Posted on: 17 October, 2025
As you may have seen online, we have been dealing with break ins at the old Bristol Zoo Gardens (BZG) site, where our gorilla troop remain cared for by their keepers until their new home is ready at Bristol Zoo Project.
Understandably, there is a lot of concern from the public about the welfare of the gorillas since the BZG site closed to the public in 2022. Here, you can read all the information about what’s happening with the troop and what their new home will be like.
It was always our plan for the gorilla troop to remain at Bristol Zoo Gardens until their new African Forest habitat was completed at Bristol Zoo Project. They remain cared for by the same team of keepers, and have exactly the same routine they had when the zoo was open to the public.
They have daily outside access (although this has recently been restricted to daytime only due to the risk that trespassers pose to them). They receive the same regular enrichment, health checks and welfare assessments, and our team are really pleased with how well they’re doing.
As well as their team of keepers, the gorillas see vets, other zoo staff, students, researchers and zoo supporters throughout each week. When they are moved over to their new African Forest home, we will be gradually introducing visitors to get them used to seeing the general public again.
Read more about about a day in the life of our gorilla troop here!
Unfortunately, we’ve dealt with a number of break ins at the Bristol Zoo Gardens site, and some of those trespassers have posted on social media, often with untrue and inflammatory information about the gorillas.
Despite us responding to these claims with the facts, the misinformation has been widespread and led to concern about the welfare of the gorillas. The publicity has in turn led to yet more break ins, which pose a huge danger not only to the gorillas, but to the trespassers themselves.
Our heightened security has ensured trespassers haven’t been able to get near to the gorillas, but each time someone breaks in, our alarm system is triggered, which distresses the gorilla troop. It often leads them to miss sleep, which disrupts their routine and leaves them groggy and lethargic. This is interrupting the training our team is providing to get them ready for their move to Bristol Zoo Project in a few months’ time.
Work is nearly completed on our new African Forest habitat at Bristol Zoo Project, where the gorillas will live in an area four and a half times the size of their current home.
They’ll share the space with Critically Endangered cherry-crowned mangabeys in a UK first, which will provide lots of natural enrichment. African Forest has been designed to evoke the dense, tree-filled landscape of Equatorial Guinea, where western lowland gorillas live in the wild.
Also in African Forest will be Endangered African grey parrots, Critically Endangered slender-snouted crocodiles and several highly threatened species of freshwater fish.
The only reason that social media influencers and media outlets share this false and misleading content is to gain followers, views and readers – it is for their own commercial gain. Please don’t share the fact-less videos on social media, this only encourages further break ins and endangers our troop of gorillas.
If you know anybody who would like to know more facts about our troop of gorillas, please point them to this article and our website where they can find out much more about their care, behaviour and fascinating group dynamics.
