Wild Place to become Bristol Zoo Project

Bristol Zoo has announced the Wild Place Project will be renamed in a move that zoo bosses hope will “reflect the charity’s past and future”.

The Cribbs Causeway site will be renamed Bristol Zoo Project, becoming the new incarnation of the historic zoo in Clifton which shut in September 2022 after 185 years.

Justin Morris, CEO of Bristol Zoological Society said the name change marked the start of a wider journey to address the ecological crisis.

“We are on a journey,” he said. “Wild animals are under threat of extinction and we think zoos have an important role to play to address this ecological crisis, which is why we are investing in our 136-acre site.

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Read more: Zoo boss defends redevelopment of Clifton site ahead of decision day

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“It won’t be quick. We are finalising the designs and construction is planned to start in 2024. Changing the name of our site marks the start of that journey.”

The new name, which was chosen after polling visitors, employees and volunteers, was marked by hundreds of people taking part in an exclusive photo on the site’s Tower Meadow.

Members of the public shaped out the letters of the name, ‘Bristol Zoo Project’, which will officially be used from summer 2023.

Construction work on Bristol Zoo Project is due to start in 2024, with plans to evolve and grow the zoo over a number of years.

The site is almost ten times the size of Bristol Zoo Gardens, and will include new visitor facilities, play areas, and animal homes for new species, including critically endangered black rhinos, red-necked ostriches, and Endangered red pandas and mangabey monkeys.

Some of the much-loved animal residents from Bristol Zoo Gardens, such as the Critically Endangered troop of Western lowland gorillas and blue-eyed black lemurs will also be coming to the site in the next couple of years.

The zoo will also hold a conservation campus for students, including breeding facilities.

Visitors to the new Bristol Zoo at Wild Place will be able to watch scientists at work – image: FCB Studios

Brian Zimmerman, director of conservation for Bristol Zoological Society said: “Bristol Zoo Gardens in Clifton closed in September last year, to allow us to create a new Bristol Zoo at Wild Place Project.

“At what will soon be known as Bristol Zoo Project, 80 percent of species will be linked to our conservation work around the world, living in spaces that more closely reflect their natural habitats.”

The announcement comes after Justin Morris defended plans to redevelop the former Bristol Zoo site to build around 200 homes, a new cafe, exhibition space, play area and theatre.

The plans will see the much-loved gardens converted into a public park in what Morris described as having “biodiversity, conservation and the environment very much at its heart”.

But the proposal has been met with intense opposition from a campaign group called ‘Save Bristol Zoo Gardens’, members of which claim the zoo’s move to Wild Place Project in South Gloucestershire is being done to make money from the sale of the Clifton site to developers.

Bristol City Council planning officers have recommended the plans for approval. Councillors are expected to vote on Tuesday, April 25 whether to allow the redevelopment of the land that housed Bristol Zoo for 186 years.

Main photo: FCB Studios

Read next:

• New Bristol Zoo to be built at Wild Place from 2024
• Campaign group demand protection for all trees on zoo site
• Hundreds march to protest plans for former Bristol Zoo site

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