We're calling for border rule change as Brexit red tape threatens conservation
Zoo leaders are calling on the UK government to cut the red tape that’s strangling vital conservation breeding and science efforts.
Representatives from major UK zoos have written to Prime Minister Keir Starmer ahead of a UK-EU summit on 19 May to ask that the movement of endangered animals and biological materials between the UK and EU countries be made easier.
The plea comes before the summit, which has been billed as a chance to “reset” Britain’s relationship with the EU, to keep conservation high on the agenda.
Years-long delays to conservation breeding affect and limit the genetic diversity and the breeding success of future generations of endangered animals. This summit is our last and best chance to improve the situation within the next five years. That is a long time in conservation when so many species are on the brink of extinction.
Jamie Christon, CEO of Chester Zoo
Before 2021, around 1,400 zoo animals were transported between the UK and EU countries each year. This ensured healthy genetics and helped boost numbers of endangered animal populations in zoos.
Now, transfers have dwindled to fewer than 300 a year.
The letter, co-signed by the CEOs of a number of the UK’s leading conservation zoos, states:
Animal transfers that once took weeks now often take several years, placing enormous strain on conservation efforts and the institutions that support them.
A UK-EU veterinary agreement that explicitly considers the needs of conservation would be a major step forward. It could enable more harmonised health certification, reduce bureaucratic delays, and restore the UK’s capacity to participate fully in international breeding programmes.
Among the animals left in the lurch is Brian the Visayan warty pig. Classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the future of the species may rely on zoo-led conservation breeding programmes.
Brian was due to travel from Chester to Nürnberg Zoo in Germany to meet his genetic match, but his transfer was cancelled less than 12 hours before he was due to travel because of an issue at customs, despite both zoos meeting all of the stipulated requirements.
I’ve performed this role for several decades and everything is now far more complicated than ever before. It’s having a catastrophic impact on UK zoos and has become so difficult that some of our European counterparts just won’t work with us anymore.
It also means that species, particularly birds and ectotherms (cold-blooded animals) that have smaller fertility windows, are losing their chance to breed. This means that crucial bloodlines that could save species are being lost.
Penny Rudd, Registrar at Chester Zoo
The issues also extend to zoo-driven science projects, including endocrinology and cryopreservation work carried out at Chester Zoo.
Conservation Scientist John O’Hanlon organises the transfer of biological samples to the zoo’s on-site labs. Scientists at the zoo test and preserve various samples, including dung, blood, tissue and semen collected from endangered animals to help support endangered species breeding programmes.
Here in Chester we have world-class facilities where we can test to see if animals in other zoos in Europe have, for example, picked up a deadly virus. In some of these cases, we need to work quickly to obtain test results and advise the best course of treatment. Unfortunately, we now find ourselves in the ridiculous situation where we’re redirecting our colleagues in, for example, Dublin, to other testing facilities in Europe, even though we are closer.
John O’Hanlon, Conservation Scientist
