Support Us

Colchester Zoo is set in over 60 acres and cares for over 10,000 animals costing over half a million pounds per month for animal welfare and the upkeep of the park.
Despite Colchester Zoo reopening since the pandemic we are still feeling the negative financial effects that this had whilst we had to close.

We are heavily reliant upon ticket sales and visits to come out the other side of this but we experienced plummeting visitor numbers during the pandemic. Without your visits and support we simply would not be able to achieve our mission of helping protect species through education and conservation projects.

We continue to do our utmost to cut costs wherever possible but the day to day running of the zoo is still high especially in the current cost of living crisis we are all facing.

The zoo has always endeavoured to reinvest into the park whether that be to bring something new for visitors, or to redevelop and improve areas for animals. Unfortunately, during COVID this had to stop whilst we covered monthly bills and tried to re-build our cash reserve to help us should we find ourselves in another situation where the zoo has to close due to a pandemic or other unforeseen circumstances. Since reopening after the pandemic we have started to reinvest in some areas of the park where possible by upgrading and redeveloping facilities and viewing areas however we have not been able to invest in developments which had been planned prior to COVID.

During the pandemic unfortunately, we were unable to access the Government’s Zoo Animal’s Fund, as we did not qualify for any of the Government grants and could not gift aid any donations we received as although we have a charitable arm, Colchester Zoo is not. This is why your support was vital and so important for the future survival of Colchester Zoo.