Battersea Park Children's Zoo Reopens After Lockdown
Huge response to crowdfunding helped it survive through months of closure
Robin the Asian short-clawed otter
Battersea Park Children's Zoo has reopened this Monday (12 April) after more than four months of closure as a result of the national lockdown.
This had been the third time the zoo was forced to close in the past year due to the pandemic. As the zoo relies entirely on the public to fund its work through ticket sales, being closed for so long was a huge challenge for the zoo.
With monthly running costs of over £25,000 to care for more than 100 animals from endangered ring-tailed lemurs to cheeky otters and meerkats, the zoo has struggled to continue with its conservation and education work without its vital income. It receives no government funding and no support from the local council so it relies heavily on visitors.
Mosegi the meerkat
Jamie Baker, Head Keeper at Battersea Park Children's Zoo said, “As part of the government's roadmap, zoos were given the green light to reopen from Monday 12th April and since reopening we have seen swathes of people visiting the zoo, many for the first time after seeing the zoos struggle in the local news. We've been inundated with new members and supporters and we hope that this will continue throughout the summer to put us in a strong position to get through the slower winter months.
The Keeper Team at Battersea Park Zoo
“We cannot thank the local community enough for their support, and to everyone that pledged donations towards our Crowdfunder. Between our first lockdown Crowdfunder and our most recent one we have raised over £30,000 - a staggering amount that has undoubtedly helped the zoo to survive this unprecedented situation.
“Every year we educate over 8500 school children from across London through our zoo-based education programme, connecting children from all backgrounds to wildlife conservation. Working with modern zoos from across Europe, Battersea Park Children's Zoo is involved in a number of key conservation breeding programmes, including the EEP (European Endangered Species Breeding Programme) for Scottish wildcats, Bali Starlings and Cotton-top tamarins - all species on the verge of extinction. All of this important work now has a future thanks to the support of the public when they visit the zoo to see our work first hand. “
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
April 16, 2021