40 Questions Bristol Zoological Society Must Answer

Why in 2020 did Bristol Zoological Society talk about the “challenges of recent years” having had a “highly detrimental impact” on its finances, when in its 2019 published accounts, the Society declared an "increase in profitability of £2.5m?"

Why did Bristol Zoological Society say that “the impact of Covid-19 has caused us to radically rethink our plans about the future” when the Society received a £2.5m business interruption insurance pay-out to compensate it for its Covid-related losses?

Why did Bristol Zoological Society claim Bristol Zoo Gardens had been suffering from a long-term decline in visitor numbers when BZG’s annual visitor numbers never dropped below 500,000 until Covid, and it was consistently ranked amongst the top 10 most visited and best zoos in the UK?

Why did Bristol Zoological heavily imply that Bristol Zoo Gardens was a failing zoo as when compared to London and Dublin Zoos when looking at visits per population head in their respective cities, Bristol Zoo Gardens ranks significantly higher?

In 2023 – the first full year of Bristol Zoo Gardens not being open - statistically, not one Bristol Zoo Gardens visitor chose to transfer their allegiance and visit the Wild Place. This resulted in BZS 2023 visitor numbers being 512,723 fewer than 2019, representing a 61.8% decrease in visitors. Why?

Why between 2019 and 2022, was Bristol Zoological Society’s spending on governance as a proportion of income, on average, 15 times higher than other UK charitable zoos?

Why between 2018 and 2021, did Bristol Zoological Society’s spending on governance rise 864% at a time when the Society was claiming significant financial difficulties?

According to its own accounts, between 2019 and 2022, Bristol Zoological Society spent £500,000 more on governance than field and conservation projects and at Bristol Zoological Society’s pre-2019 rate of spending on governance, it would have taken almost 30 years to spend the same amount of money on governance than it did between 2019-2022. Why was money allocated in this way, especially when claiming financial difficulties?

When Bristol Zoological Society says that its projected income (excl. capital fundraising) for 2027 is £18.465m, where is the evidence to support this projection? £18.465m is almost £7m higher than the Society’s previous highest ever unrestricted income in 2019 of £11.6m, a rise of 66% on BZS’s 2022 (unrestricted) income of £10.4m and a rise of 59% on BZS’s previous highest ever unrestricted income figure in 2019. The 2019 figure is based on running two sites with 829,965 visitors. The 2027 prediction is based on running one site with fewer visitors than in 2019.

Why has Bristol Zoological Society chosen to invest all its money into a visitor attraction that according to the Society's own accounts, on its own terms, has never been profitable?

Bristol Zoological Society says it will attract 810,000 visitors in 2026 - a 138% increase in visits from 2024 or in real terms, an additional 463,000 visitors. When ‘Bear Wood’ opened in 2019, visitor numbers increased by 64.8% or 124,725 in real terms. What evidence is the 463,000 / 138% increase based on?

When Bristol Zoological Society says it will increase its school visits at Bristol Zoo Project from 17,000 in 2024 to 90,000 in 2035 (a 429% increase) on what evidence is this projection based, especially given the very high current cost of coach travel and inaccessible location of the South Gloucestershire site for Bristol schools?

When Bristol Zoological Society says it is concentrating on species with a high conservation value, why didn’t all of the species which were previously at Bristol Zoo Gardens and had high conservation value move to the Wild Place? Asiatic lions which didn’t move to Wild Place are an endangered species as were many of the other species at Bristol Zoo Gardens. New species planned for Bristol Zoo Project such as cherry-crowned mangabey monkeys, okapi and mandrills have the same or lower conservtaion status as the Asiatic Lions, not higher and also a lower commercial appeal.

When Bristol Zoological Society release public statements about “not believing that Bristol Zoo Gardens was fit for purpose as a modern, conservation-focused Zoo” - why is the Society choosing to criticise itself when in only December 2018, Bristol Zoo Gardens received a glowing zoo inspection report from DEFRA, eulogising about Bristol Zoo Garden’s conservation work and describing what a good zoo it is?

Why were BZS Shareholders told at their AGM on November 27th, 2020 when being informed of the decision to sell Bristol Zoo Gardens that “the only option that would provide sufficient income for the next 25 years and be commercially viable was to relocate BZG to WPP and create a new, world-class, Bristol Zoo,” when since February 2019, the Society had been exploring the option of selling 41 acres of its Cribbs Causeway site for a housing development which could raise upwards of £9.5m for the Society?

In a webinar held for BZS Shareholders in October 2020, which prepared the ground for the subsequent announcement of the decision to sell Bristol Zoo Gardens, a slide was shown with the accompanying text, “The maintenance backlog at Bristol Zoo Gardens is in excess of £1.1m.” The accompanying image was of a leaking tunnel in the Seal and Penguin Coast exhibit, implying this was essential maintenance. In fact, that tunnel had leaked since the exhibit first opened, some 20 years before. Why was that photo used in that context?

Why in a letter published in November 2021 by 'Tourism Leaders' backing Bristol Zoological Society's plans to move out of Clifton, were four of the signatories, people who worked for organisations where Bristol Zoological Society’s CEO and two of the Society's trustees have direct links? Justin Morris ( BZS CEO) was a Non-Executive Director of Destination Bristol / Visit West between 2018 and 2025. Peaches Golding and Chris Booy (current BZS trustees) are both ex-trustees of the SS-Great Britain. In response to the letter, Bristol Zoological Society subsequently said it "welcomed and appreciated" the vote of confidence.

In 2017, Destination Bristol said Bristol Zoo Gardens was “one of the most critical elements of Bristol’s Visitor Economy” and that “the success of BZG is a critical part of the success of Bristol”.

Why before closure, did Bristol Zoological Society heavily imply that most, if not all of the animals from Bristol Zoo Gardens would be moving to the Wild Place when in fact, over 99% of BZG’s animals went to other zoos, very similar to Bristol Zoo Gardens? 

When Bristol Zoological Society says it has, “a unique opportunity at our 136-acre site to create a new conservation Zoo,” why has it been planning on selling 41 acres of that site for a housing development since 2019?

When Bristol Zoological Society’s CEO says BZS can give its animals more space at Bristol Zoo Project, was he talking about the new blue-eyed black lemur or red panda enclosures? Do these animals have significantly more space now than they did at Bristol Zoo Gardens? 

As a conservation charity, how does the Society feel about felling 150 of its own trees at Bristol Zoo Gardens and the bulldozing of the Herbaceous Border where generations of its shareholders have scattered the ashes of loved ones?

Why is Bristol Zoological Society proposing to sell the world's 5th oldest zoo and its historic, heritage site to a housing developer - Acorn Property Group - that until very recently was listed on the Financial Conduct Authority's website with a warning that said:

"This firm may be providing or promoting financial services or products without our permission. You should avoid dealing with this firm and beware of scams. Almost all firms and individuals must be authorised or registered by us to carry out or promote financial services in the UK. This firm is not authorised by us and may be targeting people in the UK."

The budget for the new gorilla enclosure at Bristol Zoo Project currently stands somewhere between £9-12 million. Noah's Ark recently spent c.£180,000 on its excellent new lion enclosure, around 50 times less. Is spending that large a proportion of the Society’s capital on an exhibit where the gorillas will spend most of their time indoors due to the UK climate, a good strategic use of funds and what will the final cost of that exhibit be?

Bristol Zoological Society recently declared a financial crisis and announced redundancies, attributing these issues to £300,000 in legal costs incurred in a Judicial Review case. However, when looking at the numbers taken from the zoo’s own accounts, £300,000 is less than 10% of what charity spent on governance between 2019 and 2022, (£3.252 million) and just 2.38% of what was spent on governance and Capex between 2019 and 2022 (£12.589 million). Therefore, the claim that £300,000 has precipitated a financial crisis and many staff redundancies for the Society does not stand up to serious scrutiny. When will the Society stop blaming other people for its problems and start taking responsibility for its own actions?

Until 2020, Bristol Zoological Society’s strategy was to retain and invest in both of its sites. The Society is on record as saying it is the “fortunate custodian” of its two sites which hold “great amenity value” and which “we must protect for our visitors and future generations.”  Numerous other public statements made before 2020 exist where the Society reaffirms its continuing success and value. What changed, so suddenly and so dramatically?

The Society says Covid forced it to radically rethink its strategy. But for a zoo which had been open for almost 200 years, survived two World Wars and welcomed 90 million visitors, was being closed for a few months (compensated with a £2.5m insurance pay-out for its Covid losses) enough to provoke such a radical rethink as to sell its core asset and Bristol’s Crown Jewels? Would we accept Clifton Suspension Bridge being permanently closed and sold off the back of one KPMG report during a global pandemic? If the answer to these questions is no, then what is the real motivation for selling Bristol Zoo Gardens and why as a city are we allowing this to happen?