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CANTERBURY, ENGLAND – MARCH 11: A adder in its enclosure at the Wildwood Trust on March 11, 2021 in Canterbury, England. The Wildwood Trust charity near Canterbury in Kent, is home to around 1450 animals, across 82 species and specialises in native British species such as dormice, wildcats and red squirrels. The centre also cares for animals such as Bison, Wolves, Lynx and European Bears. Like many zoos and wildlife parks, Wildwood relies heavily on footfall, donations and memberships to sustain the cost of caring for the animals on site. In 2020 the site was closed for around 5 months. Keeping the animals fed costs around £11000 GBP a week alone not to mention staff and site maintenance. The conservation leg of the charity has been hit hard by the pandemic too, with funds for vital conservation projects including bringing dormice, wildcats and red squirrels back from the brink of extinction, shrinking massively. Many of the planned reintroductions were postponed in 2020. Last June the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) opened up a £100m GBP fund aimed at supporting zoos and aquariums struggling with the impact of coronavirus, with the caveat that they needed to be down to (initially) just six weeks of reserves in order to be eligible for support. That was later extended to 12 weeks. The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) has since called on the government to remove the “prohibitive barriers” to the government funding proposals, and as of late 2020, only 12 applications were received. Wildwood Kent has not been eligible to apply for the funds leaving its future in the balance. Wildwood hopes to reopen to the public on 12 April when covid restrictions across the UK are lifted. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)