The proprietor of Colchester Zoo has vowed to continue operating the facility as a conservation initiative rather than a "theme park.".
Speaking at the Essex Zoo's 60th anniversary, Dr. Dominique Tropeano added that despite the grim circumstances surrounding the pandemic, he never worried for the zoo's future.
In 2025, the zoo will cease to operate as a for-profit corporation and become a charitable trust.
Director Mr. Tropeano declared, "I want to guarantee that the zoo will endure forever.
I want it to remain a zoo. We want to keep doing the work we are currently doing, which is work in conservation and work in education. I don't want it to turn into a theme park. ".
On June 2, 1963, former RAF pilot Frank Farrar and his Australian-born wife Helena officially inaugurated Stanway Hall Zoo Park on the site in Maldon Road.
The first two days saw an estimated 12,000 visitors, and the park's first inhabitants included a cheetah, a red kangaroo, and a Bactrian camel.
The zoo was purchased in 1983 by the Farrars' niece, Angela Tropeano, and her husband, who were raised on a farm in France with livestock.
Two of the team's largest ever construction projects, a 1.9 acre elephant enclosure and a 24-meter (79-foot) long underwater viewing tunnel in the sea lion enclosure, were inaugurated in 1998 and 2003, respectively.
Three of the site's timber wolves were shot dead after escaping through their steel wire fence and past the perimeter fence in November 2013, making national headlines about the location.
The zoo reported a £667,000 drop in profits in 2020, but those operating profits picked up two years later. The zoo said it continued to pay £25,000 per day in energy and maintenance bills during the Covid lockdowns.
More than 160 species call the zoo's 60 acres of parkland and lakes home.
"[I] never fretted about it's future. We had goals and we wanted to stick to them, so even during the difficult Covid times [I thought] we will never lose or be defeated," said Mr. Tropeano in an interview with BBC Essex.
"We must overcome every obstacle we encounter, and we won't ever give up; we'll always be there. ".
During half term, the zoo held a special "zoobilee" week to honor the occasion, which culminated in a Saturday schedule of workshops, magic shows, and steel drum performances.
