DIRECTIONS: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused significant disruption to all businesses, but zoos seemed to have struggled more than most. Around the world all have recognised the same challenge: without paying visitors, their survival is at stake. The main reason for this is that they have high fixed costs: you can’t furlough the animals, so you can’t furlough those caring for them. Due to the ever-increasing expectations to maintain the highest possible animal welfare, zoos also heavily invest in their facilities, in many cases using bank loans. Combine this with highly seasonal income and zoos found themselves in the middle of a perfect storm when lockdown hit.

Despite zoos in many countries being reopened, in most cases they have to cap daily visitor numbers in line with government guidelines, resulting in further losses of revenue in their peak season. UK zoos are especially exposed to these effects, as unlike many zoos in Europe, the US, or Australia, they don’t receive any government funding for their running costs. The current pandemic is the direct result of our reckless and ruthless mismanagement of nature and our distorted relationship with wildlife. It’s ironic that it also threatens one of the few institutions, zoos, which are dedicated to study and preserve nature and educate us all about a more balanced way of living in peace with it.

It is crucial that zoos continue to innovate, as they have throughout their history. They are looking for new ways to deliver conservation education better using technology, or even to create new research opportunities in the chaos. The challenge is to find ways that can provide sustainable income streams.

In the past 200 years, zoos around the world became true conservation powerhouses and one of the most accessible ways to reconnect our urbanising species with nature. Yet in the UK they are remarkably undervalued compared to other cultural institutions. As leading zoo figures, including myself, put forward in a recent white paper for the government authored by the largest UK charitable zoos and aquariums, the best evidence, facts and figures all show that good UK zoos need, and well deserve, the support of the government.

There is a compelling argument, and indeed many international examples, that partial or full government funding for some of the best UK zoos could lead to further increased conservation and science output and provide safe and healthy places to visit for families.

Considering the physical and psychological benefits of visiting modern zoos, one innovative way to increase funding could be to include zoos in the new green prescription system. Evidence suggests that a visit to the zoo is literally good for you: it can lower your blood pressure and stress hormone level, while making you happier, more energised, and less tense.