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News & Updates

The latest news, blogs and features from Born Free.

Press contact: [email protected]+44 (0)1403 240 170
A group of penguins standing on an artificial glacier in a dimly-lit underground aquarium

Campaign calls for release of penguins kept underground

Born Free joins Freedom for Animals in calling for the removal of 15 gentoo penguins currently housed belowground at Sea Life, London.
A photo of an orca leaping backwards out of a pool, in front of an audience.

Planning a holiday in 2025? Make sure it’s Tank Free

A ‘holiday of a lifetime’ could mean a lifetime of horror for captive whales and dolphins forced to perform at some of the world’s most popular holiday hotspots.
Zebras standing in an indoor zoo enclosure which is heavily barred. There is faeces on the floor.

South Lakes Safari Zoo to close to the public

Born Free welcomes the announcement by zoo operators that the zoo is to close to the public at the end of 2024.
An orca leaps out of the water in a marine park pool, while a trainer is holding a pole out for the orca to jump towards

Born Free welcomes news that Europe’s largest marine zoo is to close its doors

We are now calling for orcas and other animals to be relocated to sanctuaries.
A group of three elephants in a captive enclosure at Blackpool Zoo

Blackpool Zoo announces both expected elephant calves have died

Born Free is saddened to hear of the tragic loss of two baby elephants at Blackpool Zoo, which adds to recent elephant deaths at Chester Zoo and Dublin Zoo.
An elephant stands at the entrance to a zoo enclosure

Learning to look beyond zoos

A year on from our groundbreaking Beyond Zoos event in London’s Royal Geographical Society, Born Free’s Youth Ambassador Hector questions the educational role of zoos.
A lone elephant standing inside a barren indoor zoo enclosure with a few piles of hay on the floor

Dismay as Danish zoo euthanises its elephants

Born Free is shocked and saddened at the recent news that Aalborg Zoo in Denmark has euthanised its two remaining female African elephants, Mai and Tanja, both in their 40s.
A lioness lying down in a meadow of long grass and flowers

A tribute to Cora

We are extremely saddened to share that we have had to say goodbye to our precious rescued lioness Cora, just a few short weeks after losing her sister and lifelong companion Alpha.
A close-up of a cheetah in a zoo, looking out from behind the wire fencing of its enclosure

A spotlight on captive cheetahs

Throughout the world, hundreds of cheetahs are exploited in zoos and kept as status symbol pets. Frankie Osuch from our Policy team reports.
A black and white photo of an elephant standing next to two people who are crouching on the ground.

We will never forget you

In a moving short film, our Co-Founder Dame Virginia McKenna remembers Pole Pole the elephant, whose tragic death at London Zoo led to the start of our charity.