The zoo is forecasting a deficit, despite growth in visitor number and the arrival of snow leopards. Photo / Zoos Victoria
The zoo is forecasting a deficit, despite growth in visitor number and the arrival of snow leopards. Photo / Zoos Victoria
Wellington Zoo just had its best year ever for visitor numbers but recorded a budgetary shortfall of more than half a million dollars.
The financial outlook for the coming year is also bleak, with an expected operational shortfall of more than $400,000.
The zoo is considering new attractions to boost revenue, including a close encounter with snow leopard sisters Asha and Manju, and overnight glamping.
Taking money out of the equation, Wellington Zoo has had a fantastic year. A pair of snow leopards have made the capital their new home and have proven to be a popular hit, the habitat has taken home architecture awards, and visitation levels have reached a new high.
Despite the apparent success story, significant cost increases have outweighed high visitation numbers. The Wellington attraction has faced a budgetary shortfall and is budgeting for an operational shortfall for the 2024/25 financial year.
The Wellington Zoo Te Nukuao Statement of Intent, covering the 2024/25 financial year, through to the 2026/27 financial year, states costs are “outstripping any revenue gains”. The zoo is labelled a non-profit with no capital assets, meaning it relies on annual income and cannot borrow.
Despite a huge spike in visitation numbers, the zoo’s statement of intent confirms it faced a budgetary shortfall of $571,000 in the 2023/24 financial year, and is budgeting for another year of relatively similar gloom. It is forecasting a deficit, being carried as a “risk” in the council’s recent budget.
It expects a further operational shortfall of $409,000 for the 2024/25 financial year.
In an interview, Te Nukuao Tūroa o Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington Zoo chief executive Karen Fifield said the zoo was “no exception” to facing rising costs.
She said prices had gone up significantly around electricity, water and animal food, adding “our costs have actually risen by 30% and our revenue has only risen by 25%”.
Fifield said this made it “difficult” to cover the costs of actually running the zoo, even though it has had its best visitation year in its 118-year history, with 280,000 people going through its doors in the past year.
The zoo is looking to change the tide around its budget books; it has a target of reaching 267,205 visitors in the 2024/25 financial year, and aims to introduce “more commercial products” to grow revenue. Despite the operational shortfall being predicted in the document, the zoo expects an additional $601,000 of trust-generated visitor revenue for the year.
It is looking at potentially adding new experiences to bring revenue and to continue a further year of record visitation numbers, including a ‘close encounter’ with the new snow leopard sisters Asha and Manju.
Close encounters currently cost between $129 to $159 per person, and allow visitors to go face to face with some of the animals on display. Some close encounters, like the lemur experience, allow people to pet the animals and pose for photos. Others are strictly hands-off, like the tiger experience, conducted through a gate away from other visitors.
People are able to pet the zoo's red pandas during close encounters, while the animal eats a bowl of fruit and an expert answers questions. Photo/Wellington Zoo
Wellington Zoo is also planning on an upgrade of its venues and functions space.
Fifield said people had gone through the zoo’s budget line-by-line, and “run a very lean ship anyway.” Staff numbers have not increased in recent times.
The zoo’s revenue has seen an overall boost, compared with pre-Covid levels.
Documents state the Wellington City Council is making a “small increase” in funding for the zoo, to assist it in delivering on health and safety plans. The council has a 100% shareholding in the Wellington Zoo Trust, which manages the site, provides experiences and education, and supports conservation initiatives.
A 2022 report commissioned by the council recommended a 50/50 funding model between the council and the zoo.
The new statement of intent from the zoo confirms the council committed to $4,361,660 in operational funding for the 2024/ 25 financial year, which comes with an additional $48,266 to assist with pressures related to the living wage, the minimum all zoo employees are paid.
The operational funding provided by the city council accounts for 42% of the zoo’s budgeted expenditure - though the zoo’s statement of intent sees the half and half funding model as the “best way forward” to reduce financial risk.
Fifield added the Wellington City Council had been “supportive” and “helpful” throughout the pandemic, and now. She confirmed the council would underwrite the deficit, meaning it would not get additional funding unless absolutely needed.
Her outlook for the future of the zoo was positive, with new commercial activities coming in future years, like “glamping” in the zoo, an option which has been successful overseas.
“We’re excited about what the future can hold. Everyone is in this boat at the moment, but the economy is cyclical as we know.”
Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined NZME in 2022 and has a keen interest in city council decisions, public service agency reform, and transport.
