It is with a very heavy heart that we did not open Dartmoor Zoo this morning and we will be closed from today until further notice. At the moment this is the only available course of action to ensure the safety of visitors, members of staff and ultimately the animals, who are dependent on a functioning zoo surviving this period of uncertainty. The Trustees and Senior Management Team of the charity have tirelessly explored all the options currently available to us, and closing the gates to the public at the moment is the right course of action.
For now, we must emphasise that this is a temporary closure for public and staff safety, so that we can continue to provide a future for the animals here.
With the measures currently in place we are 100% confident that we will be able to re-open when circumstances allow, and we are actively exploring all the options in a rapidly changing situation. However, we are completely reliant on our ticket income and as a result of the winter, our reserves are almost exhausted and we will soon run out of money. We hope to be in a position to borrow from the Government Scheme, however, this is unlikely to be enough and we need to ask you as our supporters to give as generously as you can in these difficult times so that we can keep Dartmoor Zoo functioning until things return to normal.
The entire world is stunned by this situation, but this country is pulling together and the authorities are supporting many businesses and charities, including this one, so that they can get through the coming weeks and start to return to normal as soon as possible. We are taking great comfort from this.
Dartmoor Zoo has always been a public resource, but one which is dependent on its public to support it.
Please do what you can to support us by buying memberships, using our online shop, making donations and even buying advanced tickets for when we re-open.
We are all devastated that we have to close, but with your understanding and support, we will be back as soon as we can.