Bristol Zoo Project – Conservation led film and campaign production
About the client
Bristol Zoological Society (now operating its visitor site as Bristol Zoo Project) is one of the UK’s oldest conservation charities. Its work focuses on protecting threatened species, restoring habitats and raising public awareness about the pressures facing wildlife. The new 136 acre site brings conservation, education and immersive experiences together, with a strong focus on species affected by habitat loss, fragmentation and hunting.
Our work
Floating Harbour worked with Bristol Zoological Society over many years across a broad range of conservation focused projects, including long term collaboration with the Wild Place Project as it evolved into Bristol Zoo Project.
Highlights include:
Fundraising and conservation campaigns
The Giraffe House Appeal film was created to support fundraising for a new giraffe enclosure at Wild Place, explaining how habitat loss, hunting and human encroachment have driven giraffe populations into decline and why new conservation led spaces are vital.
- Baby gorilla commercial
Bristol Zoo gave us the rare opportunity to film baby gorilla Afia for a summer TV campaign, after she had been born by caesarean section and hand reared by keepers. We built a small set in the staff room of the gorilla house and filmed Afia as she woke, raised herself onto her forelimbs for the first time and interacted with her carers. The resulting commercial, broadcast on Sky and Made in Bristol TV, remains one of our most memorable projects.
- Visitor experience and accommodation films
For The Lodge we produced a promotional film that showcases Bristol Zoo’s conservation work around the world while introducing their overnight accommodation as a new revenue stream that supports that mission.
We also produced seasonal and event pieces, such as the Halloween Advert campaign with three short, fast cut films designed for TV and social to promote a Halloween offer at the zoo.
- Bear Wood and Wild Place Project
At Bear Wood, we created fundraiser content and a behind the scenes documentary that follows the development of this woodland habitat where bears, wolves, lynx and wolverine have been returned to a re created ancient British landscape.
Our wider work for Wild Place Project covered summer and Christmas campaigns and other fundraising pieces that helped establish the site as a conservation led visitor destination.
Floating Harbour continues to work with Bristol Zoo Project conservationists through wider regional nature-conservation projects, including work with South Gloucestershire Council and regional partners. The focus of the relationship has shifted from visitor-attraction marketing towards conservation-led collaboration, reflecting the organisation's own evolving priorities. That continuity matters to us, and it means we bring a depth of understanding to each new brief that only comes from working alongside a client over many years.
Impact
Our films helped Bristol Zoological Society raise significant support for conservation focused developments such as the Giraffe House and Bear Wood, and kept conservation at the centre of visitor and supporter communications. Across TV adverts, social campaigns and documentary work, we helped audiences understand the real impacts of habitat loss, poaching and ecosystem fragmentation and how public engagement contributes directly to species recovery, both locally and globally.
Services provided
Film production • Animation • Conservation storytelling • Fundraising campaign films • Documentary • TV adverts • Social media campaigns • Visitor attraction content