuinely admired as someone who turned an inherited philosophy into verifiable global results. Among critics, the governance failures suggest a pattern of treating a charitable organisation as an extension of personal privilege. Both views have reasonable foundations.
Philosophy on Zoos & Rewilding
Opposition to Traditional Zoos
Aspinall has stated publicly and repeatedly that zoos are unethical and should be phased out over the next 20 to 30 years. His position is that the public has been sold a myth about zoos contributing meaningfully to conservation — and he argues the evidence simply doesn’t support it.
Rewilding Vision
He advocates for returning animals to functioning natural environments where they can make real choices — something he sees as categorically different from even the most well-managed captive setting. To him, rewilding is not an experiment but a moral obligation.
Debate and Criticism
Not everyone agrees. Some conservation scientists question whether captive-born animals can truly thrive in the wild, pointing to documented cases where rewilded gorillas have struggled or died after release. Critics also argue that the considerable resources spent on UK-to-Africa rewilding would deliver better outcomes if directed toward protecting animals already living in the wild. These are substantive objections, and the debate remains live within professional conservation circles.
Lesser-Known Facts
- He reportedly spent time in the care of a gorilla as a young child at Howletts
- He regularly enters enclosures with dangerous animals, including tigers and gorillas, as an adult
- He has been connected with high-profile public figures throughout his life, reflecting the social world he grew up in
- His upbringing at Howletts significantly limited typical peer interactions during childhood
- At 20, he became Australia’s best-selling encyclopaedia salesman while travelling abroad
FAQs
How did Damian Aspinall make his money?
He built his wealth primarily through casino businesses — including a £44 million reverse takeover in 2001 — and through property investments. He resigned from the casino group’s board in 2023.
What is Damian Aspinall’s net worth?
No official figure has been disclosed. Media estimates placed his net worth at around £42 million in 2012 and approximately £200 million by 2018.
Is Damian Aspinall still married?
He was married once, to Louise Sebag-Montefiore, from 1987 to 2002. His most recent long-term relationship ended in 2022.
Who are Damian Aspinall’s children?
He has three daughters: Tansy (born 1989), Clary (born 1992), and Freya (born 2003). All three are involved in conservation, with Freya particularly active as a public advocate for the foundation.
What does The Aspinall Foundation do?
The foundation focuses on wildlife conservation, particularly rewilding captive-born animals and protecting endangered species across Africa and Asia. It has rewilded over 1,500 animals to date.
Why is Damian Aspinall controversial?
He faces criticism on two fronts: his outspoken anti-zoo position, which challenges a significant part of the conservation establishment, and an ongoing Charity Commission inquiry into governance and financial management at his foundation.
Conclusion
Damian Aspinall stands out as one of the most unconventional figures in modern conservation — partly because his work is genuinely remarkable, and partly because the contradictions in his story are impossible to ignore. His foundation has rewilded over 1,500 animals across multiple continents, achieved verifiable world firsts, and kept the rewilding debate firmly on the agenda. That record is real.
At the same time, the ongoing inquiry into how charity funds were managed raises questions he has not yet answered publicly. Whether those questions ultimately define him, or whether the scale of his conservation output proves the more lasting legacy, is still being written. What’s certain is that his influence on how the world thinks about wildlife, captivity, and rewilding is already difficult to undo.