Meet the Animals! (Edinburgh Zoo)

Name: weebagpuss

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Product:	Edinburgh Zoo
Date:	02/06/01 (1128 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: wide range of animals, well looked after, interesting information and talks

Disadvantages: on a steep hill!

Edinburgh Zoo makes a fantastic day out for the whole family. Prices are reasonable, especially considering that this is the sort of place you will probably want to spend all day at! It costs £7 for an adult, and £4 for a child, plus an extra two pounds for car parking. There are also family tickets available. Make sure you don’t miss the entrance to the car park as we did – the word ZOO is painted on the road leading up to the carpark in big white letters, but because it’s on the left hand side of the road, it’s pretty hard for the driver to see. To find out precise travel information, I’d recommend that you visit the website, www.edinburghzoo.org, as my geography and navigational skills are pretty appalling!!

Be warned however – there’s plenty of walking here, so wear sensible shoes (I saw one foolish woman in gold sandals!) and it’s situated on a hill, which can make for tired and aching feet by the end of the day! There is however a little safari ride which will take you right to the top of the hill, so all you have to do is walk down, but because some parts of the zoo were closed due to foot and mouth (more on that later!) it was unable to run, as the path it normally takes was closed. In fact, the foot and mouth restrictions made for much more walking, since all the handy short cuts were closed – however, I guess this was better than closing the zoo completely and it will certainly keep you fit!

The range of animals at Edinburgh zoo is fantastic. Whilst there is not the vast number you would find at a much larger zoo such as London, Edinburgh really has made the most of its more limited space, with a mix of both foreign and domestic varieties. I know that many people dislike zoos, since they believe the animals are kept in cramped and crowded conditions, but I did feel that the animals here were exceptionally well cared for, and given as interesting environments to live in as
possible, taking account of their natural habitats and their lifestyles (I’ll give some examples when I talk about specific animals). I bought a guidebook for a pound, which sets out the species conservation programme followed by the zoo – and although you might not like to see animals in captivity, surely it is far better than seeing a species die out altogether. Many animals here such as the red panda, the white rhinoceros, and the Siberian tiger for example, are involved in breeding programmes, since they are becoming scarce in the wild.

I’m not going to go into detail about every animal which you can see here, but instead will highlight some of my personal favourites:

The Chimps
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These have to be some of the most fascinating animals in the entire zoo. They are also an excellent example of the way in which animals have been given interesting environments to live in. They have constant access to both the inside and outside enclosures, and can run freely between them. Outside, they have a fantastic climbing frame, making the nearby kids playground look tame in comparison! It’s full of ropes, swings, tyres, and little crows nests. One chimp in particular was fun to watch, since he grabbed a handful of straw, took it to the top of the crows nest, and then sat there for a bit. A few minutes later, he decided to leave, but instead of leaving the straw behind, he took it with him to make sure none of the others got it!

We were also lucky to see the chimps being fed – it looked like potatoes, tomoatoes and apples which were being thrown in to them. Their behaviour was so funny – they would run round collecting as much as possible, trying to hide it from the others, and then the dominant male would come along, and they would drop it all and run off, swinging along on the ropes. However after a while they settled down and were all eating happily. It was interesting to see the way
they lived in the community together, and there was a family tree to show their relationship to each other. To make friends after a row, they groom each other, or place their hands in each other’s mouths. I could have stayed and watched the chimps all day, they seemed to be having a great time!

The Red Panda
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This was one of my favourite animals – it looked so cuddly I wanted to take it home! I particularly liked the natural environment it lived in, and the fact that it did not seem ‘caged’. Indeed, my dad and I were convinced that if it tried hard enough, it would have been very easy for it to have escaped! The red panda, when we saw him, was very lively, almost as if he was showing off to the visitors. This seemed to show that he was comfortable in his surroundings.

The Penguins
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Edinburgh Zoo is of course famous for its penguins! There is a massive penguin pool, which was completed in 1992, containing several different species of pengion – e.g. emperor and macaroni. Interestingly enough, whilst they were able to mix freely in their enclosure, they tended to stay in their particular groups. They were great fun to watch, some of them were diving off of a little diving board into the pool. Unfortunately, due to foot and mouth, they couldn’t do the penguin parade, which normally takes place every afternoon. This isn’t because they are affected by the disease, but simply because the path they usually walk along was closed off. However, we were able to watch them being hand fed which visitors can see daily.

The Polar Bear
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Mercedes, the polar bear, was another animal well worth visiting. She had a decent sized enclosure, which included water for her to swim in as well. We managed to see her swim, and she was playing with an old dustbin, putting it on her head, then swimming a bit, then pulling it off again. Another animal who see
med to enjoy playing up to the audience! It was nice to see the animals so happy and playful, rather than sitting quietly in the corner or pacing up and down in their cages, as happens in other zoos.

The Reptile House
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Not for those who don’t like snakes, lizards, frogs or crocodiles! I found it fascinating, especially watching some bright blue frogs mating(!) and I learnt a lot. It wasn’t very crowded in here – probably because there are quite a lot of people who aren’t keen on snakes etc. It was also interesting for children, as there was a table with different snake skins, turtle shells etc for them to touch, and a volunteer on hand to help, and to answer any queries. In fact, there were quite a few volunteers around the zoo, particularly in the educational department, which was a nice touch.

The Owls
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Maybe not the most unusual of birds, but one of my personal favourites nonetheless – I love owls. There was a collection of different varieties, and it is something that Edinburgh Zoo specialises is. You can see the plump snowy owls, the intelligent looking spectacled owl, and the Ural owl, for example, the last two being some of the rarer species. Regarding the snowy owl, Edinburgh Zoo has had a great deal of success with its breeding programme, showing that it really is doing some good.

Others
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Other animals at the zoo which you might want to see are the gorillas, the camels, the white rhino, meercats, lemurs, hippopotami, the tigers, lions, leopards and wolves, many different types of monkey, which, like the chimps, have access to both inside and outside enclosures, otters, a huge variety of ducks, zebras, giraffes and much more more. The only notable exception was elephants – Edinburgh has no room for elephants at the zoo. I suppose however it is better not to have any than to have them in a too small enclosure.

Some general points
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Information about the animals was well presented, on big display boards, which were presented in a consistent style, giving the name of the animal, information about the country the animal comes from, whether it is endangered or not, and if so, how successfully Edinburgh zoo has been breeding that species, particular features of the animal, and its diet. There are also some interesting facts with each one, which I believe helps you to enjoy your day out even more, and gives you a fund of knowledge! For example, one of the things I learnt, was that flamingos stand on one leg, and when they do so, one side of their brain actually shuts down! Diagrams and pictures also help to aid your understanding.

Staff here seem particularly helpful – we had a few questions about the penguins which they answered for us, and were very friendly and informative. It was quite amusing, as the penguins were fed by hand, rather than just having the fish thrown in to them. We learnt that this was because otherwise the seagulls would fly off with all the fish!

The grounds of the zoo are also well laid out, and kept in a very tidy conditions – no litter to be seen for example. There are also plenty of benches for you to rest your weary feet! One particular attraction in the grounds that we enjoyed was the Darwin maze. Whilst not being the most challenging maze I’ve ever come across, it was quite interesting, giving some information about evolution along the way! It also had some water fountains which sprung up unexpectedly….

Foot and Mouth
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Because of the foot and mouth restrictions, 8% of the animals were out of bounds. Unfortunately, we were unable to see the deer, the onyx, the babirusa, the peccaries, or the pigs. It also meant that many paths were closed off to us. However, restrictions have now been lifted on taking picnics into the park, which is good (as the cafes are very exp
ensive). Visitors are asked not to enter if they’ve come into contact with livestock in the last three days, which is just common sense basically. It didn’t really ruin my enjoyment at all – it meant there were a few species of animal I was unable to see, and meant that I had a bit more walking to do, but the Zoo has tried its hardest to continue to make itself attractive to visitors. At the beginning of the foot and mouth outbreak, it had to close, and lost a great deal of money. I hope visitor numbers pick up, since the work it does to help endangered species really is valuable.

Overall then, I think this is a fantastic day out for the whole family – there’s plenty for everyone to see, and various talks and activities throughout the day, aimed at all ages. The animals are kept in great condition, and clearly seem to be happy and content, and are great fun to watch. I’m looking forward to my next visit already!

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