COVID-19 effects on zoos and animal conservation

New Zealand indeed has a huge venison industry with loads of Red Deer and Wapiti (and probably hybrids) kept in large fields. Many places on the South Island are full with it.

 

The Wildlife Conservation Society has closed all four of its zoos in New York City, which includes the Bronx Zoo, and the New York Aquarium.

 

From a UK zoo point of view. I know of no UK collections that have actively shut or are planning to shut at the moment going off government initiatives. I have a feeling this may change in the upcoming week(s). I know that we are starting to stock pile on fruit/veg, meat as well as hay and straw in the event that we may lose the option shortly of these being brought in, if deliveries cannot be made for one reason or another

 

Belfast Zoo has shut down.

~Thylo

 

Yes sorry, after I wrote this, I realised that they had shut down. This is the only zoo I know of in the UK that has so far. Not saying it will be the last, but in the mean time business as normal for most

 

German government plans will force all zoos to close, as Germany is a federal republic it is up to the individual regions (Bundesländer) to implement this, but they will probably agree. Not only zoos will close and Germany will enter a thorough lockdown.

Most if not all zoos in Netherlands and Belgium have already closed.

 

San Diego Zoo and San Diego Safari Park now closed to public

 

Having waited for so long for the federal zoo license, I had planned to open WdG during the Easter holidays. Now I'm just when the other Austrian zoos are going to be allowed to open again and plan accordingly.

 

All Danish zoos are closing from tomorrow and until March 30th (for know - I'm 99% sure the lockdown will last longer than that) as the Danish prime minister had now forbidden any gathering of more than 10 people (except for grocery stores and apothecaries). For the last week it was only gatherings of more than 100 people in indoor spaces that were forbidden while outdoor zoo areas remained open, but that's changing now.

 

Texas State Aquarium has closed. Moody Gardens is closing by city order.

 

My local zoo is still open, but all zoos in the states of Punjab and Bihar are supposed to be closing till the month ends, possibly longer, according to the news. Indore Zoo has also shut, and so have several national parks and wildlife sanctuaries which are popular tourist sites.

 

The best thing for wildlife conservation would be if all the humans died, speaking from a purely biological viewpoint.

 

No. We've done so much that the only way nature can be restored is with our help. Without us to remove pollution and invasive species, nature would be just as doomed as it is today. Quite possibly even more so!

 

That is until all the new invasives escape zoos/homes, the Extinct in the Wild species die off, all plastics are left to enter the environment unchecked, and eventually all the nuclear reactors go off and cause a worldwide nuclear winter...

~Thylo

 

If the pandemic continues as expected into the summer, many zoos are going to have major financial issues. Most of their money is gained through admissions. If zoos are forced to remain closed to slow the spread or "flatten the curve" during the summer, It will probably be tough for some zoos. I hope our inept government will be able to figure something out as lots of non profits will be in trouble. They don't have the reserves of money like larger corporations have. I know finances are going to be tough for a lot of people but I encourage anyone who can to donate to their local zoos. It will help with the everyday costs of running a zoo that don't go away when guests can't visit.

 

I'm really worried that this is going to result in some zoos closing. The biggest zoos will probably be fine, they have bigger donors as it is and they often have large social media presences so they can get more help from the public. But smaller zoos, and animal sanctuaries, are going to struggle.

I watch those YouTube videos about businesses that closed down, mostly theme parks but they talk about other stuff like airlines too. In a lot of those, 9/11 was a factor in the closure. The attacks made people too scared to fly so businesses that relied on travel and tourism struggled.

 

Yeah, what remains of the coastal prairies will be totally gone without continued human intervention.

 

Brookfield Zoo is now closed until April 30.

 

Zoos will struggle a lot more than almost any type of small businesses as well. The cost that has to be paid to feed the animals is huge, while most other businesses can shut down entirely and minimalize costs. It would be hard to say, not feed a lion until this is over to cut costs.