How to start a zoo in the UK

1. Do you actually need a zoo licence?

In law a zoo is broader than most people expect. Under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 it means an establishment where wild animals are exhibited to the public, open for seven or more days in any 12-month period. "Wild" means animals not normally domesticated in Great Britain. That definition catches wildlife and safari parks, aquariums, bird gardens, reptile centres and many farm parks and open farms, not just the big-cat zoo you might picture. If that is you, you almost certainly need a licence from your local council.

2. Before you apply: notice and consultation

The process starts well before the application form. In England you must:

• Notify your local council in writing at least two months before you apply
• Publish notice of your intention in one local and one national newspaper
• Display a notice at the proposed site
• Set out how you will meet the conservation requirements a modern zoo has to meet.

Scotland and Wales run the same Act through their own licensing authorities, so check the exact steps with the council for your area. Either way, this is a plan-months-ahead exercise, not a form you fill in the week before opening.

3. Inspection, then the licence

Your council will inspect the zoo before granting a licence, with a nominated inspector, and must give you at least 28 days' notice of that inspection. A fee applies, set locally. Get it right and a first zoo licence is valid for four years; a renewed licence lasts six years, and you should renew at least six months before it expires. After that, expect a formal or informal inspection every year for as long as you operate.

4. The standard you will be held to

Licensing decisions, conditions and inspections all hang off the Secretary of State's Standards of Modern Zoo Practice (SSSMZP 2012). It is the rulebook your inspector uses, covering animal welfare, safety, conservation and education, and it is where the day-to-day record-keeping duties live. Reading it early tells you what "good" looks like before an inspector does. A revised standard, the Standards of Modern Zoo Practice for Great Britain 2025 (SoMZP-GB 2025), comes into force on 24 May 2027.

5. The records you keep from day one

A zoo licence brings a legal duty to keep records: the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 s.1A(f), detailed in SSSMZP 2012 §12 (Stock Records), and inspectors check them every visit. GOV.UK puts it plainly: you must keep up to date records of the animals in your zoo. From the first animal in, that means:

• Numbers held, by species
• Acquisitions, births, deaths (with cause), disposals and escapes
• The health of your animals, kept as a daily written trail

Starting these on paper and a spreadsheet is normal, but it is also where new collections come unstuck at their first inspection. Setting the record up properly on day one is far easier than reconstructing a year of it later. Our zoo record-keeping guide covers exactly what the Act and the Standards require.

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