UK Zoos closed due to COVID-19
- Thread starter pipaluk
- Start date
Not good considering the charitable status of most UK collections and with the Easter holidays approaching too.
Could this mean the end for some collections?
Could this mean the end for some collections?
How about thinking of the bigger picture of the collections needing to look after their teams of people, who ultimately need to look after their collections of animals and plants, and the impact of the virus on them, both in terms of limiting people getting it and the impact when many of the team do.
No collection will take the decision to close lightly as there will be so many factors to take into account.
Probably easier for Belfast as the council, who run the zoo, have made the decision.
Agree that it will be a hard time for many collections and wish all well during this unsure time for all. Some may not survive, as with many other businesses.
A worrying time for all so please continue to support your local / favourite / all collections with any decisions they may need to take.
That is true, but unless they are going to isolate themselves on site then they are still at risk every time they go shopping etc
I'm pretty sure that most animal care staff have more contact with each other then visitors
For the larger collections it’s not the animal care teams that keep the zoos open so the whole team need to be considered when keeping a collection open to the public.
To be honest the only people I ever really come into contact with are those in the pay kiosks when I enter the zoo, you could close down the cafes etc and indoor attractions and still keep an income coming in to pay for the animal feeds etc.
A lot of smaller zoos could go under because of it if they are forced to close.
But what about people working in shops etc. they are possibly at more risk and yet no one would be happy if all the shops closed down, yret the staff at zoos have to buy their groceries somewhere
A lot of smaller zoos could go under because of it if they are forced to close.
But what about people working in shops etc. they are possibly at more risk and yet no one would be happy if all the shops closed down, yret the staff at zoos have to buy their groceries somewhere
I wonder if purely indoor collections, principally public aquariums, are more likely to close or be closed?
I would think these might well be among the first affected. But whilst shops, pubs and restaurants are still open, I can't see the point in a lot of the more outdoor zoos being forced to shut.
But if you live with the people you are in the car with then I don't see it makes a difference.
As I understand it after a chat with a few people on face book if the Government make the 500+ people gathering a no go then most collections will have to close as it will be 500 people in/on any given location at one time this will affect many other places not just zoos
at whipsnade that would mean almost emtpy
As far as I aware, no UK zoos bar Belfast are at this time looking to close. Safety measures may be implemented such as walkthroughs being closed but having spoken to several colleagues across other collections, the general consensus is that zoos will carry on until the government advises otherwise. Other measures we are looking towards is stock piling on animal feeds, meat, hay/straw in the event that suppliers are not able to reach collection for any potential reason
Not a zoo exactly, but the ZSL Library has brought forward its planned Easter closure, and will now be closed until the 5th May
ZSL Library on Twitter
ZSL Library on Twitter
500 people in a stadium, a club, a theatre, or a festival crowd is very different to 500 people around a zoo or theme park (or indeed, a large city park) though. The key problem is people being crowded close together, particularly if they are indoors. If 500 people cannot occupy the same outdoor space, however large it is, then how to define that would be a nightmare (What about Oxford Street? Covent Garden? London streets as a whole?). Or could daily entrance numbers be restricted? 500 people at Whipsnade or Chester could be spread very thinly indeed!
Aquariums are an interesting and slightly different case; they can get quite crowded so might be a more obvious target.
If zoos are instructed to close, it will probably be because a blanket closure of controlled-entry tourist sites is judged easier to apply than picking and choosing among all the various types. I wouldn't worry until it happens though - places people can go to relax and be out of their houses in the fresh air but that are not full of dense crowds may well be very valuable to us in the coming months.
