Chester Zoo has announced that more than 2.1 million people visited the zoo in 2025, making it the most successful year in its history and breaking every attendance record since the zoo first opened in 1931.
The unprecedented level of public support has enabled Chester Zoo to deliver a series of landmark conservation, science and animal-care achievements throughout the year.
In 2025, the zoo opened Heart of Africa, the largest zoo habitat ever created in the UK, providing expansive new environments for multiple species. The year also saw the birth of the zoo’s first snow leopard cub, Bheri, marking a significant milestone for the endangered species breeding programme.
Chester Zoo also launched The Reserve, a new conservation-led hotel designed to directly fund global wildlife conservation projects. In the field of science, zoo researchers helped develop the world’s first vaccine to protect elephants from the deadly EEHV virus, a breakthrough with global conservation impact.
Further successes included the hatching of Socorro dove chicks, a species extinct in the wild for more than 40 years, and the arrival of Asian elephants, Asiatic lions and Northeast African cheetahs, strengthening international efforts to safeguard these species from extinction.
The zoo also recorded exceptional breeding success, with a record number of critically endangered Bermudian skinks and Montseny brook newts bred as part of international conservation programmes.
Chester Zoo said that every visit played a vital role in supporting these achievements, helping to protect endangered species and habitats around the world.
The zoo extended its thanks to visitors for their continued support, describing 2025 as a landmark year made possible by the public’s commitment to wildlife and conservation.
