Bosses warned they are being prevented from transferring animals such as rhinos and giraffes due to red tape created by the UK’s departure from the EU.

British zoos are struggling with post-Brexit paperwork rules, undermining conservation efforts both in the U.K. and the EU.

It has been another gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain, as a senior minister accused the EU of seeking “petty revenge” – and then hinted that the government might ban imports of European mineral water and seed potatoes.

Transfers of animals for conservation schemes involving Ireland, Britain and EU plunged from 1,400 in 2019 to just 48 last year.

An animal conservation boss has warned post-Brexit red tape delays are putting already endangered species at further risk.

London Zoo among names to sign petition calling on action from Rishi Sunak. / Breeding schemes for endangered animals such as rhinos and monkeys are being harmed by Brexit red tape - zoos have warned.

UK zoos have been warned that breeding schemes for bison, rhinos, monkeys and other endangered animals are being harmed by Brexit. Previously, about 1,400 animals a year were transferred between British aquariums or zoos and those in Europe but red tape meant that last year, the number fell to just over 200.

Tuesday 31 January marked the third anniversary of Brexit and three years of struggle with animal transfers between zoos and aquariums across Britain and the EU, with numbers down from 1,400 transfers per year to just over 200.

On the 3-year anniversary of Brexit, zoos and aquariums across Great Britain have called on Government to end the endless red tape preventing conservation breeding. / An open letter signed by over 75 zoos and aquariums calls on British Government to negotiate with the European Commission and enable the transfer of zoo animals between Britain and the EU.

A zoo has joined 75 other organisations calling on the government to end the red tape preventing breeding of rare animals like rhinos and giraffes. / Since leaving the EU, zoo animal transfers have plummeted, down from 1400 per year, to just over 200.

UK preparing to lift tariffs on palm oil from Malaysia as price for joining CPTPP trade agreement. / Britain is preparing to sign off on a post-Brexit trade deal that campaigners say will encourage further destruction of nature, threaten the habitat of orangutans in Malaysia and make a mockery of the government’s claims of being committed to tackling deforestation abroad.

REUL: Scant time remains to assess which former EU legislation to keep, amend or revoke – and the environment is likely to pay the price. / While we were EU members, the UK adopted some legislation created by the EU. Jacob Rees-Mogg called them “diktats” and promised that after Brexit we’d “take back control of our laws”. This is disingenuous: the UK was fully involved in drawing up EU law.

'Brexit is very bad news for conservation breeding,' says Sander Hofman, general curator of Antwerp Zoo

An animal charity in Guernsey is facing challenges trying to return an endangered turtle to its native home of Gran Canaria.

Under European Union regulations, zoos across the bloc can transfer animals to one another as part of a coordinated breeding programme aimed at maintaining genetically healthy populations of endangered species.

This is the story of Luka the Amur leopard ... No prizes for guessing that Luka was going to be yet another victim of Brexit.

Zookeepers in the South East say post-Brexit red tape is threatening their work to protect endangered species. / They say importing animals from EU countries has become 'hugely complicated and time consuming' and are being blocked from importing them as breeding partners.