By Emma Griffiths BBC News Online, London

Campaigners feel the animals are very accessible for children

Battersea Park Children's Zoo is not quite in the same league as its more famous cousin at Regents Park.

There are no hippos or giraffes - red squirrels, short-clawed otters, a pot-bellied pig and the odd Golden Lion Tamarin rule the roost in south London.

Yet its low-key attractions have been pulling in a steady stream of families since the zoo's creation following the Festival of Britain in 1951.

One of only four council-run zoos in the UK, it was attracting more than 100,000 visitors a year until the foot and mouth outbreak.

Its small-time charm is particularly popular with groups of pre-school and disabled children and adults.

But visitor numbers are down and now Wandsworth Council has fallen on hard times.

Could a 'rainforest experience' be the future for Battersea Park Zoo

It blames a small settlement from central government this year which has left it �6m out of pocket in addition to the need to find another �1m to stave off the 'schools funding crisis'.

So it has to cut costs and the zoo is not exactly a money spinner.

At the last count it was losing �200,000 a year and, the council says, it needs �1.4m investment in order to get its licence renewed next year.

Laminated A4 information signs stuck outside the enclosures are also not deemed 'educational' enough to meet the exacting standards of EC directives.

"(The children's zoo) has found itself in a situation where it is being covered by a set of rules drawn up by Brussels and Whitehall that apply to big, large-scale zoos like Whipsnade, Regents Park or the zoos in Copenhagen and Paris, but are totally over-the-top for smaller scale zoos like Battersea Park," said a council spokesman.

'We haven't got the money'

"No-one wants to see the zoo close, it has been there for 50 years and it is a popular landmark.

"But we have still got to comply with these regulations and we haven't got the money to do it."

But the closure plans have kicked up a stink among the zoo's supporters.

A handful of campaigners organised a 10,000-signature petition and have been badgering the council since they heard about the plans in March.

They do not like the idea of replacing the zoo with a privately-run 'rainforest learning centre' with glass pyramids housing insects, amphibians and reptiles.

There are certainly people round here who will fight tooth and nail to make sure the rainforest experience does not happen Campaigner Tanya Bowyer-Bower

And they say the cost has been exaggerated and could be raised through private finance.

"What is being proposed to replace it is something that is a long way from the current, rather informal zoo which has a lot of creatures which are very accessible to children, as opposed to an exhibit behind a glass screen," said Peter Deakins, secretary of the Battersea Society.

"Why should we need an equatorial forest when there is a perfectly good one at Kew Gardens or, further afield, in Cornwall?"

The public gallery was packed on Wednesday night as the proposal to close the zoo was voted through.

Flamingoes are among the more exotic animals on display

Kings College geography lecturer and Battersea resident Tanya Bowyer-Bower was among those "shocked and disappointed" at the decision.

She is among those campaigners who have been up to see the Aquatic Experience at Syon Park, run by the man the council hope will create a rainforest project in Battersea Park.

"It is nothing like the experience you get by going to something much more low-key and affordable such as Battersea Park Zoo," said Dr Bowyer-Bower.

"Many people from outside the borough in half term and school holidays will come along and will create an utterly different atmosphere in that corner of the park."

She added: "There are certainly people round here who will fight tooth and nail to make sure the rainforest experience does not happen."

The zoo is due to close at the end of the summer season in September.