Bristol Zoo Gardens has won ‘best marketing project’ and ‘best education project’ in the annual British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) awards.
The marketing project award was received for the incredibly successful Wow! Gorillas campaign, which the zoo ran in 2011 as part of the promotions for its 175th anniversary.
The education project award was given for the Wow! Gorilla education outreach programme, which aimed to educate children on gorilla conservation.
Commendations were also awarded to Bristol Zoo in four categories – best research project for investigations into body weight of wild and captive lemurs; best education project for its WOW! Gorillas summer campaign; best PR project also for Wow! Gorillas, and best use of plants in a landscape feature or display for The Stream Garden.
The awards were presented at a prestigious ceremony held at West Midland Safari Park, attended by some 105people on Wednesday. Bristol Zoo director Dr Bryan Carroll said: “These awards highlight the extremely high standards and achievements of Bristol Zoo Gardens, and show that the zoo community recognises the dedication and hard work that goes on at Bristol and other British zoos every day.”
Held annually for over a decade, the BIAZA awards recognise outstanding contributions and achievements in the fields of wildlife conservation, advances in animal welfare and husbandry, marketing, PR, education, research, and enclosure design.
BIAZA executive director oMiranda Stevenson said “Wow! Gorillas is a great example of how zoos can have an impact on the local community and spread the conservation message.”
