ZSL’s zoos are under threat. A government fund to help them can only be accessed if they are within 12 weeks of closure. If ever London and Whipsnade zoos got that close to closure they would have already had to start rehoming their thousands of animals. So far they have received none of the government aid money, and yet zoos need constant staff, have huge food and veterinary bills and need to retain a large percentage of their staff
Lockdowns hit zoos hard. The cagers are caged. The worst confinement Paris ever experienced was the Prussian siege of 1870 to 1871. After dogs, rats and leather boots, the zoo became haute cuisine. Victor Hugo dined on elephant steak and pronounced it inferior to bear.
London’s twin zoos, metropolitan in Camden, rural in Whipsnade, have suffered over the last year. Neither would ever go into the bush-meat market, but times have never in living memory been as tough – £20m tough and rising.
