Edinburgh Theme Parks / Zoos National
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Edinburgh Zoo
by eilidhcatriona When my mum and I planned our trip to Edinburgh, we had a list of things we wanted to do. Edinburgh Zoo was not on that list. However, as I found myself getting up quite early and going out for a wander on my own once we were in Edinburgh, it occurred to me that instead of just having a walk, I could actually go somewhere specific for ... the morning - such as the zoo. Edinburgh Zoo is in the Corstorphine area of the city, not far from Murrayfield stadium. There are a few buses which stop at the entrance to the zoo, which you can catch from Waverley or Haymarket stations. I had got up really quite early to ensure that I got to the zoo for opening time. There was one reason for this: having checked prices and how to get there on the zoo website the day before, I discovered that in order to see one of the zoo's main attractions, the giant pandas, you had to pre-book tickets for a set time. These tickets had to be printed at home, and this was a problem as I didn't have access to a printer. The website stated that a limited number of panda tickets would be available at the zoo every day, on a first-come first-served basis - and I was determined to be first there. Adult entry to the zoo costs £15.50, but there is no extra cost for the panda ticket. I was waiting outside the door when the zoo opened at 9am, and I got a ticket to see the pandas at 9.30am. One of the most important things to note about Edinburgh is that it is on a hill. And I don't mean that there's a bit of a gentle slope in the middle - the whole place is a hill, and very steep in places. The paths are all quite wide and in good condition; I saw a lot of parents with pushchairs who seemed to be managing fine, but I think pushing a wheelchair up that hill would be very, very difficult. Equally, anyone has mobility problems but does not use a wheelchair would struggle to walk round the zoo. Fortunately, the zoo runs a Safari Bus which takes you round quite a lot of the zoo, including to the very top point, but it doesn't pass all the animals. I didn't take the bus, and I don't recall using it on my childhood visits either, but I think it is a good service to allow everyone to enjoy their day out. Speaking generally, I have mixed feelings about zoos. Most do very good conservation work and raise awareness, but on the other hand I feel animals shouldn't be kept in captivity. Saying that though, I have always seen Edinburgh Zoo as being a particularly good zoo, with good enclosures and doing a lot of good work. The animals mostly have appropriate enclosures of a reasonable size (obviously nothing compared to the space they would have in the wild, but reasonable for captivity). The enclosures are all in good condition, and there are a lot of visible staff, either caring for the animals or undertaking maintenance. The only exceptions are the big cat enclosures. I think they are really quite small, and the Amur Leopards pace back and forward under the viewing glass all the time; they were doing that on my recent visit, I have a vague recollection of seeing them like that on my last visit 6-7 years ago, and someone else has mentioned seeing the same. Edinburgh Zoo has a wide range of animals to see, ranging from the popular big cats, pandas and rhinos, to lots of cute little ones you might never have heard of. I won't go through everything I saw, but just mention a few of the highlights for me. The giant pandas are obviously the star attraction these days; I wonder how the penguins feel about that, after years of Edinburgh Zoo being famous for its penguin colony (which, incidentally, is a bit scattered at the moment - the penguin pool is being upgraded so the famous penguin parade is off, some of the penguins are elsewhere in the zoo, and others have gone for a holiday at other zoos). With the timed entry to see the pandas, you get about 20 minutes. The area around the enclosure has a Chinese theme, but is fairly tastefully designed. When I saw them, the pandas were in their indoor enclosures - they were just waking up. Yang Guang, the male, rather obligingly sat down facing the viewing windows and proceeded to give a display of how they eat bamboo, while Tian Tian, the female, stayed in her bed in what the keeper said was a typical panda pose. All the time the group was looking at the pandas, the keeper was talking to us - he was excellent, engaging, very informative and full of interesting information about the species in general and the quirks of these two in particular. The keeper showed us the outdoor enclosure as well, and explained that although bamboo has been planted all over the zoo to provide a future supply (currently it comes from the Netherlands), they can't plant it in the pandas enclosure, because as soon as a shoot appears above ground, the pandas eat it without giving it a chance to grow. When the pandas arrived there was a lot of talk about the research projects which would be undertaken by the zoo in conjunction with their Chinese counterparts, but what I saw on my visit was awareness being raised of these beautiful animals. All the visitors were really interested in what the keeper was saying about the pandas, and there were plenty of questions for him, from young and old alike. I was determined to see absolutely everything in the few hours I had, so having finished with the incredibly cute pandas, I set off at a brisk pace, armed with my zoo map. On my way from the entrance to the pandas, I had seen the African Painted Hunting Dogs, which were fascinating to watch. They loped around their large enclosure pretty quickly, and with a surprising grace. Their markings are beautiful. But what really stole my heart was when I was in a little glass walled hide watching them run around, one came to a halt at my feet and had a really good scratch at his neck with his back leg, just like any pet dog (or cat for that matter) would do. Edinburgh Zoo doesn't have elephants or giraffes, but they do have rhinos. It being a cool October morning, the rhinos were nose deep in their heated indoor pool when I saw them. They looked very comfortable, and you could see the steam rising off the pool. A couple of days before I went to the zoo there had been an item on the news about the keepers at the zoo using an app on an iPhone to measure the rhinos heartbeat, but there were no iPhone-wielding keepers around when I was there. Maybe mornings are when rhinos should be avoided...the smell in their shelter was ripe shall we say, and there was an explosion of bubbles and noise from the rear end of one of them while it was lounging in its pool. The meerkats are, of course, among the cutest animals in the zoo, and very popular with kids these days. But because I was walking quite swiftly I reached their enclosure before any families did, so I got to admire them all alone. They are fascinating little creatures, always alert, with sentries looking in all directions. As always, I was keen to see the big cats. The tigers have an enclosure which probably really suits them, with lots of things to climb and hide behind, but which doesn't make it easy to spot them. The male rather obligingly went for a stroll while I was trying to spot them, and he really was a beautiful animal; I love tigers, they are so graceful. The lions also had a reasonable sized enclosure with plenty of trees and so on, but it is more open than the tigers one so they were much easier to spot: having a nap in the sunshine, looking very like large versions of domestic cats. The remainder of the big cats are in much smaller enclosures, as I mentioned earlier, which I don't like. Still, I did enjoy spending some time admiring Mowgli, the male jaguar, who was lounging on a wide branch and looking very like a slightly overgrown Snoopy, my black cat who likes to think he is a jaguar. The zoo is a nice place to walk around, with plenty of plants and trees, posters and educational exhibits for children. The paths and open areas are all very well maintained, and all exhibits are easily accessible, with plenty of viewing space. I really enjoyed my walk around the zoo, although I was really tired later from what was a brisk climb up a steep hill. The hill is worth trekking up to the top though (or taking the Safari Bus); not only will you see the African Plains area with animals such as zebras, and then continue on to the giant anteater and lion areas, but you get a fantastic view of the city. I didn't have breakfast before I went to the zoo, thinking I'd get something there. That was easier said than done. Following my trusty map, I tried a cafe and a couple of kiosks at around 10am - which were all closed. I then traipsed through the Budongo Trail, the chimpanzee house (which has loads of interesting and educational exhibits for kids), to find the cafe on the other side of it; I didn't see any chimpanzees, and the cafe was shut. I had been avoiding the largest food place, the Grasslands Restaurant, which is smack bang in the middle of the zoo, thinking it wasn't going to be somewhere for a snack, but eventually I gave in and went there. I got myself a tuna panini and bottle of 7up for around £7; the panini was good, but it was more than I wanted and cost more than I wanted to spend. I went into the gift shop on the way out, and I was pleasantly surprised by the prices. Half the stock is panda-themed, so I bought a very pretty panda keyring for myself, fudge in a panda box for my partner, and a smart panda pen for my mum - each was only £3. I would have expected the keyring to have been £5 elsewhere; later that week I saw a keyring of similar quality for £10. I collect keyrings in case you're wondering about this fixation on them. I really, really enjoyed my morning at Edinburgh Zoo, even though I was there on my own. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me, and I am very glad I decided to make use of my early mornings. I have enjoyed Edinburgh Zoo as a child, in my early twenties with my partner, and now on my own and perilously close to turning thirty. I also know that my mum and gran really enjoyed it when we were there years ago; Edinburgh Zoo is a fun day out for all ages. Read the complete review |
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Edinburgh Zoo
by woowoowoo OK, so first of all I ought to put this review in context. My wife and I are Platinum card holders at Colchester Zoo which I think is probably the best zoo in UK. Why, may you think did you even bother with Edinburgh then? Well, Pandas for one and because as a platinum card holder of Colchester we get to go to ... Edinburgh Free once a year. We were up in Scotland so we thought we'd give it a go. As we arrived the Scottish summer was doing it's usual worse. Rain was falling in biblical style. Not the Zoo'z fault and entrance is clearly designed with this in mind (you can get undercover very quickly). We got in quickly and were booked into see the Panda's quickly too (10 minute slot's), but first the toilet was need. Very impressive loo's by the entrance. Nautical theme like something out of a posh hotel. My little girl was now bursting at excitement to see the King penguins (a model of which is outside the zoo - and they are incorporated into the logo) and the Panda's (thanks Kung Fu Panda!) so we legged it up the super steep hill that the Zoo has been built on. We got to Panda's and were ushered straight in. Great except it was just "Panda" (one was having medical checks - did the guys on reception not know this?) and all we got to see for 10 minutes was the Panda's dirty bottom. The viewing is from one side only, so we couldn't move around for a better view. Disappointed, we moved on to find the Penguins, but...No Penguins! What! One panda and no Penguins and NO WARNING!!! Grrr! We went to get a coffee to get out of the rain in (as if to taunt us) the Penguin cafe. 2 girls with little idea what they were doing served us at a snails pace (whilst chatting amongst themselves). A queue of other frustrated customers formed behind. Having seen very little we moved again to look at something. Wild Boar wahoo! We've seen something! Then up past the education centre which is surrounded by vending machines with all the evils of the world for kids to buy, to look for more. I think the main problem for us is that we are spoilt at Colchester. They have Lions, Giraffe, Rhino, Penguins, Tiger, Wolves, Elephant etc etc etc. At Edingburgh they have Panda's and a whole gift shop seemingly devoted to them - A one trick Panda! If animals are not your thing (and I'm being serious there) then Edinburgh Zoo is very well kept. Beautiful lawns, house etc, but if you're looking for animals you might be better off at Loch Ness! Read the complete review |
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Edinburgh Zoo
by rachelsreview The weather was cold and dull on the day that me and my partner in crime decided to go to the zoo!! I have really enjoyed going to zoos in the past so I got my wellies on determined that the rubbish weather wasn't going to spoil our day. It was easy enough to find a car parking space and we walked straight up to a counter so there were ... no long queues to wait in. We were allocated a time to see the pandas 2 1/2 hours after we purchased the tickets. I wasn't sure we would still be there because from the outside the zoo seems rather small. It's a little bit deceptive because it was fairly small at the bottom of the hill. When following the paths it seemed to go up, up and up further right to the very top of the massive hill! This is what filled out the time for us because I am not very fit. We seemed to be looking into quite a few empty cages that supposedly had animals in. And other cages where there were animals, they looked like their life and souls had been drained out of them. At times I actually felt cruel and sad paying to look at these poor caged animals. In that respect it was very different to the other zoos I have been to. The spaces they were kept in were small and confined with not much for them to do. What shocked me the most was the monkeys. They were so unresponsive and tried to ignore people, turning their backs to passers by or avoiding eye contact. The monkeys didn't even seem playful with each other. Out of all the animals the pandas seemed quite happy in their environment and the staff had plenty of information to give about the pandas. It's unfortunate that their breeding attempts for this year failed. After seeing the pandas we went for a warm cup of tea and a chocolate muffin in the Cafe. The muffin was expensive but worth every penny!! The centre was filled with runny soft chocolate. In the cafe was a kids play den, I think it costs £2.00 to get in. For one little boy the temptation was too much, his mum left him at the table whilst she was paying he made a break for the play area. It didn't take her long to figure out where he had disappeared. The Zoo has a few outdoor play areas for kids too so its quite family friendly on a warmer day. I personally didn't enjoy this experience for the reason that I genuinely don't think that the animals there are happy. It just doesn't seem like much of a life, they are just existing. I doubt they would display some of the behaviours that they did in the wild. Read the complete review |
Edinburgh Theme Park / Zoo National |
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30 reviews 134 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh, EH12 6TS. Tel: +44(0)131-334-9171. Opening times: April-September 6.00pm. October and March 5.00pm November-February 4.30pm. Check the website below for more information. |
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1 review Theme Park / Zoo National / Ice rink, bungy dome and other attractions |
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1 review Address: Lasswade / Theme Park / Zoo National / Midlothian / EH18 1AZ / Edinburgh / Scotland |
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