Edinburgh Zoo
Edinburgh Zoo, formally the Scottish National Zoological Park is in the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It offers a majestic view of the city. Built-in 1930 and owned by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. (RZSS), it receives over 800,000 visitors a year, which makes it Scotland’s second most popular tourist attraction. Set in over 82 acres of wooded hillside, It is home to 2000 animals and boasts of 171 species. It was the 1st Zoo in the world to house and breed penguins, Queensland Koalas, and giant pandas. It is the only Zoo with a Royal charter in the UK.
Animals and Attractions:
For a great day out, one can’t beat Edinburgh Zoo. The world-class attraction and extensive animal collection will give lifetime memories to visitors.
Touted to be the zoo’s main attraction, it is a delight to watch the only giant pandas in the UK. It is home to Tian Tian (female panda) and Yang Guang (male panda). It is a treat to watch these pandas climbing trees and large wooden frames in the large outdoor areas. Children love to see them play in the ponds.
It is Europe’s largest Penguin Pool. It houses 3 different species and over 100 penguins. It’s an awesome experience to watch penguins enjoying playing in the waterfall, sliding down water shoot, and sunbathing on floating ‘Icebergs ’in the pool. It’s a pleasure watching penguins all around the year.
The zoo is home to 5 Queensland Koalas in the UK. The Koalas normally sleep between 18 and 22 hours a day, so they can conserve energy for essential body movements and functions.
Get up close to our small herd of swamp wallabies in our new walk-through Wallaby Outback exhibit, located next to Koala Territory. At certain times of the year, you might even be lucky enough to see a joey popping its head out of its mum’s pouch.
The Budongo Trail is one of the world’s most innovative and attractive Chimpanzee enclosures. It is home to 15 chimps. They live in large quarters with outdoor areas boasting huge climbing frames and plenty of vegetation. This gives chimps fun and exercise.
The Wee Beasties
The smallest of animals is a big attraction here. The indoor exhibition will be home to several exciting, creeping, and crawling species like reptiles, amphibians, and insects. This exhibition highlights the importance and diversity of Wee Beasties and the important role they play in the natural world.
Living Links
An amazing attraction in Edinburgh Zoo, it houses two species of monkeys. The brown Capuchin and the Common Squirrel Monkey. These monkeys are intelligent, social, and have lots of fun. They bond with their human companion easily. Apart from this, the living link is also a field research center for the study of primates.
Edinburgh Zoo Gardens
It has a rich horticultural tradition. The garden displays beautiful tubs with Regal and scented pelargoniums in the summer and alpines in the winter. The trees are tagged and catalogued. Many plants are grown in greenhouses. These are some of the animal attractions, to be witnessed, to believe in the majestic creations of God.
Learning with RZSS Edinburgh Zoo
Education has been at the heart of RZSS for over four decades and sits within the Discovery and Learning team. From nursery to tertiary and beyond encompassing both formal and informal learning, the team creates and delivers unique experiences for learners and daily visitors, encouraging excitement and exploration through interactive learning programs and interpretation. A few of the programs are:
Souvenirs & Gift Shop
Apart from taking home memories of the zoo, visitors can also indulge in various shopping experiences.
The RZSS [Royal Zoological Society of Scotland] gives E-Vouchers that can be used for entry, buy toys and gifts, buy lunch in cafes and restaurants around the zoo.
A wide range of eco-friendly articles is available in zoo. Children can pick from Bamboo, travel mugs to Recycle Paper Notebooks or Edinburgh Recycles Pencils. For ladies, there are organics Tote bags and organics cosmetics pouches.
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, for young animal lovers to join the keepers in feeding penguins, meerkats, owls, hornbills, and experience close encounters with them.
Join the keepers for an incredible magic moment with tigers, leopards, foxes, and polar bears and get an exciting opportunity to learn about these creatures from our amazing keepers, whilst feeding them some tasty snacks.
Eatery at Edinburgh Zoo
After an exciting day at the zoo, it’s time for some refreshments.
Events & Adventures
Many events are happening in the zoo-like Wedding ceremonies, meetings, conferences, and adventures like the Zoo virtual tour, virtual birthday parties organized via zoom and learning some new animal facts and seeing behind the scenes.
Experience and learn natural photography from the experts and have an unforgettable day with stunning animal photographs and understanding how to get the most of your camera.
The spider phobia workshops
It consists of one afternoon where you will hear from the clinical hypnotherapist expert on phobias and will get into a group hypnosis session with the experts to help remove negative subconscious associations with spiders and reinforce positive associations.
This zoo is definitely worth a visit for family travellers. There are lots of exciting animals to see; great play areas; educational and fun; interesting for all ages and easy to get around. This makes the zoo adventurous and eventful.
www.edinburghzoo.org.uk