Release
BECAUSE OF YOU!
Zoo Awareness Weekend of action Page 1
Stats reveal animals die in their thousands in UK zoos Page 3
Mobile Zoos Mobile Misery report launched Page 4
Upcoming release of new investigation Page 6
The fight for penguins continues Page 7
Zoo Awareness Weekend 2025
The best Zoo Awareness Weekend everthankstoyou!
Zoos in the UK and Ireland hold hundreds of thousands of animals captive; animals who are living in misery, their whole lives existing purely to entertain humans for mere minutes.
Every year at Easter, we hold Zoo Awareness Weekend, a weekend of action dedicated to highlighting the suffering caused by zoos and aquariums at this industries’ busiest time of year.
And what a success it was this year!
We are delighted to say that this year saw an enormous amount of people take to the streets to protest against cruelty and say enough is enough! Animals are NOT here for our entertainment.
Here are some of the amazing demonstrations that were held this year:
• Belfast Zoo
• Sea Life Brighton
• Chester Zoo
• Dublin Zoo
• Edinburgh Zoo
• Knowsley Safari Park
• London Zoo
• Sea Life London Aquarium
• Twycross Zoo
Thank you to everyone who was able to join a demonstration this Easter!
If you are thinking of getting involved in future demonstrations and outreach days, please get in touch so that we can help link you up with a local group in your area, or you can start your own! info@freedomforanimals.org.uk
Protests over Zoo Awareness Weekend
Protesters gave out hundreds of leaflets to zoo visitors across the UK and Ireland, even turning some customers away! We only hope now that those who didn’t turn their backs on this cruelty saw the heartbreak on the animals’ faces inside the cages and vow to them never to return!
But of course it wasn’t just on the streets that actions happened!
Many of our amazing supporters also took to social media to echo the calls of protesters, that animals are NOT here for human entertainment! This is such a powerful tool in campaigning for animals and we cannot thank everyone enough for getting involved.
We also saw a huge increase in the number of people who have signed onto our letter to DEFRA, demanding more transparency from zoos and aquariums, to cut the lies they spout to the public.
TAKE ACTION
No More Zoo Secrets
If you haven’t had a chance to send your email to DEFRA yet, you can do so here:
https://www.freedomforanimals.org.uk/ no-more-zoo-secrets
Thank you to everyone who got involved in this year’s Zoo Awareness Weekend! You have collectively helped to make 2025’s event a huge success for animals!
Zoo stats reveal shocking number of animals dying in zoos
You have funded brand new research into zoos’ conservation lies!
The first stage of this research, undertaken this year, shows that animals are dying in their thousands, including endangered species that zoos claim to be protecting.
As part of zoo licence conditions, they must present a “stock list” to the local authority. This list shows how many animals are born, transferred or have died in the zoo’s care each year.
We have submitted requests under the Freedom of Information Act to every local authority in the UK to see these records. And what we are getting back is horrifying.
So far we have analysed lists from 75 zoos:
• 44,620 deaths in total
• 60% saw more animals die in their care than were born there
• Almost 50% of the deaths were species in threatened categories
This not only indicates poor care for animals, but it completely debunks the myth that zoos are conserving endangered species.
Zoos do not contribute to meaningful conservation, they do not benefit wild animals, they do not educate the public. In fact, they actively mislead the public, and animals continue to suffer in captivity while they make money from their exploitation.”
Isobel McNally, Campaigns Officer
Zoos use the conservation lie to excuse the cruelty and suffering they cause to animals, and to allow the public to feel happy about spending their money visiting. But we are here, with you, to expose these lies.
Thank you to everyone who donated to our recent appeal that has enabled this initial research. We will continue to call out zoos’ lies and make the public aware of what they are funding. You can still donate to this appeal here:
www.freedomforanimals.org.uk/donate
Order campaigns materials
Live near a zoo or aquarium? Have a circus or mobile zoo visiting your town? You can order leaflets and posters from our shop to help with demos, street stalls or leaflet drops: www.freedomforanimals.org.uk/shop
Mobile Zoos, Mobile Misery - New report
Wearesopleasedtoannouncethat ournewmobilezooreport,Mobile Zoos,MobileMiseryhasnowbeen published.
With your help, we will begin distributing it to many officials, including MPs, councils and schools, to encourage bans across public land, following the same methods we used to finally get a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses.
What we uncovered whilst investigating events for this report was shocking. Animals were found to be:
• Transported and held in small, temporary enclosures
• Trapped without fresh water, shelter, and species-specific enrichment
Adopt an Animal Today!
• Lacking species-specific care needs such as essential heat sources for reptiles
• Constrained and forced to interact with humans for hours a day
• Shaking in distress, and prevented from escaping human contact
Thousands of animals are being confined, transported and manipulated… all so that they can be put on display and forced to interact with the public as part of mobile zoo events.
Now, with you, we are calling for an outright ban on the use of animals in mobile exhibitions.
You can help by sharing the report with your MP, local council, local schools and anywhere organising a mobile zoo event.
You can download your copy here: www.freedomforanimals.org.uk/ mobilezoomisery Or request a hard copy by emailing: info@freedomforanimals.org.uk
TAKE ACTION
Join the campaign to end travelling animal exhibitions once and for all - click here to send a letter to DEFRA today! www.freedomforanimals.org.uk/ ban-mz-action
Looking for a great gift idea or just fancy treating yourself? Look no further!
We have eight amazing animals to choose from, and your adoption will help our work for both that species and all animals held in captivity for human entertainment.
The adopter will receive a certificate of adoption, stickers, a copy of Release, information about your chosen animal, and of course, a cute ecofriendly cuddly toy, all wrapped up in a box!
Choose your adoption today at www. freedomforanimals.org.uk/adopt-an-animal
Note from our director
Welcome to this summer edition of Release!
It has already been a very busy year for Freedom for Animals. Following the fantastic news at the end of 2024 that South Lakes Zoo had closed its doors for good, we discovered the owner’s intention to transfer some of the animals to another site near Tebay. We are now opposing planning permission for their new business proposal which will continue to exploit animals for profit.
Our campaign to free 15 gentoo penguins from a windowless basement at Sea Life in London continues, as do our campaigns to end the use of domesticated animals in travelling circuses and to end the exploitation of animals in mobile zoos.
In April, we worked with local activists around the UK and Ireland as part of our annual Zoo Awareness Weekend.
Thank you so much to all of you who took part.
It was a privilege for me to attend the protest at Dublin Zoo, where Freedom for Animals, and our friends at NARA, Ireland, have raised serious concerns about the animals being kept captive there.
We have been working on a project calling on the Irish government to end the keeping of elephants in Dublin Zoo’s tiny enclosure. This follows the avoidable deaths of two young female elephants last summer from EEHV, a virus which is harmless to wild elephants but is responsible for 60% of the deaths of young elephants in zoos.
So, 2025 is shaping up to be a very busy year for the FFA team – but of course we couldn’t do what we do without you – our wonderful supporters and fellow activists!
Sadly, I will be leaving Freedom for Animals at the end of May after three and a half years as Director. I would like to pay tribute to the fantastic and dedicated team here at Freedom for Animals, all of our volunteers and our incredible supporters. I know you will continue to help in the fight for freedom for all animals, and an end to the exploitation of animals for human entertainment. I hope you all have a great summer!
For the animals!
Director
Coming soon….
Wewillsoonbereleasingabrandnew investigationintothedarkandmurky worldofbirdofpreyzoos.
Thanks to your generosity and the double donations appeal during The Big Give Christmas Challenge, we have been working hard behind the scenes on another groundbreaking investigation.
Investigators were deployed to work at three bird of prey zoos in England. Sadly what was found was another grim reality for birds in the UK.
