Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fife Zoo plans expansion as it bounces back from two devastating fires and Covid-19

Fife Zoo director Mike Knight.
Fife Zoo director Mike Knight.

Bosses at Fife Zoo are confident of a bright future at the tourist attraction, despite being hit by two fires and the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was July 2019, when Fife Zoo was opened by directors Mike Knight, his business partner Briony Taylor and Mike’s parents, Ann and Reg Knight.

A year later, it was hit by a devastating fire.

And a second fire ripped through Fife Zoo last year, just six days after it reopened as coronavirus lockdown restrictions eased.

The site, now back open, is home to more than 40 animals from 10 different species such as meerkats, ring-tailed lemurs, Grevy’s zebras and De Brazza’s monkeys.

It also has six banded armadillos and crested porcupines as well as various invertebrates like Madagascan hissing cockroaches, Saba stick insects and Asian forest scorpions.

Fife Zoo.

Visitor numbers are reported to have been steady for 2021, with over 17,500 people passing through the doors from March to October.

However, he operation has been hit by two fires as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.

But a bright future is still on the horizon.

A bright future ahead

The directors were not all complete novices – Mike and Briony previously worked at other zoos in the south of England.

So what was the opportunity the directors saw?

Mike said: “We looked at a few sites across the UK, but struggled with planning permission.

“We then started looking further afield and found the current site.

“It already had some existing infrastructure, a restaurant, car park, etc, so we could focus most of our efforts in the zoo itself.”

So did anyone think it was a crazy venture?

Mike said: “Lots, but I was confident that we had done all the appropriate due diligence.”

Starting Fife Zoo an expensive project

Starting the zoo did not come cheap.

Mike’s parents invested £525,000 from the sale of their home in Essex. There was another £250,000 of bank funding.

Mike looked all over the UK before setting on Fife for the zoo.

Wildlife conservation and education are the backbone of the zoo, Mike said.

“We support conservation breeding programmes for the species who live at the zoo, and we  also raise funds for conservation projects in the UK and abroad,” he added.

“Our conservation and wildlife message is top priority, achieved by delivering excellent animal care and education standards.”

As well as its directors, the zoo has 10 staff.

The impact of Covid-19 on Fife Zoo

The zoo got off to a promising start, with nearly 15,000 visitors in the second half of 2019.

But the arrival of Covid-19 on these shores had a huge impact.

Mike said: “Our developments stopped overnight. The zoo’s development fund became a Covid survival fund.

“We could not just lock the doors and wait it out.

A new lemur enclosure opened in October.

“It costs us around £1,200 per month just to feed the small collection of animals.

“We received £10,000 rates relief.

“We were able use the furlough scheme and make use of deferred VAT, but other than that we received no other government funding.

“Public donations in all forms were a huge support in looking after the animals at the zoo.

“We received a lot of financial donations, which went directly towards caring for the animals and paying the energy bills, as well as donations of other products like hay, straw, and bedding.”

The zoo is financed by revenue generated through ticket sales, so it was a relief when the doors opened again in March this year.

During off-peak days, the zoo expects around 50 visitors on average, but at peak times there could be 400 visitors per day.

The five-year plan for Fife Zoo

So where does he expect the zoo to be five years from now?

Mike said: “We would expect to have completed the majority of the work we have planning permission for and be planning the next stage of development.

Mike Knight hopes a bright future is ahead for Fife Zoo.

“The next phase will be predominantly South American.

“They include areas of pantanal and rainforest, including South American tapir, howler monkeys and some South American carnivores.”