Cash-strapped zoos rethink financial strategies

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In the United States, Oakland Zoo in California has been losing about $2 million a month since being shuttered in mid-March last year.

USA Today quoted Nik Dehejia, executive vice-president of the zoo, which is nearly 100 years old, saying it has experienced "financial distress" due to a lack of visitors. Home to 750 large animals, the zoo faces costs of about $55,000 a day for their food, leaving it in dire financial straits.

Joel Parrott, the zoo's president, told the newspaper that since it closed, the zoo had cut corners on everything apart from animal care.

Nearly half the 250 employees have been laid off and senior staff members' pay has been cut.

Officials in California allowed the zoo to reopen its outdoor areas in late July, but it still faces a big challenge.

Visitors provide more than 90 percent of its revenue through ticket sales, concessions, rides, gift-buying and parties, but attendances and revenue at Oakland and at zoos around the US are falling.

In Florida, Dino Ferri, president of the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Garden, told USA Today he woke up one night trying to work out how to recoup the $1.5 million the facility lost during the two months it was closed. It reopened in May.

Even when it was allowed to reopen, the number of visitors during the zoo's busiest months was far below expectations. It depends on visitors for 80 percent of its revenue.

Ferri had to lay off 40 percent of the employees, cut the salaries of leadership team members－including his own－and launch a campaign to raise $1.5 million by December last year to restore the zoo's operating budget to pre-pandemic levels.

Unlike tourist attractions that can reduce costs by suspending operations, zoos face high charges for animals' food, enclosures and health care.

In addition, many zoos and aquariums protect and breed endangered and rare species. Without sufficient funding, this vital conservation work has been put at risk.

John Ewen, from the Zoological Society of London, told the BBC: "Species that are extinct in the wild are absolutely dependent on human care. The way in which we decide to go forward determines extinction or recovery."

Alexandra Zimmermann, a senior research fellow at Oxford University, said zoos worldwide contribute a huge amount of financial support for conservation in the wild.

"If we lose a lot of that support from the effects of COVID-19, then that will have a really detrimental effect on conservation everywhere," Zimmerman told the BBC.

Last year, the government in the United Kingdom introduced the Zoo Animals Fund, providing zoos facing financial trouble during the pandemic with total funding of 100 million pounds ($139.2 million).

However, in a recent letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the British and Irish Association for Zoos and Aquariums said the fund had failed to provide adequate support.

Many zoos are unable to access the money, as they must meet a series of conditions, which has proved virtually impossible for most of its members, the association said.

Of 300 licensed zoos, only 34 have been awarded funding to date, with a further 23 applications being processed.

Colchester Zoo, a private facility in eastern England, is among those that have been unable to access the government fund or which do not qualify for grants.

Heavily reliant on ticket sales, the zoo said in a statement it had been badly hit by the pandemic, and still faced bills for feeding the animals, heating and for additional indoor bedding during winter.

Since the onset of the pandemic in March last year, it has been surviving on emergency funds after being forced to close.

However, in February, the zoo's managing director said the emergency funds were nearly exhausted. An appeal was made to the public for financial support.