Twycross Zoo launch plea for public support as charitable aims are failed by the Government's £100m Zoo Fund

Without anywhere else to turn, conservation charity Twycross Zoo must reach out to its community of supporters to back new donations appeal 'Help us today, believe in tomorrow' so the Midlands zoo can continue to keep its vital charitable work going.

After repeated failed attempts ton engage the UK Government to review the criteria of the £100million Zoo Fund, Twycross Zoo has no other option than to ask for the support of the public once again.

The scheme, which was announced by the First Secretary of State, Rt Hon Dominic Raab as the saviour for charity zoos has been criticised for not providing enough support for larger establishments.

Approximately just £3 million has been released to support mainly small zoos, and the scheme is due to end in March 2021 without any likelihood of change in criteria for those zoos caring for much larger numbers of endangered species.

Twycross Zoo is a charity and uniquely relies almost entirely on visitors to cover both its zoo operating costs and conservation, research and education work.

A closed zoo means no income and so to survive Twycross Zoo has had to take on loans and use up its reserves to prioritise caring for its animals. This also means delaying vital work on animal habitat upgrades, and halting scientific conservation projects and educational programmes.

Dr Sharon Redrobe OBE, CEO of Twycross Zoo said: "Our planet is in the sixth extinction crisis and it's not good enough that more species will go extinct in our lifetime. If it wasn't for zoos, chimpanzees, one of the closest living cousins to the human race, would be extinct in the wild within 25 years, however zoos together have secured the population for at least 100 years, showing how vital it is to support our work right now.

"We feel extremely disappointed and let down by the fact that the Government will not change the criteria of the £100million Zoo Fund, leaving conservation charities like ours facing crippling debts for years to come and unable to complete much of the work we exist to do.

"With multiple lockdowns and the ever changing COVID-19 guidance over the last 10 months, we have been so thankful to our communities for supporting our 57-year old zoo, however we are still sadly relying solely on public support to help us pay our bills.

"Covering our operational costs and overheads is a day-to-day concern for most organisations right now but we and the Government must not forget why our charity is here and how important it is to continue in our work to support our mission, to help save the species with which we share our planet."

Twycross Zoo is renowned as a World Primate Centre and is the only place in the UK home to the four great apes. The conservation charity is part of 46 breeding programmes and saw 22 births in 2020 and usually educates 60,000 school children per year about the natural world.

Every penny that is donated to Twycross Zoo goes towards to the conservation of endangered species and the whole team at the midland's zoo are calling for significant financial support to continue their work.

To be let down by the government again in a third lockdown signifies that the work of the dedicated teams at Twycross Zoo is not deemed or considered to be important enough by the Government, so Twycross Zoo must plead for the public to get behind their new fundraising campaign and play a part in protecting the future of conservation.

To support Twycross Zoo's donations appeal 'Help us today, believe in tomorrow' please follow this link.