ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2020

I think we can all agree that working in London brings with it the challenge of affording to live within a commutable range.

I always felt they should build more staff accommodation into the site (lot of space under the Mapin) and have staff live on site like at the Tower of London. Not for the £120K Directors etc but for the keeping staff.

Just a thought about how they can save money and keep staff when all this is over.
 
cliffxdavis said:
I think we can all agree that working in London brings with it the challenge of affording to live within a commutable range.

I always felt they should build more staff accommodation into the site (lot of space under the Mapin) and have staff live on site like at the Tower of London. Not for the £120K Directors etc but for the keeping staff.

Just a thought about how they can save money and keep staff when all this is over.
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There is already a lodge that is used by some of the keepers/gun team, but I agree that more could be done. A lot of the keepers, from what I’ve heard, commute from pretty far out of London to get to work. I think ZSL do compensate them for their travel fees, but still...
 
Blog from the Director General about the impact on ZSL, the new information is the fact ZSL was rejected for a large loan under the governments Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Scheme as they do not turn a "profit" (surplus) yearly and therefore banks couldn't see them paying off the debt within the number of years required under that scheme.

ZSL faces existential challenge in wake of coronavirus
 
LucasRyan said:
Blog from the Director General about the impact on ZSL, the new information is the fact ZSL was rejected for a large loan under the governments Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Scheme as they do not turn a "profit" (surplus) yearly and therefore banks couldn't see them paying off the debt within the number of years required under that scheme.

ZSL faces existential challenge in wake of coronavirus
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Worrying...very worrying indeed.

Some major operating decisions now lie ahead for the Society. I fear this is bigger than the 1990s crisis.
 
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Panthera1981 said:
Worrying...very worrying indeed.

Some major operating decisions now lie ahead for the Society. I fear this is bigger than the 1990s crisis.
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I agree, unlike the 1990 crisis, there is no quick fix to getting money through the gate, as even once restrictions ease you can't expect to see the level of visitors normally achieved in the summer months to be sustainable with social distancing measures. So all Zoos will have a much reduced income throughout the key months of the year. Certainly no "Zoo Nights" style events which are key revenue makers.
 
Panthera1981 said:
Worrying...very worrying indeed.

Some major operating decisions now lie ahead for the Society. I fear this is bigger than the 1990s crisis.
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I guess there will be a public outcry if Govt. remain unchanged over any support for zoos and educational facilities.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I guess there will be a public outcry if Govt. remain unchanged over any support for zoos and educational facilities.
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You would think so.

Dartmoor’s PR team worked miracles when they announced they were in trouble, so hopefully ZSL’s should do the same and get this news into major media outlets. I’ve seen nothing yet but having this on website alone won’t suffice.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I guess there will be a public outcry if Govt. remain unchanged over any support for zoos and educational facilities.
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That is the plan. ZSL will be going hard in the media in the coming days with their story and that they couldn't get a loan under the government scheme in the hope of getting a government grant. While they have public support in usual times, these are unusual times when so many organisations and companies are in similar boats. I truly hope it works for them.
 
So, considering what the report says about funding, is ZSL unique in its setup when compared with other zoos? It seems to be both a blessing and a curse, the latter more so financially in the current climate.
 
Panthera1981 said:
So, considering what the report says about funding, is ZSL unique in its setup when compared with other zoos? It seems to be both a blessing and a curse, the latter more so financially in the current climate.
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I wouldn't have thought no different to say Chester Zoo for example in terms of work to support to wildlife around the world, research and education they do. Certainly if any grant does come from the government to ZSL, the other Zoos who don't fit the criteria for the Zoo Support Fund will surely be asking for the same.
 
The government need to give consideration to ensuring zoos don't close down, as in general they will be one of the safer places to visit after lockdown. Other attractions - theme parks, museums, cinemas or live sports will be lucky to be open again this year!!
 
pipaluk said:
The government need to give consideration to ensuring zoos don't close down, as in general they will be one of the safer places to visit after lockdown.
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Only if it’s feasible and makes financial sense to do so. Zoos won’t be able to open ‘as usual’ and there will be many factors to take into account before they do, including whether it’s financially viable to do so. Restricted numbers of visitors means less income that won’t cover the staff costs of opening. There will be many staff looking into this at all zoos - it’s not as simple as their sites (for the majority) being open air.
 
polarbear said:
Restricted numbers of visitors means less income that won’t cover the staff costs of opening.
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This is very true. Using the Jersey model for daily ticket sales of 500 people, works out at only 38 per hectare per day (compared to say 150 in CZ), which in say Bristol's case is very roughly about 175 people. Not worth their getting the shop staff in for that...
But remember when the 'Zoo Fund' was announced in Parliament it was set at UK£100m, now it is down to just £14m, but is stated to now be for 'small' zoos - we can only assume the remaining £86m is for for the big ones...? That should be fine for them, surely...
 
pipaluk said:
The government need to give consideration to ensuring zoos don't close down, as in general they will be one of the safer places to visit after lockdown. Other attractions - theme parks, museums, cinemas or live sports will be lucky to be open again this year!!
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One could argue that the “winner” (if there is one) in this situation for ZSL is Whipsnade: large, spacious area with plenty of room for social distancing thats 95% outside exhibit space and can restrict vehicles to the outer car park. London is hamstrung by its transport links and its claustrophobic footprint.
 
Panthera1981 said:
One could argue that the “winner” (if there is one) in this situation for ZSL is Whipsnade: large, spacious area with plenty of room for social distancing thats 95% outside exhibit space and can restrict vehicles to the outer car park. London is hamstrung by its transport links and its claustrophobic footprint.
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I agree, that's why I said zoos in general, I don't think it applies to London or Bristol, which are smallish areas with a lot of indoor exhibits
 
Panthera1981 said:
One could argue that the “winner” (if there is one) in this situation for ZSL is Whipsnade: large, spacious area with plenty of room for social distancing thats 95% outside exhibit space and can restrict vehicles to the outer car park. London is hamstrung by its transport links and its claustrophobic footprint.
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I agree Whipsnade is perfectly designed for a situation like this especially with the existing option of driving round the park.
 
britishzoofan said:
I agree Whipsnade is perfectly designed for a situation like this especially with the existing option of driving round the park.
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Having visited during the week before the Lockdown started, with 'social distancing' already being advised, I can agree with this- there were still a reasonable number of visitors but its comparatively easy to keep one's distance from others in the wide open spaces. Even if they kept indoor houses closed it would hardly affect a visit, apart from maybe the Aquarium/Butterfly House and indoor Elephant area.
 
Pertinax said:
Having visited during the week before the Lockdown started, with 'social distancing' already being advised, I can agree with this- there were still a reasonable number of visitors but its comparatively easy to keep one's distance from others in the wide open spaces. Even if they kept indoor houses closed it would hardly affect a visit, apart from maybe the Aquarium/Butterfly House and indoor Elephant area.
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As I mentioned on another thread, the same happened at Hamerton, but carried on for a further weekend - our numbers then were around a third of what would normally be expected, we had already erected glass screens at the entrances and in our shops, provided gel machines and extra hand-washing, and our visitors behaved very well. Had they been allowed to drive here, isolated in their own family cars, it is quite possible that we could have stayed open throughout this as the Government now says we could have... But whilst driving to the supermarket, and now the d-i-y store, or out into the country to exercise are all 'permitted journeys' - but a drive to the zoo to walk around its park is not, there will be no visitors and no income. Until this is addressed, whether a zoo can technically open or not is irrelevant...
 
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