It has been some time since I looked into in situ conservation contribution by European zoos and I thought it would be worthwhile to give some notable updates:
11. Burgers' Zoo, the Netherlands
Contribution: 1.025.000 euros
% of revenue spent on conservation: ±4.5% (note that this is a different number than I mentioned before, but I didn't update my calculations on time, this one should be correct based on pre-covid numbers)
The only Dutch zoo in the top 12 and one for which all spending is accounted for and this excludes research. Together with zoos nr. 9 and 2 on the list this is the one with the best administration of how funds were used and even that took some digging.
Burgers' Zoo is a zoo that actually spent more on conservation during COVID then afterwards. Last year it spent "only" 800.000 euros on their 2 main projects, but did not support any smaller projects as they did during COVID. They are still the Dutch zoo that spends most on conservation by a big big margin.
10. Pairi Daiza, Belgium
Contribution: 1.100.000 euros
% of revenue spent on conservation: 1.35%
This figure is very much a minimum estimate based on multiple years, the total could be higher, but there is a small chance it is lower. There is no clear account available and the only information available is in the typical woolly self-praising Pairi Daiza style, whose communication department is the one I dislike most... The real number is unclear, but through the Pairi Daiza Foundation it has made a one-off 3 million euro contribution to Spix' macaw conservation. So money is not a problem here. With the second highest revenue of any European zoo (81 million euros in 2021) the number is already less impressive.
Then there is Pairi Daiza. If there is one zoo that is more noise than substance, it is this behemoth. To their credit they have finally made a proper document to show which projects they support and what their overall contribution is to conservation. So let's have a look:
They claim to have donated 1.869.066 euros to conservation in 2023. A laudable sum, but:
Some 45.000 euros has gone to scientific research, e.g. donating towards research for an EEHV vaccin for elephants (for which their own news articles make it sound as if they are a major contributor, spoiler: they are not...)
Another 224.261 euros has gone to rescue centres/rehabilitation. Sounds nice, but although the exact figure is unclear by far the most of that money goes to the reptile rehabilitation centre in their own park... Which has basically nothing to do with conservation. A little bit of money goes to a chimpanzee orphanage and a local animal rehabilitation centre.
That leaves 1.599.683 euros that has gone to in situ conservation. But there is another catch. You can probably guess where the majority of that money goes to....
Exactly: China. The 1 million dollar panda fee that Pairi Daiza pays is written down as a contribution to conservation, but as we all know now, that money doesn't actually go to conservation. (The revelation that that money doesn't go towards where it should go is interesting from a tax perspective too. Pairi Daiza, just like Ouwehands Dierenpark, uses their charity to pay this fee, which saves some money in taxes. But if they money isn't used in the way it is intended, that could have some ramifications as to whether this money can be sent through such a charity at all....)
So in the end that leaves a relatively paltry total of ±635.000 euros that Pairi Daiza has actually contributed to in situ conservation. That is still a lot, but not for a zoo with the highest revenue of all European zoos. In fact Pairi Daiza spends the equivalent of some 0.5%-0.6% of their revenue towards in situ conservation. Which really is quite low. But for all the noise they make about how good they are with conservation, one would expect it to be far higher....
Part 2: the others
So this is the list you have been waiting for. These is the in situ contribution (in euros) for zoos for which I was able to find something I considered decently reliable. These are 2021 figures, except when noted otherwise. It isn't the prettiest bunch, but there are some real positives from small parks and bigger zoos that take conservation seriously. Note the very steep drop-off from our top-11 and top-15 downwards. See it as loads of room for improvement
12. Zoo Leipzig........................862.811
13. Bristol + Wild Place............630.540 (down from ±750.000 in 2018)
14. Parques Reunidos.............585.000 (0.1% of total revenue)
15. Bioparc Doué.....................500.000 (2022)
16. Wilhelma............................418.500 (minimum estimate)
17. Zoo Karlsruhe....................387.000
18. Colchester.......................... 361.600
19. Zoo Augsburg.....................350.000
20. Zoo Basel.......................... 300.000
21. Paignton + Newquay..... ....273.239
22. Marwell.............................. 262.326 (Includes donations from other zoos)
23. Zoo Dresden...................... 240.000
24. Zoo Berlin.......................... 229.515
German zoos have recently found out that you can raise significant sums of money by asking for a voluntary 1 euro contribution per ticket. So zoos that sell a lot of tickets, can raise a lot of money.
This means many have been able to significantly raise the amount of money they can donate towards in situ conservation. Two prime examples are:
Wilhelma, Stuttgart, has now raised just over 1 million euros for in situ conservation in that past 2 years.
The Berlin Zoos also mention they raised 910.000 euros in 2023 via this voluntary contribution, add to that another donation of nearly 170.000 euros and the Berlin Zoo have also surpassed the 1 million euro mark.
Other zoos are a bit behind, but a place like Cologne is also still increasing their annual contribution to in situ conservation and it was just over 400.000 euros in 2023.
