A secular group was today demanding that tourism groups stop promoting what it calls a “creationist” zoo, that questions the traditional view of evolution.

The Noah’s Ark zoo farm, in Wraxall, near Bristol, was accused by the British Humanist Association (BHA) of misleading tens of thousands of annual visitors and “threatening public understanding”.

The zoo, however, rejected the BHA’s claims that it is not open about its interest in creationism, the belief that all life was created by God, and said that it wanted to promote a debate about Darwinism and 6000 BC creationism (also known as young Earth creationism), both of which it said on its website were “flawed” and “extreme in their own rights”.

The BHA has written to the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums , North Somerset council, Visit Britain and the tourism group South West England, asking them to remove Noah’s Ark from their material.

The BHA said the zoo farm, run by husband and wife Anthony and Christina Bush, seeks to discredit scientific facts such as radio carbon dating, the fossil record and the speed of light. The BHA said signs at the zoo also describe how the “three great people groups” could be descended from the three sons of Noah.

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