A Conversation for Great Zoos and Wildlife Parks
Edinburgh Zoo - Scotland
Jeny (Professor of Cheesology, Apostrophe Executive) Started conversation May 30, 2002
This is probably well worth a visit if you're in the area. On arrival, it may not look like much - the entrance is situated on a main road near the centre of Edinburgh, but once you get inside it's huge. It's built onto a hill, so climbing to the top to see all the exhibits can be quite tiring, but the view when you get there more than makes up for it. There's also a hilltop safari bus, which will take you to the top if you don't feel like walking.
They make an effort to try and recreate 'natural' environments for the animals. Ok, so they'll never be perfect - the polar bears in particular seem to have quite a small enclosure, but at least they try. In fact, every time you go they seem to be doing some sort of work to upgrade or renovate one of the enclosures.
They have a policy of breeding programs for various species, some rare and some not so rare (mostly in order to gain experience for breeding the rarer ones). One of the most famous is probably the penguins. They breed several varieties of penguin - king, emperor, rockhopper and Macaroni. There's a massive penguin enclosure, where you can watch them either on land, or swimming beneath the surface. There's also a penguin parade most days where the penguins are allowed out of the enclosure and go for a walk (under the strict supervision of the keepers, obviously). It's great fun to watch, although it's voluntary, so if you turn up on a day when no penguins fancy a stroll, then no parade.
They have most of the animals that you would expect at a zoo - big cats, polar bears, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, zebras etc. There's also a lot of smaller creatures - meercats, copybaras, deer, water birds, along with nice reptile and monkey houses. The only 'traditional' thing they're missing is an elephant, because they admit they don't have the spaces or resources to deal with it - a very responsible attitude.
Edinburgh Zoo - Scotland
tom Posted May 30, 2002
We lived over the hill from the zoo when I was about 7.
I can remember hearing lions roar at night if the wind blew in our direction. It was scary 
It didn't stop me enjoying visits by day though.
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Edinburgh Zoo - Scotland
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