As Good As Their Natural Environment........... ..... (Highland Wildlife Park (Inverness))

Member Name: lel1969

Product:	Highland Wildlife Park (Inverness)
Date:	26/10/09 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A wonderful environment in which to see some superb creatures.

Disadvantages: Can be cold and wet.

On a recent weekend stay in Aviemore we decided to visit the Highland Wildlife Park. The park has actually been in the news over the past couple of weeks as it has just received a new resident. Mercedes, the polar bear, has just arrived from Edinburgh Zoo, where it is hoped she will really benefit from her new environment, a huge enclosure of approximately 4 acres, which in the winter months will provide her with natural snow. Of course, unfortunately, we visited the week before she arrived so missed out on seeing this magnificent creature. However, there were still plenty other spectacular animals to see.

The park itself is situated 7 miles south of Aviemore on the B9152 at Kincraig, just off the A9. The park is well signposted and very easy to find.

When visiting the park I would advise good sturdy footwear or wellies as there is quite a bit of walking involved and some of the paths can get quite muddy if it is wet. Most of the park is accessible by wheelchair users, with many of the paths covered by wooden strapping. There is only a small section of the path, which would not be accessible as it is quite steep and not the best of surfaces. The car park is quite a large car park and again this too can get a bit muddy when it is wet.

When we arrived at the park we decided to have a drive around the reserve first, it was pouring so we wanted to delay getting soaked a little bit longer. This part of the park we did actually find to be a little bit of a let down. I don't know if it was because of the rain or not but the only animals we really saw were the bison, a couple of camels and some deer. Quite a nice drive around a lovely well laid out park with stunning scenery in the background, but we were actually there to see the animals we wouldn't normally have the chance to see and we did feel slightly disappointed.

Once we parked the car we decided to have our picnic in the car because of the bad weather, although there were picnic tables dotted about for the drier days.

The visitor centre it situated at the end of the car park. A lovely chalet style building where you will find the Wildthings Gift Shop, a great shop offering a wide range of local crafts and loads of interesting wildlife and nature related products ranging from pocket money gifts to the more expensive items. In this building you will also find the Antlers Coffee Shop, a lovely warm and welcoming room with plenty of tables and chairs (enough to seat 50 - 60 people) with a wide range of homebaking, home made soup and a good choice of hot and cold snacks. A nice little respite from the elements outside. This is also where you will find the lovely clean and well kept toilets with baby changing area. This building is fully accessible for wheelchair users.

The remainder of the park is still very extensive and a good couple of hours, at least, should be allowed to have a worthwhile wander around the animal enclosures and take in the sheer wonder of seeing these otherwise elusive creatures.

What I really enjoyed about this park was the size of the enclosures. Really large areas for each of the different species with most of the enclosures having glass viewing areas. We loved the glass viewing areas, it was amazing just how close we could get to these wild animals. It was quite surreal being only a matter of inches from very large Amur Tigers, knowing how potentially dangerous these animals could be and yet being close enough to almost touch them! Each enclosure also had an information plaque with details about each of the animals, which was very interesting and educational.

The park has a really good wide range of different types of animals, not just from Scotland, but from all over the world giving the visitor the chance to learn a great deal and indeed see a large number of animals they might normally never have the chance to see. There are of course plenty Scottish animals, from red deer and wild cats to pine martens and red squirrels just to mention a few. There are European animals such as bison, elk, eagle owls, wolves, beavers and wild boar and a good range of the more exotic creatures from the mountains and the tundra such as Amur tigers, red pandas, Mercedes the polar bear, Arctic foxes and many more.

The animals and enclosures are obviously very well kept and looked after. All animals looked very healthy and happy giving the visitor lots of entertainment. I was amazed at the red pandas, I knew they were a lot smaller than black and white pandas but I hadn't realised just how big they actually are. While we were watching them, I think they were actually showing off a bit. They climbed very, very high into the trees and stood on the thinnest of branches, some of which didn't look strong enough to hold a bird let alone a red panda! It was good hearing the gasps from the visitors as we all watched these agile and brave creatures climb so high.

We were very lucky when we visited. The pair of Amur tigers have been mates for a while now and the female tiger gave birth to 3 healthy cubs, a male and 2 females, in May of this year. The cubs have only been out in the enclosure for the past couple of months. These 3 cubs alone gave us enough entertainment for the whole day! Feeding time was amazing. The tigers were all locked up and the keepers went out into the enclosure where they hung up some huge pieces of meat. Once the keepers were safe again the tigers were let back out into the enclosure again. It was amazing watching them feeding, almost like they really were in the wild. The cubs were gorgeous and so entertaining.

Another one of my favourites was the wolf enclosure. Again their enclosure was very large with the glass viewing area. The pair of wolves certainly knew how to entertain their spectators. It was almost as if they were playing a game of hide and seek. One would be hiding behind their den waiting for the other one who was creeping up quietly behind the first one, when the first one realised this he took off at full speed with the other chasing close behind. They were obviously having a ball of a time and looked so happy and contented.

Many of the Scottish animals were situated in enclosures in a small pine forest, obviously mimicking their natural habitat. It was quiet and peaceful in the dark pine forest with mad, hyper, red squirrels running around everywhere. I loved the way we were able to watch the wild cats. They were able to wander between enclosures by way of overhead wooden walkways, which were enclosed by way of a mesh netting. It seemed a very natural way to watch these predators in their own habitat.

The only animals we didn't get to see, which we had hoped to see, were the beavers. They were in hiding and just did not want to be seen.

Daily feeding times or displays for the animals are advertised at the visitor centre and are definitely worth taking a note of, especially for the tigers.

First opened in 1972 the running of the park was taken over by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland in 1986 and it has obviously been very well run since then. They pride themselves in providing their visitors with "the wonder of living animals". They specifically promote the conservation of endangered species and have many co-ordinated breeding programmes. Many of their animals can be adopted with the proceeds going towards research, raising awareness of wildlife issues and the ongoing upkeep and welfare of the many animals the park is proud to own.

I would definitely recommend a visit to the Highland Wildlife Park. It is a very well run park. It is very clean and well maintained with the animals all obviously very happy and healthy and really benefiting from the wonderful environment which has been created for them.

==Opening Time and Prices==

The park is open every day of the year except Christmas Day.

April to October 10am to 5pm with the last entry being 4pm
July to August 10am to 6pm with the last entry being 6pm
November to March 10am to 4pm with the last entry being 3pm

If there is heavy snow then you should probably phone the park beforehand.

If you are on holiday and have a dog with you there are free kennels and an exercise area available at the exit.

Adults - £11.50
Senior Citizens/Students/Registered Disabled £9.50
Children (age 3 and under free) £8.75
Family Ticket 2 adults & 2 children £37.00
Family Ticket 2 adults and 3 children £42.00

Season tickets are available, which allows a year's free entry:

Adults £20
Children £12

All prices include a voluntary 10% donation, which is to help raise funds for the enclosures. This obviously does not have to be paid, but when you see the quality of the enclosures it's definitely well worth it.

Published on both Ciao and Dooyoo.

©lel1969

Summary: Well worth a visit.