A NEW home for reptiles and amphibians at Jersey Zoo needs further funding, it has emerged after more than £700k was raised through a fundraising auction of tortoise sculptures last year.
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust chief executive Rebecca Brewer confirmed that the project, known as ‘Tropical Islands’, is in the early stages of development and will require a new fundraising strategy before building can begin.
The ‘Tortoise Takeover’ campaign in 2023 placed more than 100 giant tortoise sculptures around the Island and raised £720,500 at auction, including a record £100,000 for a one-off hare.
But Ms Brewer, who is the subject of this week’s Saturday Interview, said the final cost of upgrading the zoo’s current reptile and amphibian facility, which was built around 50 years ago, will exceed the funds already secured.
“Next year, once we’ve got our new director of operations [Mark Habben], we’ll be moving forward with the design for that so that we understand what the rest of the funds are that we need to raise, and we’ll put together our fundraising strategy,” she said.
While work on the reptile house has yet to start, Durrell’s other major capital project – “state-of-the-art” gorilla house to replace the current enclosure dating back to 1981 – is now nearing completion.
First launched in 2019 through the Go Wild Gorillas trail and auction, which raised £1.14m, the multi-million-pound facility has also been supported by donations and a £980,000 government grant.
Delayed for years after rising steel prices pushed costs up by about 20%, the project restarted last summer and is due to be finished in December.
“We were committed to doing the project within those costs,” Ms Brewer explained. “But with Brexit and the Ukraine war, steel prices shot up.
“Costs in Jersey have continued to rise. There was about a 20% increase, and we paused the project to see if prices would settle.
“We really worked hard to bring it down as far as possible without compromising on quality or animal welfare,” she added. “If we’re going to be spending this amount of money, it’s really important that we get it right.”
“It’s looking fantastic,” Ms Brewer continued. “We’re at the final touches stage – glass going in, the interpretation and signage being finalised.
“We’ll move the gorillas in at the start of next year and hope to have it open to the public towards the end of January or February, with a bigger launch in spring. We want to give the gorillas a few weeks to settle first.”
