The vital economic role played by Folly Farm and Manor House Park have been highlighted in Parliament by local MP Simon Hart.

Speaking in a debate on the importance of zoos, Mr Hart said that progressive zoos were important not only for conservation and education, but for job creation and job stability as well.

"There are jobs in marketing, finance, IT, animal husbandry, catering and retail, and jobs in the wider community in the secondary industries that rely on our two zoos," he told MPs. "It is not just about tending animals and teaching kids about the wider world.

"Folly Farm is renowned throughout Wales and the rest of the UK, it is now Wales's largest paid-for tourist attraction and has 60 employees—160 when it is at full speed in the summer months."

And he highlighted the importance being put on outdoor learning by both Folly Farm and Anna Ryder Richardson at Manor House Park.

"These establishments take kids of varying abilities from all sorts of backgrounds and enable them to learn things in a different set-up from the traditional classroom scenario.

"The effects of this on the children and their teachers are fantastic. Some children are not particularly brilliant at classroom activity, but find that when they are in the company of animals or experts and other visitors in the zoo, it brings something out in them that a traditional education has not been able to discover.

"It improves their knowledge of food sourcing and nature, and their physical fitness and self-confidence in many different ways, and it makes them more rounded individuals. It means that they are more likely to be economically productive when they grow up rather than a drain on the nation.

"Learning outside the classroom brings profound economic benefits further down the line," he added.

He also called for zoos to be recognised as providing sustainable economic activity, especially in rural areas, but added that despite their benefits they struggle to attract funding.

"Zoos do not seem to be attributed the same value as museums or sports and science centres when it comes to funding from either national or local government," said Mr Hart.

"Their contribution and potential are obvious at every level, so it is strange that they get a second-class deal when it comes to potential funding."