The summer of 1976. Lankin Moors Wildlife Park, surrounded by moorland and buried deep within the English countryside, is a micro-society of people and animals. An insular, self-serving kingdom that is home to riotous parties, drunken pub nights and drugs. After the sudden and unexplained death of one of the elephants, the zoo staff desperately cling to their hedonistic lifestyle as feelings of hate, envy and lust, stoked by an endless heatwave, threaten to bubble to the surface. This threat becomes reality as a sporadic madness mysteriously sweeps through the zoo, affecting animals and keepers alike and triggering a dramatic chain of events that finally leads new education officer Matt, along with his allies - Gajadhar, an Indian mahout, and Susie, the local vet - to a heart stopping fight for survival.