It Didn't Need to Close
(The Evidence)A new report has just been published on this website which analyses the closure of Bristol Zoo Gardens as well as the proposed plans for Bristol Zoo Project (previously the Wild Place Project) and the projections upon which Bristol Zoological Society’s current one site strategy is based. It finds almost all the projections to be unprecedented and therefore, highly questionable. The report concludes that Bristol Zoological Society has made a huge financial and strategic mistake by closing Bristol Zoo Gardens and would be best served by reopening Bristol Zoo. Amongst the report’s key findings are:
1. CHALLENGING BZS STATEMENTS ABOUT UNSUSTAINABLE FINANCES
Contrary to Bristol Zoological Society’s public statements about its declining finances, there is a large amount of evidence to strongly challenge these claims. In 2019, BZS declared “an increase in profitability of £2.5 million.” Section 4 of The Report outlines this in full.
Click here for more info2. COVID-19 WAS NOT A REASON FOR BRISTOL ZOO GARDENS TO CLOSE
Bristol Zoological Society received a £2.5 million insurance pay-out to compensate it for its Covid-19-related losses.
Click here for more info3. GOVERNANCE & CAPITAL EXPENDITURE SPEND
Between 2019-2022, Bristol Zoological Society’s cumulative governance and capital expenditure spend was £12.589 million. From 2019 to 2022, BZS’s spending on governance as a proportion of income was on average, 15 times higher than other UK charitable zoos and within those four years, spending on governance rose an astonishing 864%. This against the picture BZS painted of financial hardship.
Click here to view graph4. CHALLENGING BZS STATEMENTS ABOUT DECLINING VISITOR NUMBERS AND POPULARITY
In 2019 - last pre-pandemic year - across its two sites, Bristol Zoological Society attracted 829,965 visitors. 512,934 of those visits were at Bristol Zoo Gardens, which was consistently ranked among the Top 10 most visited and best zoos in the UK each year up until its closure.
Click here for graph5. IMPACT OF CLOSURE OF BRISTOL ZOO GARDENS ON BRISTOL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
In 2023, the Wild Place Project attracted 317,000 visitors. Statistically this indicates that in the first full year of Bristol Zoo Gardens not being open, not one Bristol Zoo Gardens visitor chose to transfer their allegiance and visit the Wild Place. In 2024, visitor numbers rose slightly to 347,389. If you exclude the Covid-affected years of 2020-2022, since 2019, Bristol Zoological Society has lost 482,576 annual visitors, a 58% decrease.
Click here for graph6. UNREALISTIC VISITOR NUMBER PROJECTIONS
Visitor number projections shown at the 2023 Bristol Zoological Society AGM, projected 810,000 visitors in 2026. In real terms, an additional 470,000 visitors and an unprecedented increase of 138% across three years, from 2023-2026.
No other comparable UK and Irish zoo across the past 10-15 years has experienced close to a 138% increase in visitors in three years. For these visitor number projections to become reality in 2026, BZP would need an average of 67,500 visitors per month, meaning its average monthly attendance would need to be higher than its current best ever monthly attendance.
Click here to view graph7. 'NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE?' EVIDENCE SAYS OTHERWISE
Since 2020’s closure announcement, BZS has consistently described Bristol Zoo Gardens as “not fit for purpose.” However, in 2018, a DEFRA inspection of Bristol Zoo Gardens produced a glowing report saying, “Their conservation and education commitment and achievements are applauded….the inspection team were delighted to have the opportunity to visit this great well managed collection, who through their good work, achieve a great deal to preserve biodiversity of wildlife populations, as well as inspiring and educating the public (young and old) in the marvels of the natural world.”
Click here to view inspection report8. CEO
Bristol Zoological Society's current CEO began work in August 2018 with no previous professional zoological experience and no background in conservation. He is by profession an archaeologist, previously having worked as a manager at the National History and British Museums as well as spending some time working in the private sector for John Lewis. According to the Society's accounts, he has received at least two pay rises since he began work in 2018. After beginning in the £80,000-£90,000 bracket, his pay rose to £110,000-£120,000 in 2019 and then again to £130,000-£140,000 in 2022.
9. OPERATING TWO SITES IS VIABLE
There is no evidence to suggest that a zoological society cannot run two attractions simultaneously as many examples around the world demonstrate. Bristol Zoological Society was doing it successfully until 2022 and could do so again. Examples include:
Click here for examples10. EVIDENCE SUGGESTS CLOSING BZG NOT NECESSARILY BETTER FOR CONSERVATION
When looking at the evidence, it is hard to see how closing Bristol Zoo Gardens will be better for conservation. In 2019, Bristol Zoological Society said, "Our visitors are our greatest potential source of conservation action.” Far fewer visitor numbers as a result of closing BZG means fewer resources to spend on conservation projects. By spending a minimum of £69.4m to create facilities from scratch that already exist at BZG but will be demolished under existing plans - among them lecture theatres, classrooms, breeding labs, and a good gorilla enclosure - it is easy to make the case that Bristol Zoological Society will have far less of an impact on conservation should it continue with its current one-site strategy.
11. BRISTOL ZOO PROJECT FAR SMALLER THAN ADVERTISED
Despite BZS’s claims of its Cribbs Causeway site being 136-acres in size, once you have excluded all existing restrictions – of which there are many – the remaining useable space to build actual animal exhibits is approximately 25 acres.
Click here to view restrictions12. PARKING NOT A VALID REASON FOR BZG NOT TO REOPEN
There is no insurmountable reason, legal or otherwise, why parking can be used as a reason for Bristol Zoo Gardens not being able to operate in the future.
13. CHOPPING DOWN ITS OWN TREES
Despite its claims, Bristol Zoological Society can offer no guarantees that Bristol Zoo Gardens will stay open to the public in perpetuity. Under existing plans, 150 trees will be felled as well as the bulldozing of the iconic Herbaceous Border, where generations of BZS Shareholders have scattered ashes of loved ones.
Click here for tree removal plan - EVERYTHING PINK WILL BE FELLED14. PLANNING ON SELLING ALMOST A THIRD OF CRIBBS CAUSEWAY SITE
According to publicly available documents, Bristol Zoological Society has been planning to sell 41 acres of its Cribbs Causeway site since February 2019 (almost two years before announcing the closure of Bristol Zoo Gardens) for a housing development, despite continually publicly claiming the Wild Place/Bristol Zoo Project is 136-acres in size. The proposed sale could raise an estimated £9.5-12 million for BZS.
Click to view evidence15. UNPRECEDENTED VISITOR NUMBER PROJECTIONS
Based on the projections shown at its 2023 AGM, BZS are projecting in real terms, an additional 470,000 visitors by 2026, an unprecedented increase in visitor numbers of 138% across three years, from 2023-2026.
Click here to view graph16. UNPRECEDENTED FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS
BZS is projecting its income in 2027 to rise to £18.465m, almost £7m higher than the Society’s previous highest ever income (excl. capital fundraising) in 2019 of £11.56m. The 2019 figure was achieved through visitor numbers of 829,965 across the Society’s two sites. The huge rise in unrestricted income that BZS is projecting is by its own standards, completely unprecedented with no evidence to suggest visitor numbers will ever rise to the required levels.
Click here to view graph17. SELF-DECLARED FINANCIAL CRISIS - PART 1
Bristol Zoological Society recently declared a financial crisis and announced redundancies, attributing these issues to £300,000 in legal costs incurred while defending luxury housing plans in a Judicial Review case. However:
- £300,000 is less than 10% of what was spent on governance between 2019 and 2022 (£3.252 million).
- £300,000 is just 2.38% of the £12.589 million that was spent on governance and Capex between 2019 and 2022.
The claim that £300,000 has precipitated a financial crisis and many staff redundancies for the Society does not stand up to serious scrutiny.
Click here to view graph18. SELF-DECLARED FINANCIAL CRISIS - PART 2
Bristol Zoological Society recently declared a financial crisis and announced redundancies, attributing these issues to £300,000 in legal costs incurred while defending luxury housing plans in a Judicial Review case. However:
- £300,000 is approximately 3% of the estimated cost of the new gorilla enclosure.
- £300,000 is significantly less than what was spent on governance in just the first year of Covid with multiple lockdowns and associated income loss; 2020 governance spend was £572,000.
The claim that £300,000 has precipitated a financial crisis and many staff redundancies for the Society does not stand up to serious scrutiny.
19. CONCLUSION
Whilst no one can predict the future, there is a huge amount of evidence to suggest that reverting to a two-site strategy would be the best option for Bristol Zoological Society. The purported gains of building at Cribbs Causeway and at huge expense, a gorilla enclosure, a new café and other infrastructure that already exists in Clifton, do not even come close to outweighing the irreplaceable loss of destroying the world’s 5th oldest zoo; a beloved Bristol 200-year-old institution and a walled botanical Zoological Garden in the middle of Bristol with an internationally renowned reputation for conservation.