- Colleen
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- 3 out of 5
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Editor Pick
Critter Country
- November 14, 2009
- Rated 2 of 5 by
Denise Scotland from Scotland, United Kingdom
A trip to the zoo is one of those days out that kids always love, the last time I visited Edinburgh zoo was 10 years ago with the toddler group. The toddler group used to go there every year, on my first visit I became upset at the conditions of some of the big cats, especially the snow leopard which paced back and forwards in its enclosure looking utterly miserable. The animal was still there pacing a year later and I decided to boycott the zoo afterwards. I had read in the newspapers that the zoo had made massive improvements over the past few years especially to the big cat enclosures so I decided to put my misgivings aside to accompany a group of friends to the zoo for the day to celebrate a friends birthday.
The first thing that anyone visiting Edinburgh zoo needs to know is that the zoo is located on Corstophine Hill which is extremely steep. There is a free bus which runs from the entrance to the top of the zoo every half an hour but we missed it and decided to walk instead. My legs were aching by the end of the day but the view from the top of the zoo is stunning and worth the walk as you can see the whole city of Edinburgh and over to the Pentland hills.
Edinburgh zoo is best known for the penguins and since my last visit the penguin family has grown in size with bigger enclosures. We particularly enjoyed viewing the penguins swimming underwater through a viewing window set into their pool. We also saw the daily penguin parade where the birds are led through the zoo and enjoyed the talk by the keepers. They have three species of penguin at the zoo, the king, gentoo and rockhopper penguins, the rockhopper earning the nickname of the punk penguin from us because of the brightly coloured feathers that spike from its head.
The big cats were one of the most memorable parts of our visit, the enclosures seem to have doubled in size in the last ten years. The pallas cat looks like a massive fluffy housecat, the tigers look content and my friend managed to use the body language she uses with her domestic cat to lure one of them from his resting place to the front of the enclosure to say hello. The problem is that snow leopard is still there (either that or it is a very similar animal) and is still pacing the same path along the front of its enclosure
Another animal we enjoyed seeing was the wolves which live in a huge enclosure at the top of the hill and there is a viewing shelter to let you see them up close. Other animals of note are the comical little bushdogs, the huge rhino, the tapir and the animals in the African plains reserve like the zebra.
A part of the zoo I had really looked forward to seeing was the new Budongo trail which is a chimpanzee enclosure also used to study the behaviour of these animals, it was of special interest to me because I am currently studying evolutionary psychology and I find the cross species insights fascinating, as they say we are just monkeys in shoes! The trail is a fantastic building with state of the art lecture theatres and glass fronted indoor enclosures and a huge custom built outdoor habitat. The problem was that on the day of our visit the only event was a video, there were no chimps inside to watch through the glass and the chimpanzees outside were so far away from the public viewing areas that we could not see them clearly.
There is another smaller monkey house near the main entrance, I seem to remember when I last visited that the building used to be the reptile house. The enclosures seemed small here, the animals being held behind glass but it was nice to get close to the animals.
Something that was really disappointing was the number of empty enclosures within the zoo including the enclosure for the painted hunting dog, Mercedes the polar bear has now been moved to the Highland Wildlife Park and the Scottish wildcat and beavers were nowhere to be seen. There were signs apologising for the empty enclosures, I estimate approximately 15% or more of the animals listed were not present.
There are various eating and drinking points dotted around the park as well as picnic areas where you can eat food you have brought yourself. The toilets are few and far between and even in November we had to queue to use them. The gift shop is brilliant with several funky low cost gifts to remind you of your day.
Overall I was not too impressed by Edinburgh zoo and it will probably be another ten years till I visit again. It is an expensive day out with an adult ticket costing £14 and a child ticket £9.50 and for less money you can visit Blair Drummond safari park and have a much better day. I did enjoy some aspects of the zoo like the penguins but with so many empty pens and difficulty seeing some animals because of the design of the enclosures there were many more we missed. If I compare Edinburgh to Blackpool zoo which I visited earlier this year then the former is pretty poor and does not have the same laid back feel or focus on giving the visitor a great day out. Our day at Edinburgh zoo was simply ok but not brilliant and I think there are far better family attractions in the area.
Not Suitable for Disabled
- August 20, 2009
- Rated 1 of 5 by
Topcatdc from wallsend, United Kingdom
the zoo is looking a bit dated and its certainly not suitable for disabled people whether there in a wheelchair or use crutches .
even children in there buggys(strollers) is hard work pushing them up the banks.
the zoo is built on a very steep hill .
and the paths and road that zig zag the place are very slippy .
there is a little train to take you to the top of the zoo some 800 mtrs to the sumit of the park and this was the easyest way to get round . droped at the top and walk down was definatly a good idear. you cannot hire electric scooters or wheel chairs .
its not all bad news though a consesion and helper gets in for about £12 you do pay to park .£3-50 but take your blue badge in to the pay point and you get it back . there are about 12 disabled parking bays .
note take a picnic as the prices are a bit steep for food and drinks.
(2 ice cream cones small £2-60)
you can always pop back to your car with the empty basket so your not carrying it around all day.
my family and i did enjoy the day
but i definatly wont be going back if i can help it
Editor Pick
I Want to Live Like a Koala!
- July 10, 2009
- Rated 3 of 5 by
marymoose99 from Workington, United Kingdom
---We're going to the zoo---
Back in April I was supposed to be doing a firewalk in aid of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), since they have moose in Inverness which I’ve adopted even though I’ve not met them yet. Unfortunately the firewalk was postponed due to low numbers, but I was still very eager to visit the zoo, because I really wanted to see the koalas. Edinburgh zoo is the only place in the UK which has koalas, and I've not been lucky enough to get to Australia yet. I wasn't really bothered about anything else, it was only a couple of months ago I went to Chester zoo.
So, I decided that hubby and I would visit the zoo as soon as we arrived at Edinburgh before checking into our hotel.
---Getting there---
To find the zoo follow signs for City Centre Attractions - basically you'll get to the zoo before you get to the city centre. It all seemed a bit confusing getting us into Edinburgh as one of the lanes disappeared on a roundabout with no warning leaving us in the wrong lane so we took a 10 mile detour (as we then took another wrong turning as hubby was in a bad mood!)
The postcode for your Sat Nav (if you have it and if you want to trust it) is as follows - EH12 6TS
---Parking---
We had to pay £3.50 to park, although got a car sticker for the privilege. The Car park is on a bit of a slope, so you might want to leave your car in gear. It's then a walk down again to the entrance (unless you're a member and can go through a special door - Oooooh!)
---How Much?---
We entered the admissions area, and were greeted by a member of staff who wanted us to get the special (more expensive) admission rate - however she was in no way pushy about it.
In April 2009 normal admission cost £12.60. However, if you spend £14 you are giving a donation to the Budongo Trail, and can also Gift Aid your money. Now usually I would have done this, but having already been quite let down by the zoo (with the firewalk cancellation) I just wanted to pay the standard price. And £12.60 isn't cheap as it is!
Admission is free for the under 3s, and currently standard admission is £8.50 for 3-14year olds. Up-to-date prices and concessions can be found on the website.
Information about opening times can also be found on the website - they are open every day of the year except Christmas day!
---The Animals---
We didn't see all of the animals in the zoo by any means. We weren't trying to. I imagine that when we have children we'll make more of an effort to make our money's worth, and to see everything!
The main priority was the koalas, so we headed up towards them, seeing various animals on the way - Flamingos, Sea Lions, Ring-Tailed Lemurs, Pygmy Hippos among others. The walk towards the top of the zoo (it's on a hill) can get a bit steep at time, so those who don't want the walk might prefer to go up using the Hilltop Safari which goes from the bottom to the top at various times. I imagine that at peak times there would be quite a wait for this though!
While the zoo has evidently tried it's best to make conditions as good as possible (and clearly a lot of money has been spent on the zoo's upkeep), the saddest thing I think was seeing the polar bear, and that really put a dampener on the whole of our visit. The poor bear was just pacing up and down. Apparently in the Autumn she (Mercedes) is being moved to a 4 acre enclosure in the Highland Wildlife Reserve (to be near the moose) which will be a lot better. However, I think the damage has already been done. Similarly the tiger looked so depressed, as did various other larger animals (hubby decided we wouldn't even look at the lion). It sparked conversation between hubby and I (a rare thing!) about the pros and cons of zoos. At the end of the day it's probably better for children to watch a documentary about Tigers in the wild than to see one behind some glass. I think zoos can be very valuable for research and conversation, but where the bigger animals particularly are concerned it just seems wrong.
Many of the enclosures appeared to be empty. On closer inspection many of the animals were just hiding. However I can imagine that some children might get a bit frustrated!
When we arrived at the koala's enclosure (there are two of them) we found that they were asleep. So, we (I!) decided we'd go back at 3pm when they were giving the koala talk. I wasn't going to be satisfied just seeing a sleeping koala hidden behind a Eucalyptus tree!
Meanwhile we walked to the top of the hill (there's a good view from the top!), seeing various animals including wolves, and zebras, then made our way back down towards the penguins seeing camels and reindeer (among others) along the way.
The penguin enclosure was pretty big with various different types, and hubby got some nice pictures of them - I do like my penguins! Then we looked round the monkey house, before heading back to the koalas.
For more details about what animals the zoo has then visit the website - I should mention perhaps that there are no elephants or giraffes (probably for the best with space issues), so don't visit if that's what you want!
---Talks---
There are various talks and feedings throughout the day - probably well worth making a point of seeing these when visiting with inquisitive children. We caught part of the penguin talk although missed the parade. The only thing I was bothered about was the koalas though. Two of the zoo's staff gave a talk about koalas while another was feeding them - it was great to see the koalas up and eating - apparently it's the most active they ever are, and we got a couple of nice pictures. Honestly, I could live life as a koala, looks fantastic - sleep, eat, sleep more! Anyway, I was happy after that, and hubby and I decided to head off.
We didn't go into the Budongo Trail which is the big new feature at the zoo, although we did see some chimps from the outside, it does look like it's quite a big enclosure. In retrospect we probably should have gone in as it is the zoo's big thing! Mind you sometimes (no matter how good the conditions) it seems that much sadder seeing Chimps in captivity as they are just so similar to us. I certainly felt a bit like that in the monkey house - it's when you see their eyes I think. But anyway, hubby wanted to head off!
---Refreshments---
At peak times there will be lots of little refreshment booths open. However, not while we were there. We found we had started to get a bit peckish, so we visited the Oasis Café. We both had burgers £2.50 each), a packet of crisps (£1), and soft drinks (about £1). Burgers weren't wonderful, but they hit the spot! There was a nice indoor play area for small children in there.
Mansion House which is a big house (unsurprisingly!) at the zoo has a restaurant apparently. It is also available for weddings and functions.
---Other facilities---
There were lots of activity areas for children, it probably gets absolutely packed in the summer months. We were wise to go during a school day I think! Mind you I imagine it would be nice to take a picnic to the zoo on a nice day (not to mention then not having to fork out for zoo priced food!)
There's a nice gift shop with your usual overpriced gifts - I bought a koala magnet for the fridge for £1.50 (with my pocket money from hubby).
---Final Remarks---
Although we weren't actually there very long (2 hours) we could have spent longer - I would have spent longer if it wasn't for hubby! You could easily spend a full day there if you were going to see everything, and make a point of listening to the talks. So, while it’s expensive, you probably could get value for money. However, despite the koalas, I wouldn't say it's the best zoo I've been to by any means, and I have to say that we both left feeling a bit uneasy about it all really.
For more info visit www.edinburghzoo.org.uk – unfortunately the photos we took have been inadvertently deleted, however I might add them when I return for the firewalk in October.
Review edited from a review by me at dooyoo.co.uk
From journal Edinburgh Weekend - April 2009
Seemingly Empty Enclosures?
- January 20, 2008
- Rated 2 of 5 by
Anna1984 from Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
I was really looking forward to seeing a number of animal species at the zoo, but from the very start I realised that the animals were few and far between, making me question whether you have the 100 species you claim to have in the first place - maybe your animals escaped during the night and booked tickets to Madasgascar?
I understand that the most important thing is to maintain a natural environment for the animals and not force them to do anything they dont want to. However, for example, when realising there were four human beings in the lion enclosure instead of what I wanted to see, I went round to their indoor enclosure and they were in there, but at the back. The lions are quite an important feature of the zoo I would imagine and its a shame they wernt on show - i'm sure there would have been no harm having the door through to the back closed so us paying customers would get our monies worth. The monkey house was another example of not being able to see what I went for. Maybe you could advise people that certain animals are not on show, and some of your main attractions are not running i.e. the penguin parade, BEFORE we pay your full prices under false pretences of seeing everything offered. An idea could be dropping the prices of your tickets if you know only half of your attractions are available for viewing. I realise the reasons for your prices probably have something to do with the upkeep and maintenance of the zoo. However you would probably get more money through word of mouth customers if they had actually had a nice day - I certainly wont be telling family and friends to go to the zoo.
Half way through the day and after a long travel down to come to the zoo,I was in need of some refreshment and hot food. Upon entering Oasis cafe I realised this was the place to witness the best animal behaviour. As I sat down eating my overly priced inadequate cheeseburger with hard chips on the side, I witnessed what I would expect to see in the monkey house! One red haired, purple rimmed glasses wearing employee, picked her nose in full view and then proceeded to rummage through the kids food bags touching every single food product whilst replacing the apples.
On a positive note - and I really struggled to come up with something - Rainbow Landings was fantastic, you should really do more stuff like this, i could actually see the animals, and also be in close contact with them.
I also enjoyed the friendly nature and positive attitude of the guy who drove the hill top bus, he put a smile on my face from the very beginning - its a shame not all your employees share his efforts.
I hope this feedback is used in a way that could hopefully improve the quality of a day out at the zoo.
By Anna
andidoll@hotmail.co.uk
Editor Pick
Edinburgh Zoo
- March 15, 2006
- Rated 3 of 5 by
artslover from Calgary, Alberta
The Edinburgh Zoo is about 3 miles west of the city centre, accessible by bus, taxi, or car. It is located on a hillside that makes the visit, like much of Edinburgh, an exercise in hill climbing.
Admission is charged. For a family of four, it was 15 pounds.
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland runs the zoo. There is information and displays about conservation of wildlife. Although it seems small compared to the San Diego and Calgary zoos, it has a number of animals, including snow leopards, white rhinos, and pygmy hippos. We walked, some of us ran, but if you don't want to hike around the inclined zoo walkways, there is a small tour bus with a guide.
What made the visit really worthwhile for us were the penguins. The zoo has the largest penguin colony in Europe, with four species, plus the world's largest penguin enclosure. You can stand on a bridge area and watch them zip along from one pool area to the next as they go underneath your feet. Their speed is amazing and you feel very close to the penguins. From April to September, a penguin parade is held daily where the penguins tour around the zoo grounds. During the winter months, there is a visit to the penguins program, which also gives you a close-up experience.
From journal Endlessly Fascinating Edinburgh