COVID-19 effects on zoos and animal conservation

[Andrew Swales]

In the Netherlands there is some confusion over whether zoos can open or not. The national government has laid out a plan for gradually re-opening certain sectors and first of June the museums can open again (with tight visitor restrictions). But zoos were not mentioned at all. In a tweet by the national health institute (RIVM) they said that zoos / themeparks were never forced to close by the government, so there is no reason they could not be open if they don't follow the proper distancing/hygiene restrictions. It may be true that some zoos closed "voluntarily", but others were ordered to close by regional governmental bodies: the local security councils. Additionally there is no way zoos could remain open when the government advice was to stay home as much as possible (note: there are practically no enforcible travel restrictions within the country (with a few exceptions), people are trusted to stay at home). What makes it extra confusing is that zoos and theme parks have lobbied to the relevant ministries to be able to open up again with new restrictions over the past weeks, but apparently that wasn't necessary. So there is a lot of confusion currently, but it seems likely that zoos will be able to open again soon, but the final decision rests with the local security council.

Sir - you have succinctly described the position in England, too ! Just a couple of differences - zoos here were not ordered to close by anyone, no regional bodies or local security (not even the police..) - we do have enforcable travel restrictions, ie a cumulative fine for any unnecessary journey of up to more than UK£2000 - so here it did go somewhat beyond 'advice' - and still does.

 

[lintworm]

And Wildlands is the first Dutch zoo that announces it will open again. Opening is set for May 25th, in the week prior they will test some of the precautions by allowing some members to visit. As expected tickets can only be ordered online and there is a limited daily capacity and the zoo will force people to keep 1.5 meters distance.

 

[haydn]

I think people expecting the lockdown to be lifted this weekend may be disappointed. But... that’s a conversation for a different forum. I do think (and hope) though, when the time comes, Zoo’s will be amongst some of the first places allowed to re-open. It will be easier to introduce social distancing - much easier than say somewhere like Alton Towers, and being outdoors provides a decent level of natural protection too compared to somewhere like a museum or cinema.

 

[Andrew Swales]

I do think (and hope) though, when the time comes, Zoo’s will be amongst some of the first places allowed to re-open.

Please remember that it is not a matter of being 'allowed to re-open' as the Government has said zoos were never asked or required to close in the first place, and could have been open all through this.
The issue is that the zoo visitors are not allowed to travel, so there is no point in the zoo being open because its visitors could not travel to it.
Driving to Tesco's, and now B&Q, or into the countryside to walk your dog or ride your bike is permitted travel and OK, but driving to a zoo to walk around it, is not and subject to a cumulative fine. This contradiction has to be addressed before a zoos visitors can visit again.

 

[jamie779]

PLE

Please remember that it is not a matter of being 'allowed to re-open' as the Government has said zoos were never asked or required to close in the first place, and could have been open all through this.
The issue is that the zoo visitors are not allowed to travel, so there is no point in the zoo being open because its visitors could not travel to it.
Driving to Tesco's, and now B&Q, or into the countryside to walk your dog or ride your bike is permitted travel and OK, but driving to a zoo to walk around it, is not and subject to a cumulative fine. This contradiction has to be addressed before a zoos visitors can visit again.

How patronising. "Please remember" that as far as I am aware, we are not government officals, merely members of the public, making a speculation on a "best outcome" scenario.

 

[Andrew Swales]

PLE

How patronising. "Please remember" that as far as I am aware, we are not government officals, merely members of the public, making a speculation on a "best outcome" scenario.

There was no way I or any-one could tell if you are a Government official or a member of the public. I was simply pointing out an error in a post which said wrongly 'allowed to re-open', and explaining why. I am sorry if you have taken a correction as patronising.

 

[Pertinax]

Please remember that it is not a matter of being 'allowed to re-open' as the Government has said zoos were never asked or required to close in the first place, and could have been open all through this.
The issue is that the zoo visitors are not allowed to travel, so there is no point in the zoo being open because its visitors could not travel to it.
Driving to Tesco's, and now B&Q, or into the countryside to walk your dog or ride your bike is permitted travel and OK, but driving to a zoo to walk around it, is not and subject to a cumulative fine. This contradiction has to be addressed before a zoos visitors can visit again.

Things may alter somewhat after Sunday, as there are hints further outdoor activities may be among the first 'easings'. However I am sure they will still want to prevent sudden mass arrivals at honeypots like beaches and beauty spots, so it will be interesting to see what travel restrictions, if any, are lifted. Unfortunately, in order to be as comprehensive as possible, these restrictions do seem to contain many grey areas. Most of the fines imposed by police, in the South West at any rate, for contravention of lockdown rules, have been in the 'non-essential' travel category, it appears- people making longer journeys and for reasons other than the current 'advice' allows.

 

[Andrew Swales]

Most of the fines imposed by police, in the South West at any rate, for contravention of lockdown rules, have been in the 'non-essential' travel category, it appears- people driving into one county from another etc.

The inconsistency is grossly discriminatory. 'Grey areas' alone will inhibit confidence, trust in and respect for Government, and recovery. We are in Cambridgeshire just 3 miles from Northamptonshire, our visitors come pretty equally from both, as well as further away - what has a county boundary got to do with anything? - especially as your own family car is probably the best possible place to self isolate...

 

[Hvedekorn]

The press conference as of tonight has revealed that Danish zoos will not open in May as many people expected, and a potential re-opening will happen in June at its earliest (but quite possibly later as the reopening is slow and cautious). The State Serum Institute had otherwise listed zoos (and museums which won't open either) as "low risk" for a reopening, but our government has chosen to re-open schools further as well as opening everything retail-related that hadn't opened already.

I'm just crossing my fingers that as many of our zoos as possible get through this. Many of the smaller zoos have already stated that they won't survive until the summer without more emergency funding, so time will tell if that will happen.

 

[Pertinax]

The inconsistency is grossly discriminatory. 'Grey areas' alone will inhibit confidence, trust in and respect for Government, and recovery. We are in Cambridgeshire just 3 miles from Northamptonshire, our visitors come pretty equally from both, as well as further away - what has a county boundary got to do with anything? - especially as your own family car is probably the best possible place to self isolate...

Yes, I rephrased that bit and removed the reference to county boundaries as not really accurate in some cases. Its more long journeys and for the 'wrong' reasons...I agree cars are ideal for self isolation. The problem can be what people do when they get out of them at the end of the journey- I am not referring to zoo visiting here. I find it interesting that this issue has produced more fines than say, not socially distancing etc. People still want to get out during this...

 

[Andrew Swales]

We have had visits since lock-down from terminally ill people wanting to see animals as part of a personal bucket list. The police have formally approved this and our local authority confirmed central Governments statement that we did not have to close in the first place and needn't be closed now. If this is now in the hands of just the Police, not Government, we wait until next week before writing to them for a formal position, just in case something different is announced on Sunday; however unlikely this many be.

 

[Mr. Zootycoon]

In the Netherlands there is some confusion over whether zoos can open or not. The national government has laid out a plan for gradually re-opening certain sectors and first of June the museums can open again (with tight visitor restrictions). But zoos were not mentioned at all. In a tweet by the national health institute (RIVM) they said that zoos / themeparks were never forced to close by the government, so there is no reason they could not be open if they don't follow the proper distancing/hygiene restrictions. It may be true that some zoos closed "voluntarily", but others were ordered to close by regional governmental bodies: the local security councils. Additionally there is no way zoos could remain open when the government advice was to stay home as much as possible (note: there are practically no enforcible travel restrictions within the country (with a few exceptions), people are trusted to stay at home). What makes it extra confusing is that zoos and theme parks have lobbied to the relevant ministries to be able to open up again with new restrictions over the past weeks, but apparently that wasn't necessary. So there is a lot of confusion currently, but it seems likely that zoos will be able to open again soon, but the final decision rests with the local security council.

If I'm not mistaken one zoo has actually remained open in the Netherlands (Dierenpark de Paay), but they had very few visitors.

 

[Hvedekorn]

The Danish government has now announced the next phase which involves a reopening of zoos and aquaria on June 8th if the infection rate doesn't reach unexpected heights before then.

But the future is still looking a bit bleak for many zoos if the economic funding isn't increased - so I certainly hope that'll happen.

 

[MRJ]

The Australian government has announced a three stage opening process this last Friday. As it relates to zoos:

Stage 1. Zoos are to remain closed.
Stage 2. Zoos may reopen with no more than 20 patrons at any one time.
Stage 3. Zoos may reopen with no more than 100 patrons at any one time.

The timing of implementation of each stage is up to each individual state or territory government.

 

[Andrew Swales]

Surely at stage 2 as above, opening would be uneconomic for any zoo, unless it was for pre-booked groups of photographers say (or some other selected group) paying much more than a standard entry fee? Most larger zoos could not afford to open at stage 3 either, for just 100 visitors, so smaller ones could benefit at that stage....
That is a very different situation compared to Prague's Government set re-opening figure of 8500 patrons and Jersey's self-imposed one of 500.

 

[Jana]

Interesting bit from Slovakia - all zoos are open again since this week (Wednesday). And they have no set limitation of daily visitors. You can buy your tickets as usual at entrance (in cash or by card). However inner spaces of animal houses and restaurants are still closed (they will open in cca 2 weeks I think). And souvenir shops and toilets can be entered by only 1 person at time.

 

[Andrew Swales]

UK looks set for another 3 weeks of lock-down - and the emergency 'zoo fund' has been reduced from UK£100m to UK£14m, and each claim capped...

 

[Jana]

I have just seen a nice idea how to get additional revenue. Zoopark Chomutov has started to turn its museum of local old village architecture from pure exhibition to hotel rooms and apatments. The whole areal will remain "Bohemian rustical", people will be able to rent a B+B and also feed some goats and sheep, popular swimming lake is nearby. Opening date around half of June so it earns them revenue during whole main summer season.

According to local news, summer resorts in Czech mountains and rural areas are practically all fully booked and prices per night are higher than last year due to high demand. Czechs want their summer family holidays and while popular places like Italy/Spain are unavailable, they book here, even our tourist agencies look for alternatives so they dont need to return money for cancelled beach resorts to their customers.

I guess the situation will be similar in the UK (and elsewhere) soon when internal travel restrictions will be lifted but travelling abroad still largely prohibited. Maybe struggling zoos might think about any unused space they have. And turn it into simple summer-style accomodation. It can be single rooms, improvised wooden cottages, tents, caravans for rent. Add some "meeting with tame coati" and "clean horse stables", slap a ridiculous price on it and earn good money.

In other news, Prague zoo sold today almost 6.000 tickets. That is 2x more than last week same day. The zoo is back towards cca 2/3 of its usual attendance.

 

[Simon Hampel]

Stage 2. Zoos may reopen with no more than 20 patrons at any one time.

"The average visitor stays no more than 2 hours - with that turnover, we should be able to get at least 80 people through per day"

"But what about those people from ZooChat?"

"Ahh yes, well - we'll aim for 20 then and hope to get more if we can avoid too many visits from those pesky ZooChat people who outstay their welcome"

 

[MRJ]

"The average visitor stays no more than 2 hours - with that turnover, we should be able to get at least 80 people through per day"

"But what about those people from ZooChat?"

"Ahh yes, well - we'll aim for 20 then and hope to get more if we can avoid too many visits from those pesky ZooChat people who outstay their welcome"

We have had to devise a simple test to keep them out. We ask visitors to name the elephants at Taronga Zoo.

If they look confused we let them in.

If they try to answer we refuse them - obviously a zoochatter.