Why Bristol Zoo Gardens Should Reopen

Bristol Zoological Gardens is unique. The hallowed ground of its walled gardens has provided a sanctuary for the people of Bristol for almost two centuries. There is no objective truth, nor ever was there, that Bristol Zoo Gardens needed to close its doors to the public after being open for 186 years, surviving two World Wars and welcoming over 90 million visitors in its remarkable history as the world’s 5th oldest zoo.

The decision to close Bristol Zoo was taken via Zoom during a global pandemic at a time when it felt like the world had changed. In hindsight, it turned out the world hadn’t changed as much as we thought - but selling Bristol’s Crown Jewels to become a private housing estate will change Bristol for ever. Once Bristol Zoological Gardens has gone, it is never coming back.

This website provides a huge amount of evidence to show that Bristol Zoological Society’s decision in 2020 to sell Bristol Zoo Gardens in Clifton and invest all the capital raised in its visitor attraction in South Gloucestershire was not made with all the relevant information. Consequently, this led to a less than satisfactory decision-making process which now calls into question whether the original decision to close Bristol Zoo Gardens needs to be revisited by Bristol Zoological Society’s Shareholders and Trustees. Over three years since the closure of Bristol Zoo Gardens, this assertion is further bolstered by Bristol Zoological Society’s self-declared “financial crisis.” 

A more plausible and fact-based cause of the crisis would appear to be the loss of almost half a million annual visitors for the Society, following the closure of Bristol Zoo in September 2022. Whilst visitor numbers will undoubtedly rise at Bristol Zoo Project when the new gorilla exhibit opens at Easter, and throughout its first year of opening, there is no evidence to suggest visitor numbers will come close to the Society’s projections or be sustainable in the long-term. 

Fewer visitors means less public engagement and education. Fewer visitors also means fewer resources which ultimately will result in less money for conservation. Reopening a reimagined Bristol Zoo Gardens alongside Bristol Zoo Project is a pathway out of Bristol Zoological Society's self-declared "crisis." The two attractions were always mutually complementary, not mutually exclusive, there never needed to be a choice between the two. Reverting to a two-site strategy would lead to higher visitor numbers and consequently, more income. This in turn would mean more public engagement and education and more money to spend on global conservation projects.

On Steven Spielberg’s Desert Island Discs when asked if cinema-going had a place in the 21st Century in the age of streaming and whether the same magic is possible on a laptop, he said;
 
“Yes, a great story can get you on your iPhone, but I prefer a super-size screen because what you get with that experience leaving home to go out to the movies is, you get basically to be with civilisation, to sit with strangers, who probably in real life don’t agree with anything that you agree with. But it doesn’t matter because you may agree on one thing and that’s what’s coming off the screen, what’s coming out of that soundtrack, the themes, there may be common ground found in movie theatres between people and ideologies that are so far apart in everyday life, but all come together to share one single experience. You can’t get that at home on a television screen, you can in a movie theatre.”
 
You can very easily extrapolate that argument to Bristol Zoo Gardens. Visitors represented a genuinely diverse cross-section of society and gave everyone in Bristol a reason to visit Clifton. Just like Steven Spielberg says about cinemas, at zoos, strangers with different ideologies, backgrounds and experiences, people you may not agree with anything else about in life, can share and be united by the same experience of making eye contact with a roaring lion, a munching gorilla, a playful seal or a cheeky meerkat. In that moment, you have common ground and frequently look at each other and smile. You can’t get that at home on a television screen watching a David Attenborough documentary, no matter how good it is.
 
Permanently being located only in South Gloucestershire means access will be mostly limited to people with cars and who need to make a difficult and off-putting drive out of the city. Its inaccessible location for Bristol, puts up barriers, especially for Bristol schools.

Sir David Attenborough once said, “No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced”. 
 
Taking the zoo out of the heart of Bristol can only mean that in the future, far fewer people from Bristol will have the chance to experience amazing exotic and endangered wildlife and consequently, will not want to protect it.