Belfast Zoo is completely unsustainable, says councillor

It would be “incredibly wasteful” for the council to keep running Belfast Zoo as it is, according to a councillor.

Councillor Ronan McLaughlin said the zoo had lost about £1.9m in the past year, with an additional £2m earmarked in the past week for safety works in the next four years.

McLaughlin, who sits on the council’s strategic policy and resources committee, said “we have reached the point now where this is completely unsustainable”.

A spokesman for the Zoo said that “it continues to operate in a challenging environment, due to a general increase in the cost of goods, services and utilities, and continued competition from other venues and visitor attractions”.

It added: “The zoo offers a range of promotions, offers and events all year around to appeal to visitors, and the dedicated team remain focused on enhancing the visitor experience, improving the health and safety of our operation and protecting the animals within their care.”

Sinn Féin councillor McLaughlin said: “Every single councillor has a duty to get as much value for the ratepayer as possible.

“This is not about simply just closing the zoo. What we would like to do is to bring the zoo to a sustainable model.”

He also said the £1.9m figure “doesn’t include any capital expenditure committed at the zoo”.

There had been safety work and improvements to the lion enclosure, he added.

The zoo, which is situated at Cave Hill in north Belfast, opened in 1934.

It has faced criticism in recent years, with animal rights’ groups saying the environment was not right for many of the species.

Donncha Murphy, from just outside Castlewellan, in County Down, said he had been to Belfast Zoo more times than he could count, and he last went just after the Covid pandemic.

He said “it was a wee bit dead”.

“Places were shut down, but I don’t think it should close at all, because on one hand, what’s going to happen to all the animals?

“There should be a big drive to try and promote it and get more people into it. Maybe new enclosures if we can afford it.

“It’s a great place to go out for a family day out [and] school trips.”

Louise O’Neill, from Dungannon in County Tyrone, said she loves the zoo.

“The zoo’s a great place to take kids to learn about animals or even just a fun day out with your family.

“You learn so much that you wouldn’t learn about anywhere else.”

Amanda Tannahall, from Dunmurry, said she has not been to the zoo in years. w

“It is good, all the animals and stuff, I took a load of wee kids with me,” she said.

She said part of the reason it had been so long since she visited was because it was “so uphill”.

While there is nowhere else like Belfast Zoo, she added: “I mean you can only go to the zoo so many times.”

McLaughlin said he wanted to start a conversation about the future of the zoo.

“Ultimately it is residents and ratepayers who are footing the bill for this, so they should be as much in the conversation about what the future of the zoo may look like, but for me, it needs to be on a sustainable position,” he added.

Belfast Lord Mayor, Tracy Kelly, said that the city’s zoo was very important and it deserves support.

“I’m sure a lot of things in Belfast are not making money but they still continue,” she told BBC News NI’s Good Morning Ulster programme.

Kelly said the zoo does “an awful lot of good work”, but that no council can afford to lose money.

“We see so many people going there and yes it’s losing money at the moment, but they are trying lots of different options to bring more and more footfall in,” she added.