Petition · past parliament

Re-open UK zoos who can comply with public health/social distancing guidelines.

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

UK Zoos rely almost entirely on public funds to operate. They are essential to animal welfare, conservation and education. Most UK zoo facilities are able to offer extensive and expansive open space and most being able to put in place manageable, effective social distancing measures.
Without public funding and income, UK zoos and their respective global conservation programmes will soon be unsustainable putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of animals - including many endangered species - at risk. Also hundreds of specialist animal carers/vets/specialists/conservationists, and thousands of zoo employees out of work.

It is possible for most zoos to put extensive and effective social distancing abd public health/safety measures in place whilst earning essential income.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You may wish to sign some of these petitions:

Allow Zoos and Wildlife attractions to reopen with social distancing in place: Allow Zoos and Wildlife attractions to reopen with social distancing in place

Provide financial help to zoos, aquariums, & rescue centres during the pandemic: Provide financial help to zoos, aquariums, & rescue centres during the pandemic.

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you find out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/

Timeline

6 Jun 2020 Petition opened for signatures
9 Jun 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 9 Jun 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.