He’s been named amongst the top 30 most influential people under 30 by Forbes magazine and with almost 35 million TikTok followers, 20-year-old Kyle Thomas is the most followed person on the social media platform in the UK, with a world of opportunities at his feet. However, the Lisburn presenter and model is keeping his feet firmly on the ground, by literally mucking in at his new wildlife park and sanctuary in Co Tyrone.
“Animals will always come first,” says Kyle, who is a co-owner of newly branded The Mylo Project @ Dyan Mill, outside Caledon.
Having been known in his teens for his entertaining TikTok videos featuring his unusual pets, including singing with his monkey dancing on his shoulder or bathing his pet meerkat, Kyle now acknowledges that it was a mistake to keep exotic animals in his home and is now championing animal rights. Determined to prove he’s learnt from his mistakes, fans can follow his journey in the new documentary, I Built a Zoo, on BBC Three and BBC Northern Ireland.
At first Kyle sets out to build a safe home for his array of animals, buying his own land outside Glenavy, Co Antrim. However numerous stumbling blocks, including planning disputes and complaints from his neighbours, meant he was forced to abandon his “dream”. Hope came in the form of Co Tyrone builder Phil Hughes, who during lockdown purchased a cornmill and turned it into a farm park. “Building a wildlife park came with a lot more complications than I thought and before I knew it wasn’t safe for my animals any more.
“Phil, as a fellow animal lover, had seen what I was doing online and reached out and offered to look after my animals,” says Kyle, referring to his menagerie of 39 animals, including meerkats, foxes and tree frogs. He soon was made to earn his animals’ keep by lending a hand, given a number of less than glamorous jobs – from shovelling manure and pond cleaning to shearing sheep and bricklaying. “With Phil it was definitely hands on. I even got to drive a tractor, which was the weirdest feeling,” laughs Kyle, who was full of praise for Phil and his team at Dyan Mill for their skills and can-do attitude.
The pair quickly realised they worked well together and shared similar values towards the rescue and rehabilitation of animals and went into partnership. Documentary viewers will see Kyle thrown into a cage with wild meerkats and bitten by a macaw. “Working with animals is really not easy. You do get scratched, bitten and shat on by animals,” cringes Kyle who travels regularly to Tyrone – though his method of travel is slowing him down. “I go down on my moped, which takes me a little bit longer. I’m definitely trying to get my driving sorted,” laughs Kyle, who only has his two dogs, a Pomeranian and a Chow Chow, at home.
“I do miss the others, but it’s best for them. Pongo (his platinum red fox) was raised with us, so when he’s super excited straight away.” As a child Kyle was obsessed with animals and the natural world, watching wildlife programs and visiting sanctuaries and zoos. “One of my first memories is asking mum and dad if we could smash our TV open and visit the animals that live inside it,” laughs Kyle, whose first ‘pets’ were some stick insects.
Kyle moved from Kent to Northern Ireland when was 10 years old and he admits he found it “difficult to fit in”. As a result he began posting videos online, starting with making slime in his kitchen. “I’ve always been such an outgoing person, and I enjoyed having this community of friends online.” In more recent years his videos featured his extensive exotic pet collection. These were met with some controversy with some accusing him of influencing the exotic animal trade.
One video which received a lot of adverse attention featured him putting a cloak on his pet capybara, Queen Elizabeth. It later emerged that following its death, three people, including his mother, were prosecuted for illegally importing the capybara into Northern Ireland without a licence, due to Brexit regulations. “What I want people to realise is that our intentions were pure,” says Kyle, who is now keen to get across the message to viewers that exotic animals aren’t pets.
Having learnt from his past he is doing all to educate himself on animal welfare and in We Built A Zoo audiences will see Kyle visit South Africa and Costa Rica. “In Costa Rica I got to do lot of hands-on stuff in the clinic with rescue animals,” he says. “It was really incredible that Dr Carmen Soto, the vet that we were with in Costa Rica, came over to Dyan Mill to make sure that what we were doing was right,” he enthuses.
It was a particularly emotional journey to South Africa for Kyle,visiting his favourite animals – meerkats - in their natural habitat in the Kalahari Desert. “South Africa was an insanely eye opening experience. Seeing animals in the wild changes your perspective,” he reflects. Viewers will see the usually upbeat Kyle struggle to hold back his tears as he discovers more about how meerkats are smuggled out of South Africa. “It was really heartbreaking, and so shocking to know that that still happens today - just for the greed of money.”
“When we let those meerkats free you look around and all you see is miles and miles of desert. An enclosure can never replicate that. “The meerkats that we have, we plan to use as ambassador animals to educate and help protect their ‘cousins’ in the wild,” says Kyle, who is considering enrolling on a part-time conservation and ecology course. “I want to make sure that I can keep visiting these locations and viewing the animals that we have in human care in the wild and to see what we can do to improve their lives.”
With The Mylo Project @ Dyan Mill having received a zoo licence, what animals can we expect to see in the future? “Yes, we could get a range of different animals; but it’s important that everything we do has a purpose.
“The plan for now is to make sure that the animals currently there are thriving. We are also trying to step into the world of rescue, so it depends on whatever animals we can house correctly and whatever animals need our help. “We also want to educate visitors so when they’re walking around and talking about the foxes, for example, we’re talking about how they can help those animals here and in the wild.”
So what should we do if we spot a fox in our garden? “Don’t feed them because if you do they might go to another house looking for food, and if that person doesn’t like foxes, then they’ve got this fox hassling them, and they might not treat the animal the best.
“So it’s best to just be uninvolved, unless the animal needs help, which in that case contact a wildlife rehabber.” Rumoured to be taking part in an unknown project with Channel 4 in Malaysia, I ask Kyle what other fashion or media aspirations he has. Blue Peter? Planet Earth? “I don’t think anyone can ever replace David Attenborough,” he laughs. “But I would love to have the same impact and further the mission that he and other animal activists have had.
“I love Blue Peter and had a little cameo on Blue Peter for Comic Relief, but no, I don’t think it’s for me. “Animals always come first, and that will always be my biggest interest. But if other opportunities come along, I’ll consider them, ensuring the brands I’m working with align with the animal advocacy side of things.”
