50 Years of Working Together for Wildlife

BIAZA is the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums; the professional body representing the best zoos and aquariums in Britain and Ireland. We have over 100 zoo and aquarium members who pride themselves on their excellent animal welfare, education and conservation work.

This year BIAZA turns 50 and our organisation has borne witness to and supported considerable change within  the zoo and aquarium community over the past five decades. When the Association was formed as the Federation of Zoological Gardens of  Britiain and Ireland in 1966, there was a growing recognition that there was a need for standardised principles and practices to be adopted in animal husbandry. The Federation implemented a zoo inspection process to ensure the highest levels of animal welfare were achieved, and created a community that encouraged its members to share expertise and best practice with the aim of continuously improving standards. 

Today, modern zoological establishments are much more than places where the public can go to view a range of different animals. Our members who proudly display the BIAZA logo are declaring that they have the highest levels of animal welfare, they participate in conservation projects, their discovery and learning programmes are continuously being developed, and they are actively contributing to a body of research that will, ultimately, help us to conserve species in the wild.  

Facts & Figures

•  Around 25 million people visit BIAZA collections every year (one in three of the population of Britain and Ireland)

•  More than 1,300,000 people (mainly children) come to BIAZA collections each year on an organized educational visit

•  Over 700 projects involving research and training for research are carried out in BIAZA member collections each year, many of these measuring behaviour with the aim of improving animal welfare.

•  BIAZA members support over 500 field conservation projects (including work on British and Irish native species) contributing over £14 million per year

Sir David Attenborough thanks BIAZA for his Lifetime Achievement Award