Bristol Zoo (Closed) Bristol Zoo historical items for auction
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GeeZee
Well-Known Member
I’m not so sure, I mean it didn’t suprise me that they were going to go for above their estimated valuations although perhaps not quite as much as it did!
I think it was a very well publicised auction and a lot of those items were rather historic and certainly sentimental given the circumstance, I’ve occasionally seen the odd piece of memorabilia from various zoos on eBay racking up a lot of bids etc, and as i mentioned Edinburgh had a charity auction of their giraffe statues a few years ago with some fetching quite large sums.
I do agree though with what has also been said, it was perhaps likely a small group of wealthy individuals who jacked the prices up more than they otherwise would have been, I wonder if any of those “Save Bristol Zoo” types were involved, they were asking for people who win to donate it back lol.
Next I would guess will be Chester zoo auctioning of all there old signage after the new rebranding, the one they did a few years ago through eBay I believe was also successful so would imagine they would follow a similar route which would not inc the buyers premium for bidders
ZooNews2024
Well-Known Member
GeeZee
Well-Known Member
I have both been a buyer and a seller, their seller fees used to be towards the high side but recently I believe that they have reduced them (partly due to competition like Vinted etc)
It was 12% they took from sellers which is half the price of the auction houses though they recently did away with seller fees but not for business sellers. Chester being a charity seller I would think would fall into the former bracket and would imagine shipping is the same no matter who sends items
The sculpture trails are quite costly to put on, with no guarantee of a huge return at the end.
Marwell has hosted two trails in Southampton - rhinos and zebras
Paignton hosted two in Torbay - Rhinos and Gorillas, with one also extending to Exeter
Bristol defo had a gorilla trail around Bristol, and possibly one more, although Bristol is known more for its Aardman trails, including next year’s Gromit Unleashed 3
Colchester has had a giraffe trail
Jersey has had gorillas and tortoise trails
Can’t think of any others off the top of my head - does anyone know of any other zoos who have been involved?
The problem is that, as they are situated around the towns / cities of the zoo, they don’t always drive footfall to the actual zoo.
Bristol Zoo Project currently has an amazing Shaun the Sheep Trail focused on its work and Christmas - and all based around the zoo. Well worth a look if you’re in the area Find the Flock at Bristol Zoo Project - Bristol Zoo Project
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I think that Jersey’s gorilla and tortoise trails had at least one statue at the zoo to encourage people to visit to “collect them all”. And after the trails had all of the statues on show at the zoo. The gorilla one was particularly successful and raised over £1mil for their new gorilla house, don’t think the tortoise trails were far off that as well for a new reptile house.
In comparison, Paignton raised £123,000 and £100,000 from their two trails.
As public trails, the sculptures are in free to enter areas and so don’t need people to pay to enter the zoos, unless it was for the end events when all the sculptures were together.
I remember going to the ‘goodbye’ event at Bristol, where they put all the sculptures on the main lawn. Unfortunately, a long period of torrential rain happened once open and the poor gardeners saw their lawn totally ruined by all the people walking around to see all the sculptures!
Strathmorezoo
Well-Known Member
Bristol zoo auction of 45 benches yesterday, anyone know how much they made?
Strathmorezoo
Well-Known Member
I thought that it would have been a nice thing to have transferred some of them to the new site.
In particular, I wish that the bust of Bristol's Zoo's famous gorilla "Alfred" would have been retained for display at the new gorilla exhibit on the new site.
Agree. I was really surprised to see it in the auction. They say they have kept the original death mask but that's hardly a display item like the famous bust.
I did wonder if they kept any back .
GeeZee
Well-Known Member
I agree, while I think it’s nice that some of the items got auctioned (as mentioned they would have eventually been left to nature/vandalised/thrown away etc) where they go to a good home, some of the items particularly the bust would have been ideal to keep for the new site and for posterity.
Still, life moves on I guess, even though the new Bristol Zoo is miles better than the old one in many ways, I am still sad the old Bristol Zoo had to close and to see it stripped of everything is a shame. I doubt they will even really keep the gardens. I just hope the monkey house and the bear pole remain at least.
