UK zoos & lockdown going forward...

Sand Cat said:
I would like to see the extent of funding available based on typical feeding costs. Bigger zoos do tend to waste money to some extent, on extravagant exhibits, high salaries for management etc. but you can't cut costs in the short term when it comes to feeding your animals! So, I feel that would probably be the best way to determine who gets what - otherwise you could end up where one zoo gets more money than another simply because they pay their admin staff a higher wage.
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I'll stand corrected, but as far as I can recall this is exactly what the Czechs did at the start. All their zoos received a grant equal to the annual feed budget for the year before, as approved in their audited accounts. It struck me as very efficient and very logical, using figures already on-hand and minimising delays and admin work - and a very simple plan to 'sell' to the media.
God forbid that the UK adopt a 'foreign' idea though, even IF it is a good one...
 
Andrew Swales said:
I'll stand corrected, but as far as I can recall this is exactly what the Czechs did at the start. All their zoos received a grant equal to the annual feed budget for the year before, as approved in their audited accounts. It struck me as very efficient and very logical, using figures already on-hand and minimising delays and admin work - and a very simple plan to 'sell' to the media.
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Or just the annual animal care budget in general - for example, Chester would get £5.58 million as part of this scheme. That would basically cover a third of the running costs each month, leaving them with enough money to be financially stable by the beginning of 2021.

Hopefully the recent plea from Twycross will get people listening - BIAZA seem keen to talk about eligibility.
 
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So with Leiscter and parts of the surrounding county due to shutdown again does anyone know how this will affect the local collections like Twycross?
 
Brum said:
So with Leiscter and parts of the surrounding county due to shutdown again does anyone know how this will affect the local collections like Twycross?
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Twycross is well outside the lockdown area, so the only obvious effect will be on people (staff and visitors) coming from Leicester. Any staff affected will still be able to travel in (assuming they don't need to take over childcare etc), so the visitors will be the only big one I think - but even then, it's only those already booked; most of Twycross' catchment area is unaffected so I don't think it'll affect sales too much.
 
Nathano said:
Or just the annual animal care budget in general - for example, Chester would get £5.58 million as part of this scheme. That would basically cover a third of the running costs each month, leaving them with enough money to be financially stable by the beginning of 2021.

Hopefully the recent plea from Twycross will get people listening - BIAZA seem keen to talk about eligibility.
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The 'animal care budget in general', includes wages, heating, maintenance, water, service vehicles, waste disposal, Vet, labs, animal movement etc - in addition to the feed budget which formed the basis of the CZ funding. Hamerton would actually suffer disproportionately if the CZ formula were applied, as much of our fresh fruit and vegetable supply comes from carefully cultured relationships with local business, resulting in donations. This keeps our actual food bill under control, but it is not 'free' as it takes much labour and vehicle costs, and waste disposal fees, to process and handle. But, as we are in the UK and not CZ, these relationships and some excellent and very generous new ones, have served us well over the past months, and continue to do so.
Under the new UK ZooFund, so far as I can see, Chester along with Twycross and others, is eligible for a maximum of £800,000 - IF, they can fit the application criteria.
The current threats by Twycross about the euthanasia of animals, now put them in the same camp as Neumünster, Tropiquaria and Borth (and Sir David Attenborough?) - I wish them well and hope it is a wise route for them to take.
 
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It was mentioned on the Chester thread that a number of senior keepers and groundstaff all left on one day very recently. Does anyone know what the background to this is? It is presumably related to the recent closure of the zoo for several months but I don't understand why this is happening now the zoo has re-opened.
 
Pertinax said:
It was mentioned on the Chester thread that a number of senior keepers and groundstaff all left on one day very recently. Does anyone know what the background to this is? It is presumably related to the recent closure of the zoo for several months but I don't understand why this is happening now the zoo has re-opened.
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I believe they offered voluntary redundancy to at least some of their staff recently - can only assume these were the people that took them up the offer.

Edit to say - reopening with limited numbers of visitors is not going to recoup the loss of revenue while they were closed and means they are still running on less income than under normal circumstances. They will still need to make efficiencies to continue in this way - reducing their staffing costs is one way of doing this.
 
Zia said:
I believe they offered voluntary redundancy to at least some of their staff recently - can only assume these were the people that took them up the offer.

Edit to say - reopening with limited numbers of visitors is not going to recoup the loss of revenue while they were closed and means they are still running on less income than under normal circumstances. They will still need to make efficiencies to continue in this way - reducing their staffing costs is one way of doing this.
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That all makes a lot of sense, another tangible evidence of the ongoing negative effect of the extended closure. I'm wondering if other Zoos have had to do likewise. Probably.
 
The chancellor has just announced a VAT cut to 5% for the tourism, hospitality and attraction sectors. I wonder if zoo’s will pass this saving onto visitors?
 
TriUK said:
Sorry, I don’t understand this comment?
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From the BBC's text coverage:

'Rishi Sunak announces the government will give everyone 50% off meals in participating restaurants during August. He says the discount will go up to £10 per head for adults and children, and apply Monday to Wednesday. He says the scheme will help people "Eat Out to Help Out" the hospitality sector.'

There's no further detail on the participating restaurants, but I doubt it would apply to zoo-based catering outlets.
 
It's even better than that they get a tax cut from 20% to 5% till January.

Didn't see the original post but zoos are definitely included.
 
TriUK said:
Sorry, I don’t understand this comment?
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The chancellor has just announced a VAT cut to 5% for the tourism, hospitality and attraction sectors. I wonder if zoo’s will pass this saving onto visitors?

Neither do I...
With a second wave of lock-downs already happening in countries like Australia, where some zoos are faced with another 6 weeks minimum of closures - we have to take all the money we can, as fast as we can - before the inevitable happens here. I dont see why there is a continuous demand for zoos to pass on anything they might get to the visitors; it makes a mockery of all the kind donations which have got us though thus far,
 
When I heard the chancellor, it seemed that taxpayers' money would be used to pay towards the cost of the meal.
 
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