UK zoos & lockdown going forward...

Cat-Man said:
although I will dispute that Dudley is Birmingham!
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But Birmingham does have a zoo within the city boundaries, and I also concur with Alan that Dudley is continuous with Birmingham. I can get from mine to Dudley on the bus and you never once leave the urban jungle that is The West Midlands Conurbation! ;)
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I was actually thinking of Birmingham as the third, not Edinburgh - Edinburgh Zoo is further from the city centre than one would think, certainly further than somewhere like Chester Zoo which is definitely not an urban collection, and Belfast which I am given to understand is also located on the city fringes.



To some degree it is a case of city zoos having closed down - look at Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff for instance - but there are definitely a surprising number of cities which have never been well-served where zoos are concerned :p Newcastle for instance.
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Edinburgh is reasonably far from the city centre, granted, but there is no doubt that it is in the city of Edinburgh. I'd be tempted to grant Belfast as the same, although a quick look on google maps does suggest it really is on the fringe.

I was not aware of there being a zoo in Cardiff; do you know what happened to it?

Brum said:
But Birmingham does have a zoo within the city boundaries, and I also concur with Alan that Dudley is continuous with Birmingham. I can get from mine to Dudley on the bus and you never once leave the urban jungle that is The West Midlands Conurbation! ;)
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Conceded on Dudley! ;) Although some fellow members have disputed Edinburgh and Belfast, and myself Dudley. Which means there are definitely three urban zoo's in the UK (dropping to two, shortly), potentially rising to 6 depending on who is asked.
 
I was always under the mind set that DUDLEY was in the Black Country and not Birmingham 2 different areas of the UK completely.
 
AdrianW1963 said:
I was always under the mind set that DUDLEY was in the Black Country and not Birmingham 2 different areas of the UK completely.
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Not really different areas geographically, but culturally completely different. I can get on the bus and visit a friend 4 miles away, she has a completely different accent and general differences crop up in the way we do things. The only thing separating us realistically is a postcode but the differences are noticable
 
Maguari said:
ZSEA (Banham/Africa Alive!) have managed to extract £752,000 from the notoriously-inaccessible Defra zoos fund for animal care costs and urgent repairs - I think they are the 'biggest' zoo organisation to benefit from it so far.

Africa Alive! | Animal Conservation | ZSEA » Banham Zoo and Africa Alive awarded Zoo Animals Fund grant (africa-alive.co.uk)
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Thanks for sharing this. Whilst its good news, it worries me what their finances are like for them to have been able to access this funding. It sounds like some of the money is going on essential repairs to enclosures which is also a bit troubling. Here's hoping this will be enough to keep both collections going!
 
Maguari said:
ZSEA (Banham/Africa Alive!) have managed to extract £752,000 from the notoriously-inaccessible Defra zoos fund for animal care costs and urgent repairs - I think they are the 'biggest' zoo organisation to benefit from it so far.

Africa Alive! | Animal Conservation | ZSEA » Banham Zoo and Africa Alive awarded Zoo Animals Fund grant (africa-alive.co.uk)
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Given how financially struggling an organisation has to be to access the fund then I'm seriously worried about the survival of one of the two collections. But hopefully, as pointed out by @Sand Cat above, then this may be enough to tide them over until April.
 
Sand Cat said:
Thanks for sharing this. Whilst its good news, it worries me what their finances are like for them to have been able to access this funding. It sounds like some of the money is going on essential repairs to enclosures which is also a bit troubling. Here's hoping this will be enough to keep both collections going!
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Yes - this application must have been made from the second round of ZooFund, as the first round was limited to £100,000.
At the time of their application they would have needed to demonstrate that they were within 12 weeks of financial collapse & closure. This is a binding legal requirement and will be subject to future legal and financial audits.
It appears that most zoos have been unable to prove this, so have either been turned down or have simply not applied in the first place.
 
Andrew Swales said:
Yes - this application must have been made from the second round of ZooFund, as the first round was limited to £100,000.
At the time of their application they would have needed to demonstrate that they were within 12 weeks of financial collapse & closure. This is a binding legal requirement and will be subject to future legal and financial audits.
It appears that most zoos have been unable to prove this, so have either been turned down or have simply not applied in the first place.
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If that is the case that is oddly reassuring.
 
Cat-Man said:
If that is the case that is oddly reassuring.
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It IS the case.
As you would expect - we have been through the forms very carefully!
The maximum total grant for the second round was 800,000 euros (including anything awarded under the first round) - so they appear to have been given this.
 
Andrew Swales said:
Yes - this application must have been made from the second round of ZooFund, as the first round was limited to £100,000.
At the time of their application they would have needed to demonstrate that they were within 12 weeks of financial collapse & closure. This is a binding legal requirement and will be subject to future legal and financial audits.
It appears that most zoos have been unable to prove this, so have either been turned down or have simply not applied in the first place.
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edit - presumably when BIAZA published the closure of 24 of its members, this would have been considerable help to any application.
So, if we assume that this confirms 2 of the 24, has anything been reported as to which the other 22 are?
 
jde7582 said:
Letter sent by BIAZA signed by 6 UK zoos

The time to act is now – zoos write to Government | Biaza
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Thank you for the link.
The letter is reported by BIAZA, but I could not see that it was sent by them as you state? Have I missed this..?
It appears to have been sent by 6 BIAZA members and refers specifically to 'charity' zoos - but of course does not refer to the large award to a BIAZA charity zoo member as reported higher above, which proves the fund can be accessed.
Would it not, also be strange for BIAZA to separate 6 of its premier members out as being more 'special' than the others?
Anyway, lets hope that a bandwagon of support starts rolling as a result, as it did last May/June - which helps all zoos, and not just an elite.
 
No you are correct, I just saw it on the BIAZA twitter account, kinda skimmed read it whilst working.

The zoos have written the leeters indepently, BIAZA have just highlighted them doing so.
 
Mayfield Alpacas Animal Park (in Sheffield area), which I can't see mentioned on the forum, featured on the BBC news this morning, reminding viewers of the difficult situation zoos etc are in.
 
I had been wondering when/how confirmation of zoo openings would be revealed and see it is expected tonight. I'm getting a little excited now!
 
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