‘Significant health and safety risks’: Wildlife charity hits out at Bristol Zoo over gorilla conditions

The TikTok video, which has more than 800k views, shows a couple of men within the public area of the gorilla house at Bristol Zoo Gardens and raising concerns about the animals’ welfare.

The zoo has since challenged the claims laid out in the video in a statement to BristolWorld today (July 4) and said the incident is now a police matter.

The troop of critically-endangered western lowland gorillas have remained living at the site in Clifton since the zoo closed in 2022 but are due to move to new site, the Bristol Zoo Project, where a new Central African forest habitat is set to open in spring next year.

Born Free, which campaigns to "Keep Wildlife in the Wild”, thanked its supporters for bringing the social media posts to its attention.

Chris Lewis, the charity’s captivity research manager, said: “Bristol Zoo have confirmed that gorillas remain housed at the old site and under the care of keepers while their new enclosure continues to be constructed at the new ‘Bristol Zoo Project’ site.

“The enclosure they are housed in appears to be the same as that when Bristol Zoo was open to the public and is sadly typical of many great apes’ indoor enclosure within a zoo.

“This highlights the conditions these animals have to endure in captivity and how the needs of such intelligent, sentient beings cannot be met in a zoo environment, whether zoo visitors are present or not.

“Born Free is concerned that individuals are able to access the facility which poses significant risks to the health and safety of the individuals involved, zoo staff and also the remaining animals at the zoo .

“We understand the incident has been reported to the police and hope the zoo and the relevant authorities ensure such incidents do not occur in the future, while also ensuring the welfare of the gorillas is paramount during this transition period.”

In response to the social media videos, Bristol Zoological Society’s director of conservation and science, Brian Zimmerman, said “the care and welfare of our animals is, and always has been, our top priority.”

He said: “Our experienced keepers and dedicated welfare team have continued to care for the gorillas since the closure of Bristol Zoo Gardens, just as they did when the site was open to the public.

“It has been well publicised that the troop are still living on the site in Clifton, and work is underway to create a new Central African Forest habitat at Bristol Zoo Project, which they will move across to, next year.

“The gorillas have access to a large outside area, and multiple indoor spaces, and the temperature of their habitat is carefully managed to reflect the warm temperatures of Equatorial Guinea, where they would live in the wild.”

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He added: “We are currently investigating this break in and reviewing CCTV footage to determine exactly what happened.

“We are also reviewing our site security to see where improvements can be made.

“This is now a police matter, and we will provide any support they need as part of their investigation”

Avon & Somerset Police said it does not have a statement on the incident, as trespass is a civil matter. 

This week, council chiefs formally agreed to give planning permission to develop the the former Bristol Zoo Garden site into 196 new homes, a conservation hub and open public gardens - but a legal challenge is expected from campaigners against the project.