FOR one day next week, for 1,959 Islanders, the price of entry to Jersey Zoo will be the same as it was when Gerald Durrell first opened the facility in 1959.
On Wednesday 26 March – the date the Zoo opened – that number of Zoo tickets will be available for £1.01 per person. Adult tickets are usually £21 if bought on the day, with concessions costing £18.90 and children £16.80.
The inflation-busting move forms part of Durrell Wildlife Trust’s celebrations this year to mark 100 years since the birth of its founder. Free admission is also being offered to mothers on Mother’s Day, 30 March.
Durrell’s commercial director, Ian Osborne, said it was a “fun way to celebrate our founder Gerald Durrell’s birthday while also making the Zoo more accessible to visitors and the local community”.
Since it first opened at Les Augrès Manor, the site has been significantly adapted, with the old pressoir converted for various mammals, part of the west wing turned into the tropical bird house and an old garage turned into a reptile house.
Now the 32-acre site features an orangutan island, butterfly house and tortoise tunnel, with work now under way on a new gorilla house and plans being put together for a new tropical reptile house.
To get one of the 1,959 available tickets on Wednesday, Islanders can visit the Zoo from 9.30am until last entry at 4pm.
More information, including terms and conditions for both offers, can be found on Durrell’s website, durrell.org.
