LONDON (UK) – David Attenborough, veteran broadcaster and naturalist, has appealed to the public for donations to keep afloat the charity behind the London and Whipsnade zoos.
A short video clip will be shown on British television on Thursday, inviting attention to the scientific work of the Zoological Society of London and it contains images of animals in the two zoos as well as their natural habitats.
“The Zoological Society of London has made an outstanding contribution to conservation and our understanding of wildlife for 200 years,” said Attenborough, adding that over 20,000 animals are housed in the two zoos and some of them are endangered.
“The national institution is now itself at risk of extinction,” said Attenborough, 94, who is known across the world for his documentaries on nature.
After the pandemic crisis forced the zoos to close for the first time since World War Two, the society was deprived of income, said the naturalist, exhorting the public to give donations.
Separately, ZSL director Dominic Jermey said even though the zoos have been allowed to reopen, they would not be able to recoup the money lost because of social distancing norms and restrictions on the number of visitors.
“Unlike any other UK zoo, our zoos are the lifeline for ground-breaking research at the world-renowned ZSL Institute of Zoology and fund our global conservation projects – work that has never been more vital,” he said.
The research also explores how diseases such as coronaviruses transfer from wildlife to humans, he added.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field