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More than 1,000 people voted in an election that could have completely overturned Durrell's leadership – but despite efforts by rebel members to put forward a full slate of candidates, the organisation's own picks took every available seat on the charity's trustee board.
As he announced the results of the trustee vote at tonight's AGM, Chair Matthew Hatchwell told the 300 attendees: "If any members feel they cannot support our leadership as we enter this new period in Durrell's history, we encourage them to reflect on whether a Durrell membership is right for them."
The line was later repeated by Lee Durrell, Honorary Director and Gerald Durrell's widow, in a video released by the charity.
Many members and the newly elected board of trustees are hoping that tonight will mark the close of a tumultuous chapter for Jersey Zoo.
Durrell faced a set of difficult allegations and high-profile departures in 2023 and 2024, leading Durrell's senior members to enter mediation with the group of members behind the criticism, who named themselves 'We Love the Zoo'.
Watch: Lee Durrell repeats Mr Hatchwell's words, urging those who don't support the current leadership to reconsider their allegiances
When the talks failed, a motion tried to oust the entire board earlier this year, and thousands of members voted in an EGM. The board came out on top – and promised that the turmoil would be a catalyst for positive changes for the charity.
But We Love The Zoo continued its campaign, and put forward a slate of candidates for eight available trustee positions who the campaign group felt would chart a preferable new course for the charity. Among their preferred candidates were a former CEO of Durrell, a former Minister, and several ex-keepers.
However, Durrell's existing board of trustees put forward their own preferred list – with each of their picks coming far ahead of the competition. None of We Love the Zoo's candidates succeeded in getting through.
The online voting platform gave members the option to use a "quick vote" to select all of the trustees' preferred candidates.
The measure that was criticised ahead of the meeting and at the meeting, but robustly defended by trustee Richard Daggett, who said that selecting the "quick vote" option didn't restrict choice in any way.
During the AGM meeting, Durrell members also voted on several rule changes, and a motion to make it compulsory for the Chair to reside in Jersey, but this failed.
Lee Durrell MBE, who is an Honorary Director of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and widow of the beloved conservationist behind Jersey Zoo, was among those to oppose the idea.
She took the opportunity to speak against it during the course of the AGM.
"You will know that in the very early days, Jersey Zoo was the biggest part of the Trust," she said.
"But we have come along 50, 60 years and we're now an international conservation organisation and half of our staff do not live in Jersey."
The rule would eliminate potentially "the best" leader for the organisation, she added.
The newly elected trustees are:
Matthew Hatchwell (board of trustees pick and incumbent Chair): 749 votes
Andrew Cunningham (board of trustees pick): 774 votes
Kirsten Pullen (board of trustees pick): 755 votes
Gary Clark (board of trustees pick and incumbent): 748 votes
John Regan (board of trustees pick): 733 votes
Niall Husbands (board of trustees pick, co-opted to the board since 2024): 700 votes
Sarah Cook (board of trustees pick and incumbent): 697 votes
Richard Prosser (board of trustees pick): 680 votes
The rest of the candidates were:
Glyn Young (We Love The Zoo): 383 votes
Quentin Bloxam (We Love The Zoo): 378 votes
Ian Singleton (We Love The Zoo): 335 votes
Paul Masterton (We Love The Zoo): 295 votes
Kiley Henley (We Love The Zoo): 278 votes
John Miskelly (We Love The Zoo): 251 votes
Gregory Guida (We Love The Zoo): 248 votes
Cillian Lohan (We Love The Zoo): 244 votes
Iain Valentine: 110 votes
Syeda Mahrukh Ali: 54 votes
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