Sir David Attenborough Is Campaigning To Raise £12 Million To Save London Zoo

Sir David Attenborough is trying to raise £12 million to save London Zoo from going under.

The wildlife expert is fronting the campaign to help raise the £25m needed to protect the centre, where staff have warned that it is dangerously close to collapse.

And with around 18,000 animals to feed and take care of, which has cost the zoo an incredible £43,500 a month during lockdown, and that's with no visitors to support it, time is running out.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, the 94-year-old said the prospect of not meeting the target is unimaginable.

He told the publication: "What happens if you can't raise the money to keep the animals? What happens if you can't afford the food? Are we supposed to put them down?

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"The immediate prospect of the zoo going financially bust is too awful to think of. Are we, or are we not, a civilised community that it can't support a zoo?"

The campaign also holds some personal significance to Sir David as it was there that he began his career, directing the BBC series Zoo Quest in 1954.

And he said it is vital that we as humans do our part to support the animal kingdom that is so desperately under threat.

He said: "There are three times as many people living on Earth as when I was collecting those animals. So the natural world has been overtaken by humanity and in the course of that we have denied space for a lot of animals.

"We should do our best to maintain our relationships with the natural world of which we are a part," he said.

"You can be aware not just of what's on your own doorstep but what is in the wider world and zoos can do that better than almost anything."

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This comes after news broke that a zoo that was forced to close permanently announced new homes had been found for all its animals - despite initial fears that some would have to be euthanised.

The Wild Planet Trust said earlier this week that it would not be reopening its Living Coasts site because they found it impossible to manage the 'substantial maintenance' costs incurred during the coronavirus lockdown.

According to The Mirror, during a Q&A the zoo had previously admitted that if suitable homes could not be found then some of the animals might be put to sleep.

A spokesperson for the zoo had said: "In the unlikely event that we cannot find housing that suits their needs, we may need to the make the difficult decision to euthanise."

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom