London Zoo’s future in doubt as it struggles to obtain financial support during lockdown

Conservation charity says situation is 'very challenging'

A giraffe at London Zoo on 27 April, 2020. (EPA/NEIL HALL)

The future of London Zoo is in doubt as it is struggling to gain financial support during the coronavirus shutdown, the conservation charity which runs it has said.

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL), which also owns Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, said its income has dried up since both zoos closed shortly before lockdown.

Both sites have missed out on the peak season over Easter, when they would usually receive 250,000 visitors.

Despite the significant loss in income, ZSL still has to pay its usual costs for keepers and vets to look after its 20,000 animals.

Dominic Jermey, the director general of ZSL, said the situation was "very challenging".

The organisation is having difficulty obtaining financial support from banks, since it has no borrowing history.

It invests everything back into conservation and science, making it challenging to generate the profits needed to pay off a loan.

Mr Jermey said: "In good faith we are having conversations with very generous people who have supported us in the past, and with banks, in order to make sure the future does not remain perilous.

"But at the moment it's a very challenging moment for the organisation.”

He also added that "a national institution such as ZSL and its zoos cannot slip through the cracks."

London Zoo has only shut once before, for a fortnight during the Blitz, according to Mr Jermey.

The government has announced a £14 million fund to help zoos during the coronavirus crisis, but ZSL said it is more aimed at smaller rather than larger institutions.

ZSL’s scientific research looks at diseases in wildlife such as coronaviruses, while its global conservation programmes tackle issues such illegal wildlife trade.

PA