The “world’s loneliest” gorillas have reportedly been discovered living inside the abandoned Bristol Zoo, more than three years after it closed to the public in September 2022.
Heartbreaking footage shared online shows one of the gorillas tapping against the glass of its enclosure, seemingly trying to get the attention of a visitor who had trespassed onto the site. The overgrown enclosure, which houses eight western lowland gorillas, is surrounded by deserted visitor buildings and vegetation that has taken over since the zoo shut its doors.
The footage was posted with the caption: “Bristol Zoo: what are you hiding? What is it you don’t want everyone to know? These gorillas should never be in here.”
The person who filmed the video claimed to have spent “several hours at the zoo” and accused Bristol Zoological Society of not being transparent about the animals’ welfare. “I, like many others, didn’t understand what was going on,” they said. “Bristol Zoo aren’t very transparent at all. It’s in the public interest to be transparent… that’s why there is so much public attention, no one could care if they were honest.”
In response, Brian Zimmerman, Director of Conservation and Science at the Bristol Zoological Society, strongly condemned the trespassers. “Since July 2024 our former Bristol Zoo Gardens site has been targeted by trespassers,” he said. “We take these incidents extremely seriously and the care and welfare of our animals is always our top priority. Our heightened security has ensured recent trespassers haven’t been able to get near the gorillas. But each time it happens, and alarms are set off, it causes the troop distress. It is frustrating for us to see these videos.”
Zimmerman added: “The trespassers who broke into our site put animals at risk and have no knowledge of animal care and welfare.”
The zoo has denied claims that the gorillas are being neglected, insisting that they remain under professional care while awaiting relocation. The Bristol Zoological Society is currently building a new home for them at the Bristol Zoo Project, formerly the Wild Place Project, where their new habitat will be four and a half times larger and modelled after the forests of Equatorial Guinea.
However, wildlife charity Born Free criticised the zoo for keeping the gorillas at the closed site for so long. In a statement, the group said: “Despite closing its doors in September 2022, the former Bristol Zoo site in the UK has continued to house western lowland gorillas while work on their enclosure at the new Bristol Zoo Project awaits completion. Since the old site’s closure, there have been a series of public break-ins, putting health and safety of both the intruders and the gorillas at risk. The repeated disturbances and loud alarms have reportedly had ‘really distressing’ impacts on the gorillas.”
Last year, a dead tree inside the gorilla enclosure was removed after experts from The Wotton Tree Consultancy warned it posed a “bridging risk” that could allow the apes to escape. The tree also threatened to damage the enclosure’s electric fencing, which serves as a secondary containment barrier.
The Bristol Zoological Society said the gorillas will be relocated to their new African Forest habitat in the coming months, marking what it called “a significant step” toward their welfare and conservation.
