The explorers, who visited the site multiple times, said that they simply \u201cwalked straight through\u201d the entrance to capture the footage. The new video has made headlines \u2013 much like a previous clip<\/a> did in 2024 \u2013 and The Daily Mail<\/a> described the animals as the \u201cworld\u2019s loneliest gorillas\u201d and the zoo as \u201clong-abandoned.\u201d<\/p>\n Justin Morris, the chief executive of BZS, told the Guardian<\/a>, \u201cThe idea that they\u2019ve been abandoned is ridiculous. They are absolutely getting the same quality and care as they were when we were open to visitors. This is a really good healthy group of gorillas.\u201d<\/p>\n Darrell Sawczuk, social media manager at Plant Based News (PBN) and a former gorilla keeper, said that the plight of the captive animals in the video \u201cis very close\u201d to his heart. \u201cI\u2019m sad that they are captive, I\u2019m sad that they will never see where their wild counterparts live,\u201d said Sawczuk. However, he added that by describing the gorillas as \u201cabandoned,\u201d publications have missed a lot of nuance, particularly when it comes to the realities of being a captive animal in a zoo that is open to the public.<\/p>\n \u2018This is the only time in their lives when they can be left to be gorillas\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThe daily occurrence of people banging on enclosure windows will be something the gorillas know all too well,\u201d said Sawczuk. \u201cSo is it sad that they are left in a now-closed zoo? In my opinion, it\u2019s the best-case scenario. They will never see the wild; they were born and will die in captivity. So this is the only time in their lives when they can be left to be gorillas.\u201d<\/p>\n Bristol Zoo opened in 1836 and closed in 2022. It housed approximately 1000 animals, but since closing, it has remained home to just eight western lowland gorillas. The BZS is building them a new habitat at Bristol Zoo Project, due in early 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope for them is that they could be released to an ape sanctuary, the likes of Monkey World in Dorset or The Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary, but unfortunately, they do not house any gorillas currently,\u201d said Sawczuk. \u201cSo for now, we can only hope the enclosure being built at the new Bristol Zoo site is bigger, better, and provides more off-show areas for them to continue to be gorillas, without the constant gaze of their human cousins.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: <\/strong>Jane Goodall, The Celebrated Primatologist Who Changed How We Think About Animals, Has Died<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Break-ins cause \u2018significant\u2019 potential risk to animals and staff<\/p>\n Conservation charity Born Free described the actions of the urban explorers as posing \u201csignificant potential risks\u201d to the health and safety of staff and animals.<\/p>\n Last year, Born Free also described footage of the gorillas\u2019 indoor enclosure at the closed zoo as \u201csadly typical\u201d of great ape habitats, and said<\/a> \u201cthis highlights the conditions these animals have to endure\u201d when living in captivity.<\/p>\n When open, Bristol Zoo was subject to several welfare controversies<\/a>, including avoidable deaths, escaped animals, and, notoriously, the alleged punching of a seal by a zookeeper in 2013. According to previous research commissioned by the Born Free Foundation, 76 percent<\/a> of zoos and aquariums break welfare standards.<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lonely-gorillas-closed-bristol-zoo-3-1200x799.jpeg\")
Adobe Stock A report from this year by Born Free found that British zoos routinely prescribe great apes antidepressants to compensate for unnatural groupings and enclosures<\/p>\n