Suffolk and Norfolk zoos see costs increase by £1m in 2022

A red panda cub was born at Banham Zoo in Norfolk last autumn

The head of two zoos says she remains positive for the future despite costs rising by more than £1m last year.

The Zoological Society of East Anglia, which runs Africa Alive at Kessingland, Suffolk and Banham Zoo in Norfolk, said 2022 was a year of "highs and lows".

Chief executive Claudia Roberts said the financial pressures in 2022 had "thrown every challenge" at zoo staff.

She said the society was hoping for "government support for organisations like us and other charities".

"It's quite terrifying, actually," Ms Roberts added.

"I think our bills with interest rates and energy have gone up nearly £1m in a year - so it's massive."

Closures during Covid, as well as biosecurity measures to prevent bird flu added to the spiralling energy costs

Ms Roberts said: "It was coming out of Covid to then go into that terrible storm in February - Storm Eunice - which knocked out our lion enclosure in Africa Alive and closed both our zoos, so we lost over £250,000 just from not being able to open for a period of time."

They had "probably spent something like £100,000" to adhere to government regulations brought in to restrict the spread of bird flu," she said.

"We take bio-security very seriously."

Storm Eunice damaged the lion enclosure at Africa Alive in Kessingland, Suffolk, in February last year

"I think sometimes people have an idea that zoos are commercial things, but they're really not," Ms Roberts added.

"They're all run completely not-for-profit - they're run to put back into the environment so that we can breed further animals and take really good care of our animals.

She said the teams were "looking forward to a period of calm, but also one where we can really intensify what our charitable objectives are, and really help work with our communities more - just to find peace and calm after what's been a very turbulent time for everyone."

"We're trying to make as many savings as we can to survive, but health and safety is our number one priority," she said.

"In a way, we've survived a really rocky period but... I know we've got an exciting future ahead and an exciting way to really help humanity - it's a positive view forward, and I'm really excited about that."