About ZSEA
ZSEA was set up in 2013, taking over Banham Zoo and Africa Alive from the Goymour family, who founded the zoo in the 1950s and acquired Africa Alive in the 1980s. ZSEA is a non-profit charity.
ZSEA is much more than a zoo. It supports endangered exotic animals and native wildlife, and takes part in breeding and release programmes that see animals travel to specific countries. Its conservation work is tailored to each animal, including keeping zookeeper interaction to a minimum so animals behave as close to how they would in the wild as possible.
Examples of its conservation and breeding projects include:
- African penguins – classified as endangered, and facing possible extinction within around 3,000 days without intervention.
- The Amur tiger programme – a reintroduction and breeding programme in which every participating zoo signs up to the stud book and provides its animals wherever they are needed.
- Working with Natural England to reintroduce the pool frog as part of its local conservation support.
Our volunteer days
Our volunteers helped with tasks including painting, gardening, cleaning animal sheds, building shelters and making enrichment items for the animals. Each volunteer day ran from 10am to 4pm.
The week was a great success and we look forward to returning in 2026.
