A PLEA for hospitality sector business rates relief offered by the Government to be extended has been made on behalf of West Somerset’s Tropiquaria Zoo.

Tropiquaria director Chris Moiser said business rates were being increased greatly in the leisure and tourism sector, but a small concession had been made following an outcry from public houses.

Mr Moiser said the Government needed also to make a greater effort to help zoos and wildlife parks to survive what was the final straw in a ‘perfect economic storm’.

He has written an open letter to West Somerset MP Rachel Gilmour asking her to press the Government to act.

Mr Moiser said zoos were required to demonstrate they were contributing to education and conservation, services for which they were, uniquely, not paid.

He said: “We do so though, willingly, and often in doing so supply other beneficial and altruistic services to our communities, eg advice on animal welfare, mental health welfare with visitors and volunteers.

“Our conservation work also helps the Government achieve environmental obligations and treaties at international level.”

Zoo staff were also educating the public on issues of biodiversity and the associated ecology through their education, training, and vocational drive, which in turn helped to mitigate the risk to UK security of ecosystem failure through biodiversity loss worldwide.

Mr Moiser said zoos along with many other small businesses, had suffered a ‘rough time’ in recent years, possibly more so because Tropiquaria closed for more than 200 days during the Covid pandemic with little saving on operating cost.

The vocationally driven nature of the work meant many zoo staff were often on relatively low wages, so the impact of rises in National Insurance and the minimum wage disproportionately affected zoo running costs.

Mr Moiser said: “Most are struggling now, and await this year’s increases with dread.”

He said most zoos were not charities, and relied almost entirely on visitor income in the form of admission charges, café, and gift shop spend.

Mr Moiser said: “As the economy contracts and inflation bites, the amount of disposable economy is likely to reduce visitor numbers and reduce the spend of those who do come.”

He said in West Somerset, other than holiday camps, the district had a castle, a restored steam railway, and a zoo, which could be be a significant reason for a family deciding to stay in the area.

Mr Moiser said: “The loss of any one of these attractions may reduce the number of visitors to the area and produce a knock-on effect for the others.”

He said rises in National Insurance, wages, and business rates were in the process of causing a financial crisis from which many zoos, both large and small, may not survive.

Both major zoo associations, Small Zoo Network, and the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria (BIAZA) had identified the issue and wanted MPs to not just ask for help, but also to warn of the consequences if the Government’s policies continued unchecked.