Bristol Zoo Gardens reaches its 185th anniversary

Bristol Zoo Gardens marks an historic milestone on July 11 -- the 185th anniversary of the day it opened.

Since then more than 90 million people have visited, many of them coming first as children, then parents, and then bringing their grandchildren.

Dr Justin Morris, Chief Executive of Bristol Zoological Society, said: “Like probably every family in Bristol we came to the Zoo when I was a boy and we have lots of shared memories of visiting the Zoo over the years and seeing so many different animals.”

Today the Zoo is home to around 250 species, a number of which are at risk of extinction in the wild. Among them are the western lowland gorillas, whose family at the Zoo have seen two infants born in the past 12 months.

Hasani arrived in August last year and just before Christmas a second young male, Juni, was born. One of the Zoo’s gorillas, Afia, made headlines around the world when she was delivered by emergency caesarean section in 2016.

Bristol Zoo Gardens has earned international acclaim for its breeding programmes. In 1934 the first chimpanzee to be conceived and born at a European Zoo was born at Clifton. 

In 2017 it became the first Zoo to breed critically endangered Desertas wolf spiders and two years later was the first in the UK to hatch endangered blue tree monitor lizards.

The Zoo’s keepers, conservation scientists and veterinary team are also involved in 14 conservation and research projects in 10 countries helping species, including lemurs in Madagascar, that are at risk of being wiped out.

Dr Morris said: “Our breeding programmes and conservation work are at the heart of everything we do, something reflected in our mission statement, Saving Wildlife Together.”

Over the years the Zoo has seen many famous animals. One of the most celebrated was Alfred the gorilla.

He lived at the Zoo from 1930 until 1948 and became internationally famous as visiting American troops sent letters home, telling loved ones about him during the Second World War.

The Zoo also used to have elephants. Rosie in the 1940s and 1950s, then Christina and finally Wendy who died in 2002 -- the Zoo’s last elephant.

In November last year, plans were announced for the Zoo to leave Clifton and move to its sister site at Wild Place Project on the northern edge of the city. 

Dr Morris said: “It was a difficult decision but we have a duty to ensure that Bristol Zoological Society and Bristol Zoo will continue long into the future and moving is the right option.

“The Zoo’s new home will have almost 11 times as much space and we are intending that more than 90 percent of its animals will be species that have a targeted conservation programme.

“It will be a Zoo for the 21st century, forward thinking and with conservation at its heart. It will continue and expand the work that has gone on at Bristol Zoo Gardens for the past 185 years and, as we mark this anniversary, we can look forward to the future with confidence.”

Bristol Zoo Gardens will close late next year and the new Bristol Zoo will open at Wild Place Project in 2024. Wild Place Project will remain open until it becomes the new Bristol Zoo.

To find out more about Bristol Zoological Society’s future, visit Our Future | Bristol Zoo