Conservation work to continue as Bristol Zoo Gardens nears closure
The Bristol Zoological Society works around the world to protect endangered animals and plans to do more going forward
Emotions are running high at Bristol Zoo Gardens this week with the site due to close on Saturday (September 3).
After 186 years of history, making it the fifth oldest zoo in the world, the Clifton site will close for the final time at the weekend so the Bristol Zoological Society can invest in a bigger, better zoo at its Wild Place site near Cribbs Causeway.
The land in Clifton will be sold off for housing, although the gardens will be left untouched and eventually open for free to the public.
To mark the closure we are spending every day this week at the zoo and today we've been focussing on its conservation work, which is set to continue after Bristol Zoo Gardens closes.
Imogen is a mammal keeper at the zoo and helps look after the western lowland gorillas.
"They are critically endangered in the wild so, if they keep disappearing in the wild at the rate they are now, potentially we could lose them all together in about 10 years," she said.
"So every gorilla that's born is really, really important."
In recent years two gorillas have been born at Bristol Zoo, Hasani and Juni, as part of the zoo's breeding programme.
That will continue after the Clifton site shuts.
"It's really, really important," Imogen said.
"We work very, very closely with species coordinators and the stud book keepers, so essentially there's a network of all of the zoos that are holding gorillas, and gorillas will move between groups when they hit maturity and they go and have a chance to be in a breeding group of their own.
"It's just about keeping the gene pool as genetically diverse as possible."
As well as funding the creation of the new Bristol Zoo at Wild Place, the money made from selling the Clifton site will help conservation work continue abroad.
"One of them is based in Equatorial Guinea, we've got a project there, and it's all about gorillas," Imogen said.
"We're based in one national park at the moment...and what we're trying to do currently is determine how many individual gorillas live in that area."
The Zoological Society funds rangers to patrol the park, but also camera traps and studies of how the gorillas use the park.
"Once you know the distribution and the numbers (of gorillas) you're in a much better position to be able to protect them," she said.
When Wild Place is rebranded as the new Bristol Zoo, which is planned for 2024, it will have a strong focus on this kind of work.
Of all the animals housed there 80 per cent will be involved in some form of breeding programme, a higher proportion than at any other zoo in the UK.
"The animal department really had a sit down and a long, hard think about the species we wanted to hold and what we wanted to promote going forward, and the route we've decided to take is the conservation route," Imogen said.
"What we want to do is increase from what we currently have, the percentage of species that we hold that are endangered, critically endangered in the wild, and we also want to have lots of species that we are working directly with in the wild as well.
"Therefore we can actually make the biggest impact for them and hopefully try and safeguard some of those species."
Speaking to visitors on site, it is clear that they also feel such work is hugely important.
Tom was visiting to recreate some childhood photos he'd had with his late mum 25 years ago.
"I think it's incredibly important", he said.
"I understand some people's reasonings behind why they may speak against zoos, but I believe more the benefits of conserving species and protecting them and allowing them to not go extinct.
"I admire the reasons why they're expanding the zoo and moving somewhere else for a bigger space."
Sue who was visiting with her grandchildren shared that view.
"It really is important that we are breeding (the animals) in a lovely environment for them because in the wild some of these animals are not being maintained or being poached, and they'll become extinct at some stage.
"So what you're doing here is really the future, to make sure the animals survive."
On Wednesday we will be back at the zoo focussing on the history of the site and its buildings.