Zoo memorabilia auctions raise thousands

A yellow enamel zoo sign sold for £16,000 at the auction on Friday

A total of £161,600 has been raised after one of the world's oldest zoos put 300 pieces of memorabilia under the hammer.

The Bristol Zoological Society (BZS) sold off items including signs, sculptures and photographs from the now-closed Bristol Zoological Gardens in auctions held on Friday and Monday.

They made more than triple their original target of £50,000.

A BZS spokesperson said it was "wonderful" to have so many bidders "join us in celebrating our long history".

The money raised will help fund conservation work at BZS's new Bristol Zoo Project, near J17 of the M5.

One of the top billing items was a yellow enamel zoo sign that sold for £16,000.

Meanwhile, the sale of the zoo's 45 Victorian benches raised a total of £25,000, and the original stone bust of Alfred the Gorilla, seen by the public when they entered the Clifton zoo, sold for £9,000.

Auctioneer Andrew Stowe, from Auctioneum, said: "This [bust] means so much to so many people.

"I used to be so terrified of this statue when I was a kid, my mum used to have to cover my eyes and walk me past it.

"I'm over my fear now thank goodness, I don't think I was the only one."

A stone bust of Alfred the gorilla sold for £9,000

Hannah Windross, director of BZS, said the team had spent a long time cataloguing "to make sure we preserved the most important bits".

She added that people had been given the opportunity to "own a piece of Bristol zoo's history".

A zoo spokesperson said: “It has been wonderful to watch the live public auctions take place and to see how many people have taken the opportunity to join us in celebrating our long history.

"Not only are they securing their own piece of Bristol Zoo Gardens history, they are also helping us to fund the future of our charity."

The auction comes as lawyers were consulted in a bid to stop memorabilia from the former zoo being sold at auction.

The shareholders' group, led by Save Bristol Zoo campaigner Tom Jones, argued that until the zoo was officially sold for development, any memorabilia should not be auctioned.

The zoo's spokesperson said any legal challenge was "not only wasting vital funds, but they are preventing us from saving wildlife and building a new conservation zoo”.