UK zoos & lockdown going forward...

jde7582 said:
After the 1st of January, with the brexit agreement finally completed, will the government be able to offer more support, due to the current EU rules on government hand outs.
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It is possible - but do not blame EU restriction for the way the latest ZooFund 'offer' was constructed. Up to 800,000 euro was theoretically available for every claimant, but the application procedure and requirements were wholly that of the UK Government and not the EU. Other EU Government's were able to help their zoos, the Czechs for example granting each the equivalent of their annual animal feed costs, right at the very start. All the last well publicised ZooFund did was to stop public donations pretty much totally, as the public were told the Government was helping - when of course there were no successful applications as the funds could only be accessed by proving the impossible, ie that a zoo was within 12 weeks of closure.
 
J C said:
I would get your visits in sone to any collections you can legally now Boris has a tier 4 button I can see him pressing it a lot in the next few weeks :(
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More sense and better management skills from Boris the Chimp than our PM through this 'crisis'!
 
Andrew Swales said:
Not the UK Government - till now at any rate!
Zoos (save the Wildfowl Trust) were treated as 'indoor leisure' for nine months. We can only hope that this legally formalised about-face of opinion in the form of an SI, will at least provide some sort of precedent, and when we come out of the third full lockdown (in say March?, or later..) then Zoos will be able to open sooner than last June.
It is evident that Covid spikes have not occurred here as a result of open-air activities being allowed, or happening illegally. The mass crowds at National Trust properties, at Brighton beach, the race riots in London and indeed at some zoos which did not voluntarily restrict foot-fall, did not result in spikes of Covid cases; these happened first time after Government allowed air-travel, schools and universities to re-open (all indoors), and secondly after the country opened up again on December 2nd to go Christmas shopping.
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Have to say that back in the June reopening we were treated the same as museums. Of course Victoria closed down again after COVID escaped but when reopening in October zoos were split from museums and opened much earlier. It seems that maybe the evidence has only become clear in recent months.
 
MRJ said:
Have to say that back in the June reopening we were treated the same as museums. Of course Victoria closed down again after COVID escaped but when reopening in October zoos were split from museums and opened much earlier. It seems that maybe the evidence has only become clear in recent months.
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That is interesting, and along with the vaccination; does give some hope for the medium term.
2021 could be a very different year....
 
jde7582 said:
After the 1st of January, with the brexit agreement finally completed, will the government be able to offer more support, due to the current EU rules on government hand outs.
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Considering the fact that zoos across the EU have been helped by their respective governments far, far more than those here in the UK have, you cannot pin the way *our* government has handled zoos on the EU in the slightest :p the fact several members of parliament, and the current partner of the PM, are known to be anti-zoo has far more bearing on the matter!
 
Whipsnade and London zoo reopening from December 31st.
Interesting line from the email,do they know something we don't lol



Please note that from Tuesday 5 January there may be some changes to opening days or times at ZSL London Zoo only, as we respond to further government guidance. This means that tickets for 5-8 January will not be available for now. We will make a further announcement about this on 4 January.
 
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sparkes12 said:
Whipsnade and London zoo reopening from December 31st.
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That is very definite!
Perhaps you should have said, planning to... ?
There us every chance they will be (or could be) in the new Tier 5 by then, and the Tier 4 exemptions will then not apply.
The gov.uk web-site still says today that currently Zoos are closed and cannot be visited, if you are in Tier 4 - in complete contradiction of the S.I. published on Christmas Eve.
 
sparkes12 said:
Whipsnade and London zoo reopening from December 31st.
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I got the email earlier too, I am surprised how few zoos are open in tier 4. Hamerton, Banham, Africa Alive and Woburn (though they want £50 per car!) in the east, can't find any more. Marwell is open too, I haven't looked at Kent.
I went to Hamerton yesterday, it was far safer than the local supermarket!
 
pipaluk said:
I got the email earlier too, I am surprised how few zoos are open in tier 4. Hamerton, Banham, Africa Alive and Woburn (though they want £50 per car!) in the east, can't find any more. Marwell is open too, I haven't looked at Kent.
I went to Hamerton yesterday, it was far safer than the local supermarket!
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For the first 24 days of December our visitor numbers were running at around 160% of 2019. We re-opened on 27th after the Christmas break, and since then the number has been around 30% of last year - presumably due to the confusion and none of the local media giving ANY mention of the Christmas Eve changes. Current footfall probably means we are losing money by being open, although we haven't had the time and/or inclination to do the calculations; but I can certainly see why larger zoos would stay closed and keep all the front-of-house staff on Furlough.
 
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Andrew Swales said:
For the first 24 days of December our visitor numbers were running at around 160% of 2019. We re-opened on 27th after the Christmas break, and since then the number has been around 30% of last year - presumably due to the confusion and none of the local media giving ANY mention of the Christmas Eve changes. Current footfall probably means we are losing money by being open, although we haven't had the time and/or inclination to do the calculations; but I can certainly see why larger zoos would stay closed and keep all the front-of-house staff on Furlough.
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I don't think the mixed messages being sent out are helpful to those zoos that are open. Most zoos have we are ordered to close plastered on the front page of their websites and social media, if someone sees this for one zoo they assume all are closed. The BBC does not list going to the zoo or other outdoor attractions as things you can do in tier 4. During the last lockdown I was astonished to find the grounds of a local stately home were allowed to open whilst all zoos were shut, it is a shame many zoos will not benefit from the government's change of heart due to lack of publicity. Though Marwell has sold out for the next 4 days!
 
pipaluk said:
I don't think the mixed messages being sent out are helpful to those zoos that are open. Most zoos have we are ordered to close plastered on the front page of their websites and social media, if someone sees this for one zoo they assume all are closed. The BBC does not list going to the zoo or other outdoor attractions as things you can do in tier 4. During the last lockdown I was astonished to find the grounds of a local stately home were allowed to open whilst all zoos were shut, it is a shame many zoos will not benefit from the government's change of heart due to lack of publicity. Though Marwell has sold out for the next 4 days!
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I am not so sure that continuing to tell people they cant visit the zoo on the Government web-site, having the same 'mixed message' (to be very charitable) pedalled by the National broadcaster and sneaking in the S.I. on a day they hoped no-one would be watching, is actually evidence of a 'change of heart'.
Presumably there is a motive for their actions, so we will have to wait and see what it really is...
 
New English rules say no leaving home unless necessary, I am guessing this means zoos will be forced to close again.
 
Mattaki said:
New English rules say no leaving home unless necessary, I am guessing this means zoos will be forced to close again.
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I guess so, but tier 4 said that too. Also, the grounds of stately homes were allowed to open in November lockdown! ! Who knows?!!
 
pipaluk said:
I guess so, but tier 4 said that too. Also, the grounds of stately homes were allowed to open in November lockdown! ! Who knows?!!
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Can you 'exercise' by going to a zoo?. Can you still drive to exercise? Can you drive to a zoo( if its still open) to exercise? Is it an essential journey?- probably not.
 
Pertinax said:
Can you 'exercise' by going to a zoo?. Can you still drive to exercise? Can you drive to a zoo( if its still open) to exercise? Is it an essential journey?- probably not.
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The car park of the stately home I refer to was packed in the November lockdown! Why should that be open when for example Whipsnade is forced to close? Ridiculous!! English Heritage obviously are more important than ZSL or any other zoo!.....
 
jde7582 said:
The new rules, lists zoos, aquariums and safari parks to close unfortunately.
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Joke unless all English Heritage and National Trust properties are also forced to close! That didn't happen in November!!
 
pipaluk said:
The car park of the stately home I refer to was packed in the November lockdown! Why should that be open when for example Whipsnade is forced to close? Ridiculous!! English Heritage obviously are more important than ZSL or any other zoo!.....
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The SI published on Christmas Eve re-classified the outdoor parts of zoos in the same category as those at the National Trust and public parks and gardens. But from my reading this was only under the tier system for tier 4 and below.
Now, if the tier system has been abandoned, we are in the same position where we were during the first lockdown or just after (?) with some farm parks (such as a local one to us), the National Trust and the Wildfowl Trust (separated from other zoo-licence holders) allowed to stay open and trade?
The major difference is of course that this time as in November, there is no 'holiday' from bank charges as was forced on the banks first time and as yet repayments on CBILs loans and the extension of the leisure industry VAT reductions have NOT been extended by the forced closure periods. Lobbying for an extension by one month to cover November has failed, thus far.
Public donations pretty much dried up during the second lock-down too, so I as I mentioned before, we really are on our own this time...
 
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