We’re saddened to let you know that we won’t be reopening Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park under the current suggested restrictions.
| Over the last week, we have had continued discussions with SA Health about the reopening of Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park. The final part of this process involves gaining approval from the state’s Transition Committee. After careful consultation with the State’s Transition Committee, we find ourselves in a position where will we need to await further easing of restrictions until we can reopen. With over 40,000 members and visitor numbers often into the thousands per day, we do not believe the Transition Committee’s suggested cap on numbers or the use of a time-slot system at Adelaide Zoo, which would see groups permitted entry at various times of the day, will be workable, safe or fair to our visitors. Our concerns would be that such limited numbers throughout the day would cause difficulty in managing bottlenecks at our entrances and that a time-limit would impinge greatly on visitors’ enjoyment. It is also not financially viable for us as the costs incurred in opening would not allow us to offset our expenditure. While the current outcome is disappointing and our members will be particularly disappointed by this news, we are grateful for the assistance and consideration shown to Zoos SA by the State Government. Most importantly, this means emergency funding to ensure our critical animal care is maintained. We keenly await a time when restrictions have eased enough to allow us to reopen in a manner similar to zoos and wildlife parks in most other states. At this stage it appears that this will be on the 3rd July. We remain hopeful that South Australia’s recovery from the pandemic will continue in its positive manner and that we will see the fast-tracking of restrictions which will see us open sooner rather than later. We will provide further updates when available. |
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