21st June 2021

Thank you to all those who signed our open letter to Boris Johnson calling for #NoMoreZooFunding!

930 of you took action against the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums' (BIAZA) call for the replacement of the government's existing £100m Zoo Animals Fund with a 'Zoo Recovery Fund'. 

We are pleased to say that we were successful in persuading the government to stand firm against this pressure from the zoo lobby.

The Zoo Animal Fund was designed with the intention to make sure animals didn't suffer further due to financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic. However the BIAZA-proposed 'Zoo Recovery Fund' would have gone much further and would have constituted a recovery package for the whole sector, bailing out failing zoos and continuing the cycle of suffering within zoos and aquariums.

The industry needs to be phased out, not allowed to continue and grow.

Freedom for Animals understands that the Zoo Animals Fund recently closed for new applications with just £12m of the £100m budget being spent, although monies already allocated will continue to be spent until the end of June.

Thank you once again for standing up for animals in zoos and aquariums, together we are one step closer to phasing out this cruel industry!

The zoo and aquarium industry does not need saving – the animals caught up within it do.