Staff at Bristol Zoo have said goodbye to the Clifton site

Bristol Zoo is expecting a huge crowd on Saturday as it prepares to close its doors after 186 years and move to a new site.

The zoo opened in Clifton in 1836, making it the fifth oldest zoo in the world and still has many of its original Victorian buildings, such as the gate house, the old giraffe house and the monkey temple.

Its owner, Bristol Zoological Society, has taken the decision to close it due to financial pressures caused by the pandemic and focus resources on its sister site in south Gloucestershire.

The society has owned the Wild Place Project site, just off junction 17 of the M5, since the 1960s, but for many years has only used it for breeding and quarantine purposes and has not been open to visitors.

It was also used as a nursery for Bristol Zoo’s botanic gardens and to grow fodder for its animals.

But in 2008, the society submitted plans to the council for a 55-hectare safari park, and Wild Place opened five years later.

Staff at the zoo said they were sad to leave the famous Bristol site, which still stands within its Victorian walls, but were excited about the conservation opportunities offered by the more spacious facilities in Gloucestershire.

Dr Grainne McCabe, head of conservation and field science, said the move would allow the zoo to expand its work to protect some of the world’s most threatened species.

“Bristol Zoo is one of those classic zoos – it originally started as a menagerie, as many zoos did, and it has a lot of history here,” she said.

She added: “Just being able to walk around these kind of small grounds and see so many different species, it’s quite reminiscent of how zoos have always been in the past and there’s something very special about to stay.”

Asked why she’s most excited about the big move, Dr McCabe said: “One of the best things I think about Wild Place is that it’s going to be a lot more like what I feel when I walk into the woods in the wild to I’m seeing. animals.

“So as you walk into what might be a big exhibit but actually feels like their native habitat — you might see the animal, you might not, which is exactly how I feel when I work in the forest.”

Dr McCabe said some of the animals might struggle with the change, but added: “I think ultimately it will be a much, much more pleasant experience for them in a more natural enclosure and by therefore, it is truly the best. thing for these animals to move to this new site.”

She added: “With the move to the new zoo, what will be really exciting is that many more of our animals on site – over 80% initially and 90% eventually – will be linked to our conservation work’.

Simon Garrett has worked at Bristol Zoo for 32 years, taking a summer job there in 1989, and is now head of public engagement.

He said Bristol Zoological Society would be forced to sell the Clifton site to expand Wild Place, but was keen to leave a lasting legacy in the city.

“We don’t just sell to a developer and run away with the money. Absolutely not,” he said.

“This is something we are working hard to make sure is part of our legacy that we can be proud of.”

Under plans currently under consideration, the site would retain its botanical gardens and would be open to the public free of charge every day.

It would retain famous structures such as the monkey temple, while the entrance buildings would be transformed into the ‘Clifton Conservation Hub’, home to the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project.

The children’s play area and theater building would also be kept open as a community space for workshops and events.

The rest of the site would be dedicated to green housing, with energy efficiency an integral part of the design.

– Bristol Zoo Gardens will open to the public for the last time from 9am to 5.30pm on Saturday 3 September.