Hello there,

On Wednesday 21st January, the SBZG campaign will finally hold the special campaign event that Bristol Zoological Society’s current leadership never wanted to go ahead.

Where: Bristol Improv Theatre, 50 St. Paul’s Rd, Clifton, BS8 1LP
When: Wednesday 21st January, 7pm

The event will include:

• The Alternative Plan: A detailed proposal developed with industry experts for a reimagined Bristol Zoo Gardens.
• The Report: The culmination of thousands of hours of research and interviews with former zoo staff and international experts outlining why Bristol Zoo never needed to close and why a reimagined Bristol Zoo can reopen.
• Guest speakers: Including former Bristol Zoo employees, who will speak publicly for the first time about the site's closure and potential future.

Since April last year, I have been subjected to legal intimidation and threats from Bristol Zoological Society’s lawyers, who have tried to bully and silence me to stop me exercising my democratic right to campaign and say things publicly about Bristol Zoological Society’s current leadership that they don’t like. 

I am continuing to campaign on this issue by myself, but on behalf of the many thousands of people who support this campaign who miss the zoo’s presence in Bristol and would love a reimagined Bristol Zoo to return. Keeping this campaign going has been immensely challenging for me and my family and has involved a lot of sacrifices. If at all possible, any money you can donate on my go fund me page would still make a world of difference to me.

If you want to know a little more, please see below for a longer 2-3 min read.

I hope to see you on the 21st!

Tom

The Story to Save Bristol Zoo: 2/3 min read

For three and a half years, I have campaigned to save Bristol Zoo Gardens. As a shareholder and founder of the Save Bristol Zoo Gardens (SBZG) campaign, I have produced a 100-page evidence-based report and a viable alternative plan to reopen the site as a reimagined zoo.
However, the public has seen almost none of this. Since last spring, the leadership of Bristol Zoological Society has moved to systematically silence me.

The Events of Last April

On April 16th, I relaunched the campaign with a petition calling for the current BZS leadership to stand down and for the developer, Acorn Property Group, to withdraw their bid for luxury housing. I organised a public event at Bristol Beacon for April 29th to present our alternative vision, featuring international experts and former zoo staff.

The contract was signed, the fee paid, and 35,000 flyers delivered. Then, on April 22nd, the Beacon abruptly cancelled my booking.

What the Emails Revealed

I suspected interference from the zoo, which the Beacon initially denied. However, a Subject Access Request (SAR) later revealed the truth:

• The Pressure: Hours before my cancellation, Bristol Zoo CEO Justin Morris emailed the Beacon’s CEO, Simon Wales, claiming most of my statements were "false" and mentioning that BZS and Acorn were "taking legal advice." In the same email, Justin Morris took the opportunity to report to Simon Wales that a former zoo employee who now works for the Beacon, a supporter of the SBZG campaign and a friend of mine, “has been messaging former members of staff encouraging them to attend. I have attached the information that he has been sharing.” How Justin Morris even got hold of those private text messages is one question. The second is; why was Justin Morris - Bristol Zoo's CEO and my friend's old boss - attaching my friend's private text messages to an email to his new boss?
• The Cover-up: Mr. Wales updated Justin Morris to reassure him his involvement would be kept quiet, saying that the Beacon had: “told Tom that it's because we are now aware of the public petition and we can't support this or be associated with it. Tom has of course asked if we've been contacted by anyone at the zoo and we've said we're aware of the petition, nothing more.” In the days and weeks that followed, the Beacon continued to try to cover up what had really happened and refused to refund me my publicity costs. Only when I threatened an SAR did they agree to pay but this too was initially conditional on signing an NDA.
• Additional Attempts to Suppress: Our international zoo expert speaker who was scheduled to speak at the Beacon public meeting and also at another private meeting for zoo shareholders, was contacted by two very senior individuals from Bristol Zoological Society to suggest that he should not attend either meeting. Although he respectfully declined to take their advice, this put him in an uncomfortable position on both occasions.

Legal Bullying

The day after the Beacon meeting was officially cancelled, BZS lawyers sent me a legal letter threatening me with defamation if I continued to make “inaccurate and misleading” comments about the charity. A veteran lawyer described the letter to me as "bullying," designed to force compliance through the threat of financial ruin. This is known as ‘SLAPP’ - Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, which is a baseless or abusive lawsuit designed to intimidate critics, journalists, or activists into dropping legitimate concerns about matters of public interest by burying them in expensive legal battles, even if the plaintiff doesn't expect to win. The primary goal of a SLAPP isn't legal victory, but to silence speech through harassment, financial drain, and psychological pressure, often using defamation law as a tool.

The following day, BZS even asked to share my details with the developer, Acorn, presumably for further legal threats. I declined.

Since April, it would appear that Bristol Zoological Society’s leadership has been pulling out all the stops to try and silence me and stop me exercising my democratic right to campaign against them and say things publicly about them which they don’t like. 
 
Until last April, I had believed - perhaps naively - that today in the UK, we live in a society where free speech was not just allowed but celebrated. 
 
I am an individual; my only asset is my family home. By threatening me with a defamation suit—which could cost hundreds of thousands in legal fees even if I won—BZS is holding a "legal gun" to my head. They are not just fighting a campaign; they are threatening my children’s future.

Why This Matters

I believe the current leadership is doing irreparable harm to a 200-year-old Bristol institution. They have read my report; they know the evidence exists. Their efforts to suppress it as well as the alternative vision for a reimagined Bristol Zoo suggest they are desperate for the public not to hear the other side of the story.
Bristol Zoo has not been sold yet. Under new leadership, a reimagined Bristol Zoo Gardens is possible.