Koala Territory

Alinga\'s (female) enclosure, which used to be the walk-through bird exhibit.

Neat! I really like this exhibit

I really like birds. Edinburgh has the two most boring zoo animals in Giant Pandas & Koalas.[Discuss?]

FBBird said:

I really like birds. Edinburgh has the two most boring zoo animals in Giant Pandas & Koalas.[Discuss?]

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And a pretty small and unimpressive bird collection really. Penguins are obviously a stand out, but I was disappointed with the rest. Stanley's Cranes were nice, but Brilliant Birds was awful, very few individuals and just common species.

The zoo seems to have a heavy focus on mammals, with a declining bird collection, and almost no reptiles or amphibians.

Looks like a nice neat little exhibit.

zooboy28 said:

And a pretty small and unimpressive bird collection really. Penguins are obviously a stand out, but I was disappointed with the rest. Stanley's Cranes were nice, but Brilliant Birds was awful, very few individuals and just common species.

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If you think Cock-of-the-Rock is *just* a common species you are rather more spoilt than most of us!

I'd argue that Steller's Sea Eagles and Egyptian Vultures are other avian highlights of the collection, too.

TeaLovingDave said:

If you think Cock-of-the-Rock is *just* a common species you are rather more spoilt than most of us!

I'd argue that Steller's Sea Eagles and Egyptian Vultures are other avian highlights of the collection, too.

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I saw no sign of Cock-of-the-Rock when I visited (last March), and didn't know they had them, that would definitely be a feather in their cap, excuse the pun. I haven't ever seen that species, but I'd like to!

May have been spoiled by the European zoos for the other two species though, as I'd seen plenty of each before reaching Edinburgh.

I guess the sea ducks might also be a highlight, but they were off-show when I visited, and I'm not sure exactly what species they have.

I get the impression they are adding more species to Brilliant Birds on a semi-regular basis. The Cock of the Rock has been there for ages though, so I reckon you were just unlucky with that animal.

This is my photograph from summer 2012 of the Cock of the Rock:

As I posted in the main thread, Brilliant Birds seems to have been run down in the last few months. No sign of CotR last week

That may be the best koala exhibit I have seen. When I was there in April, the koala area was closed for refurbishment - I guess this is the result.