Zoos and aquariums across the country will celebrate Love Your Zoo/Aquarium 2026 [25-29 May] and are calling for the public to support their local zoo or aquarium.
Love Your Zoo and Love Your Aquarium week is an annual event organised by BIAZA (the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) in recognition of the outstanding work of its members such as The Deep.
For example, last year BIAZA zoos and aquariums:
- Welcomed 31.4 million visitors
- Undertook 745,000 formal education visits on top of countless educational days out
- Undertook 1,048 conservation projects – from saving Britain’s tiny glutinous snail from extinction, to reducing elephant-human conflict internationally
- BIAZA zoos spent £34.2 million on conservation
- Undertook 1,670 research projects
- Provided jobs to over 7,000 people
Highlighting the collective contributions of zoos and aquariums. Key numbers use data BIAZA has received in their annual questionnaires in 2024 and 2025.
Dr Jo Judge, the CEO of BIAZA said:
“Protecting, restoring and connecting our natural world is at the heart of what good zoos and aquariums do. We hope everyone will come together, enjoy a fantastic day out with family and understand a bit more about how zoos and aquariums are working to create a brighter future for both people and nature.”
Whether it's breeding programmes for endangered species, world-leading scientific research or the inspirational education work connecting people and nature, the work of zoos and aquariums have never been more relevant.
Recent examples of the amazing work the zoo and aquarium sector undertake include:
- The reintroduction to the wild of the critically endangered African antelope known as the Mountain Bongo from European zoos. Something that Chester Zoo has spent eleven years coordinating.
- A world first fully mapped genome of the endangered barbary macaque, based on research at Trentham Monkey Forest.
- The release of 4,000 dark bordered beauty moth eggs in the Cairngorms National Park to establish a new population of this endangered species, by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.
- The release of 182 threatened white clawed crayfish in Yorkshire, from a hatchery at Flamingo Land Resort.
- Galway Atlantaquaria’s Explore Your Shore work to connect citizens of Galway to the ocean and protect their shoreline through citizen science.
Rob Bullock, Head of Conservation at The Deep, commented:
“In the UK, we are fortunate to have incredibly engaged and proactive communities who champion the work of The Deep and other BIAZA institutions across the country.”
“This week's event is a celebration of those remarkable communities. Their passion, commitment, and collective energy are the driving force behind the conservation achievements we have all been able to realise.”
With the support of visitors, aquariums like The Deep are able to continue vital conservation work for the benefit of all nature, both at home and worldwide.
You can join the celebrations by visiting and supporting The Deep, and using the hashtag #LoveYourZoo or #LoveYourAquarium on your social media posts to spread the positivity far and wide.