Northumberland Zoo 'not out of the woods' but 'happy' to be open

Northumberland Zoo welcomed two snow leopards in December and is planning to introduce two more endangered species this year

A zoo which faced financial difficulties during lockdowns is "not out of the woods yet" but is happy to have reopened, its curator said.

Maxine Bradley feared Northumberland Country Zoo might have to close permanently due to the loss of income from visitors.

But the public support motivated them to keep going, she said.

The zoo received more than £40,000 in donations and took out a £100,000 bank loan to keep operating.

Ms Bradley said the zoo, which re-opened on Monday and is "pretty much fully booked" for the next few weeks, had recently applied for a government grant as "we have got into our last 12 weeks of funds".

"We are not out of the woods yet but we are hoping that we can keep having the visitors come in," she said.

Ms Bradley said the "nightmare" past 12 months were the "worst year in the zoo's history", adding: "We completely rely on visitors coming, not having that income has really made us ponder our future."

Curator Maxine Bardley said the past 12 months were the "worst year in the zoo's history"

She has previously said the zoo near Morpeth cost about £9,000 a week to run with keepers still needing to be paid and animals fed during the lockdowns.

Ms Bradley said: "It's very heart-warming to see people back at the zoo and everyone seems so happy, the staff and animals are happy to have them back."

She hopes restrictions on foreign travel could bring 100,000 visitors this year "so long as conditions stay the same as they are now".

She said: "There have been a few points where we've thought can we actually keep doing this and will people still want to come to the zoo when the lockdown is over?

"But they are here and that instils us with confidence.

"Without the public's support and motivation to keep us going, I don't know how well we would be doing at the moment."

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