As the  £9 million Lottery-funded refurbishment of Clissold Park nears completion, Clissold Park Zoo Watch has launched a paper-petition calling for closure of the park's zoo and re-homing of the animals.

An on-line petition recently closed with over 1400 signatures. Zoo Watch members have started a series of petition-signing events in Clissold Park on Saturday mornings. For more information please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The park's animal enclosures are owned and run by the London Borough of Hackney.

Here is a statement from Clissold Park Zoo Watch:

"During the refurbishment of Clissold Park the management failed to evacuate the 10 fallow deer, two pygmy goats, four rabbits and five chickens which were were left on-site,  surrounded by a noisy, insecure construction area.

During the works, three deer and all four rabbits died due to insecure fencing, and two deer fawns were born into building-site chaos having been sired by two fertile young males which the Council had neglected to re-home.  10 aviary birds were found dead over the winter in their makeshift temporary aviary.

After completion of the parks renovations, the quality of life of the zoo animals will remain substandard. By reason of management, staffing, environment and security, the London Borough of Hackney is incapable of keeping animals in conditions which council-taxpayers will find acceptable.

Day-to-day care of the animals (health, nutrition,  etc) depends on a committed management and fully qualified, dedicated staff.  But the animals remain tended to by unqualified gardeners who now face a greater workload as a result of the new facilities created by the refurbishment.

The zoo will remain too noisy and busy, and the deer pen too small and overgrazed.  A new path through the animal pens will leave the animals even more exposed to the public and their dogs. Natural cover in the deer pen,  torn away for the works, has yet to be replanted.

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, Hackney Council is obliged to protect the animals it owns, including from vandals. Yet vandalism has always been endemic in Clissold Park and the new perimeter fence will not protect the animals from noise and missiles such as stones, fireworks and air rifles. But no CCTV or security is planned.

Clissold Park Zoo is a bizarre, inhumane anachronism, more suited to the 19th Century than the 21st. It's time to close it down, to re-home the animals to the sanctuaries already found by Clissold Park Zoo Watch, and to use the space for a new creative alternative to meet modern-day children's needs."

Clissold Park Zoo Watch's (CPZW) initial aim was to have the deer re-homed and to raise standards for the remaining animals. But on 14 February, a deer was found dead from a dog attack the day before. Another deer was found dead on 20 February, from stress-aggravated infection. The temporary fencing was found to be insecure in several places – there'd been no regular inspection. Although the first deer was seen lying down after the dog attack, the rangers didn't call a vet.

This latest episode has confirmed their suspicions that the mismanagement is too ingrained to guarantee acceptable animal welfare. So CPZW is now calling to have the whole zoo closed down with all the animals re-homed. CPZW has found sanctuaries for the surviving deer, goats and birds.

According to CPZW, Hackney Council has paid no attention to the zoo animals during the year-long £9million Heritage Lottery renovations. The deer, rabbits, goats and chickens were left inside a noisy building site, prey to vandals, foxes and dogs. In just 6 months, 3 deer and 4 rabbits have been killed and 10 birds (in an "adapted" lorry container) are confirmed dead.

The new enclosures will offer no improvement for the animals. No animal experts were consulted during planning to approve the new designs. The deer pen will be barely larger than before the works, and much more exposed, with a new footpath running through a bare and overgrazed compound. Absolutely no night-time security is planned. And the animals will still be cared for by unqualified gardeners, plagued by vandals and out-of-control dogs.

In the financial year 2009/10 Hackney Council spent only £542 on vet bills – for 70 animals and birds – out of an allocated £36.5k annual budget for the zoo. The Parks training budget has never been used to train staff in animal husbandry.