Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of life throughout the world, and the zoo industry is no exception. Zoos and aquariums across the UK have had to close for prolonged periods of time and some have been vocal about the financial struggles they have faced.5-7 Most zoos are not charities, and ultimately rely on visitor income to secure basic operating revenue, generate profits and maintain their financial viability. Some may have received a degree of support thanks to the generosity of the public and others, with many openly appealing for financial assistance.8-10 As of May 2021, 56 zoos had also received support from the government’s Zoo Animals Fund, although the zoo industry has argued that this financial support was inaccessible for many.11,12 This pandemic relief fund closed at the end of May 2021, after awarding a total of £12m to eligible zoos.13 An examination of the finances of zoos that are members of the Consortium of Charitable Zoos and are established as charitable organisations, and whose annual reports are therefore publicly available via the Charity Commission (responsible for registering and regulating charities in England and Wales), provides an insight into the financial contributions made by CCZ zoos to in situ (in a species’ habitat and range) conservation.14 The same annual reports also give an insight into the degree of reserves held by CCZ members in preparation for enforced closure and their ongoing ability to feed, and care for the animals they are responsible for.

THE CONSORTIUM OF CHARITABLE ZOOS

The Consortium of Charitable Zoos consists of nine British zoological societies which, between them, operate 13 zoos (Appendix 1). They represent some of the largest zoos in the UK in terms of revenue and collection size. In 2005, they commissioned a report by a company specialising in lobbying and securing external funding for the zoo industry, entitled, “The Manifesto of Zoos,” in an attempt to, “establish the overall value and true ‘public good’, actual and potential, available to British Society through the progressive UK zoos.”1,15 This report was challenged by Born Free in 2007 with the release of “Committed to Conservation? An overview of the Consortium of Charitable Zoos’ in situ conservation dividend.” Born Free’s report concluded that “the claims that the “Progressive zoos are leaders in conservation, not followers” is not supported by the evidence, if commitment of resources to in situ field conservation is the criteria used.”16 Today, the zoological societies within the CCZ continue their association and during the pandemic collectively called on the UK government to review the Zoo Animals Fund.17

Like many other zoos across the country, every CCZ member has issued an appeal for donations from the public during their enforced closure resulting from the COVID-19 crisis.18-27 As of April 2021, these fundraising efforts have reportedly raised in excess of £4.8 million for CCZ member zoos, with additional funding likely to have been donated directly via the zoos’ websites. Despite this, CCZ members have continued to appeal for further funds. Dudley Zoo and Castle announced in September 2020 that they had been forced to use, ‘all the cash reserves…set aside for development work to survive’. 28 Living Coasts, run by the Wild Planet Trust, closed permanently in June 2020 blaming “falling visitor numbers and the forced closure of all its zoos due to COVID-19”. 29 This led to an admission from the Wild Planet Trust that some animals may need to be euthanised before announcing four days later that new homes had been found for all animals within the collection.30,31

ZOO CONSERVATION

In 2003, the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 (ZLA) was amended to incorporate aspects of the 1999 EC Zoos Directive.32 The Directive requires zoos to undertake conservation and education measures. Section 1A of the ZLA currently requires zoos to participate in at least one of five conservation measures to meet their licensing obligations: (i) Research resulting in conservation benefits for a species, (ii) Training in appropriate conservation skills, (iii) Exchanging information which relates to species conservation, (iv) Captive breeding (where appropriate), (v) Repopulating or reintroducing a species into the wild (where appropriate).

Guidance is provided to zoo operators in the Secretary of State’s Standards for Modern Zoo Practice, the Zoos Expert Committee Handbook, and the World Associations of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) Conservation Strategy, among other sources.33-35 Throughout the pandemic, a number of zoos have publicly claimed that they are going to have to suspend their conservation and education work, in spite of this being a license requirement.36,37

One area of conservation which zoos could suspend without legal ramifications is their financial contribution to in situ conservation. Currently, zoos are not obliged to financially contribute towards in situ conservation in order to meet their conservation requirements.33 Previous research revealed that CCZ members contributed 4 – 6.7% of their income to in situ conservation, well below the public perception that UK zoos spend around 25% of their income on conservation in the wild.16 An independent survey carried out in 2017 found that UK zoos spend less than 10% of what their visitors expect on conservation.38 In 2015, the WAZA Conservation Strategy recommended that zoos “develop an operational budget that supports conservation over the long term and is not solely dependent on external donations.”35 Their recommended contribution was just 3% of a zoo’s annual operating budget. While financial contributions are by no means the only measure of support for in situ conservation, greater financial support increases the likelihood of zoos contributing to successful conservation.39 One CCZ member recently stated, “progressive zoos like ours are powerhouses in conservation.”40 It is important that statements such as this are contextualised and validated, especially where they are being used to encourage financial support.

This study attempts to establish the financial contributions of CCZ members to in situ conservation pre-COVID-19, and to examine their financial preparedness in the event of closure to the public.

An orangutan kept in captivity for life in Dudley Zoo. Meanwhile CCZ members spend just 4.2% of income on conservation in the wild.