Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh Zoo News 2021

I visited Edinburgh Zoo today, and generally speaking I had a good time. Here are a few points from my visit;
- There were a lot of empty enclosures with "We're sorry but this animal is currently off-show" signs on the window. Usually I don't mind this, and if it were only one or two it would've been fine, but there were multiple enclosures with nothing in them, to the point where it did put a dampener on the day.
- I think the path leading up to the Malayan tapir enclosure was supposed to be out of bounds, because the tapirs have been removed from the current map, but there was nothing really blocking it and the red-fronted macaws on the opposite side were still marked on the map, so I went down and found the tapir is still there.
- The new giraffe house and panda enclosure are nice, but there were more than a dozen people gathered around one window while Tian Tian was eating, so I couldn't get a decent photo (she had her back to the window anyway).
- I went in the new sloth and armadillo walkthrough, nice idea, but I will miss Brilliant Birds. One of the two armadillo species that were meant to be in there were off-show, but the others were out and running around.
- It's a shame the Wee Beasties exhibit still hasn't re-opened. One of my favourite parts of any zoo is the smaller things in glass tanks like lizards and frogs, so I'm sad that I didn't get to see them.
- I got a really good view of the pygmy Hippos, all three were up and about. I got lots of photos of the whole family both in and outside.
 
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RZSS have submitted a Screening Opinion Request to Edinburgh City Council for the installation of a ground mounted (GM) solar photovoltaic (PV) array development at Edinburgh Zoo. Proposed for the sole purpose of generating renewable electricity to offset imports from the national grid, the array will work towards reducing the carbon footprint of the Zoo. The Array will be positioned on green space currently utilised as a rotational grazing paddock at the northern boundary of the zoo. More details can be found here:

21/04346/SCR | FW: Screening Opinion Request - Edinburgh Zoo Solar Array. | Mansion House Edinburgh Zoo 134 Corstorphine Road Edinburgh EH12 6TS
 
Venatores said:
Anybody have an idea as to where the snowy owls went to? I know they’ve been gone a while from the Highland Wildlife Park.
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Maybe they passed away, I could be wrong but I think they were quite old.
 
Quincey said:
RZSS have submitted a Screening Opinion Request to Edinburgh City Council for the installation of a ground mounted (GM) solar photovoltaic (PV) array development at Edinburgh Zoo. Proposed for the sole purpose of generating renewable electricity to offset imports from the national grid, the array will work towards reducing the carbon footprint of the Zoo. The Array will be positioned on green space currently utilised as a rotational grazing paddock at the northern boundary of the zoo. More details can be found here:

21/04346/SCR | FW: Screening Opinion Request - Edinburgh Zoo Solar Array. | Mansion House Edinburgh Zoo 134 Corstorphine Road Edinburgh EH12 6TS
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Makes sense and conserves resources.
 
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and Steven Brown Art have today (4 November) launched the first of two exclusive artworks designed to support the wildlife conservation charity.

Inspired by Yang Guang, whose name means sunshine and is one of Edinburgh Zoo’s two iconic giant pandas, the new Sunshine McZoo design brings together Brown’s signature use of colour and his love of animals to expand the popular McZoo range.

Zoo visitors will have the chance to purchase this brand-new artwork and get it signed by the Scottish artist this weekend (6-7 November), in three exclusive signing sessions:

Scottish artist Steven Brown paints Edinburgh Zoo panda ‘Sunshine McZoo’ | Edinburgh Zoo
 
Zoofan15 said:
So do I, but when they’ve tried this for seven years without success, I struggle to see how this time is going to be any different.

It’d be interesting to see stats on panda breeding success outside of China - but from what I’m observed, it mostly either works or it doesn’t i.e. pairs either never breed; or breed more than once.

I think it’s time to be realistic. This pair are a money pit. Either swap them out for a new pair; or phase out the species and spend the money on other areas that need funding.
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I always thought it was funny how there new habitat was designed, but I think they are preparing to phase out ( likely replacing them with asiatic black bears )
 
Dylan said:
I must admit, the porcupines are far better in that enclosure than any suid. Did you see where the warty pigs are now?

I reckon the resident male tapir is fairly old now, or at least his genes are well represented so he is probably not recommended to breed him.

I hope they knock down the monkey house and expand the old panda complex to make larger sun bear enclosures, maybe use the space for a binturong enclosure or even an aviary.
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Probably will, with phase one of the big 5 ( master plan ) done, where else could they put them
 
Dylan said:
As far as I know, there is no immediate plans to replace Brilliant Birds. I know there have been plans for a new tropical house somewhere but I've not heard hard-and-fast plans about that in some time.
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Jambi said:
I do wonder if the zoo still plans to go ahead with the other big projects they had planned after the giraffe house, or if the lockdowns have affected them so badly financially that those plans will have to be dropped?
I will definitely miss Brilliant Birds, it was one of my favourite areas of the zoo, and I'm also curious to know what is being done with the species that used to be in there.
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Honestly I think the big 5 plan is all over the place, I know it says year 4 is the rainforest house and since its palm oil it's probably going to be southeast Asian island species, I think the sloth and armadillo house is the first part of the tropical house ( I mean it is a coincidence that the put a macaw on the picture for year 4) so it's possibly going to be a south american one instead.

Anyway, for anyone wanting more information, or how I know so much about it just look here RZSS Edinburgh Zoo's Big 5 | Edinburgh Zoo
 
Zoo utsi leon said:
Honestly I think the big 5 plan is all over the place, I know it says year 4 is the rainforest house and since its palm oil it's probably going to be southeast Asian island species, I think the sloth and armadillo house is the first part of the tropical house ( I mean it is a coincidence that the put a macaw on the picture for year 4) so it's possibly going to be a south american one instead.

Anyway, for anyone wanting more information, or how I know so much about it just look here RZSS Edinburgh Zoo's Big 5 | Edinburgh Zoo
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It's also worth noting that there has been a change in CEO since this plan was put in place....
 
New Blog:

The Brazilian Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland, suffered massive wildfires in 2020. Almost a third of this precious biome, an area nearly the size of Switzerland, burned. Thousands of animals were killed or injured and families who rely on ranches in the Pantanal to make a living saw their livelihoods damaged or even destroyed:

Out of the ashes | Edinburgh Zoo
 
“After filming for this series ended, we had to make a very difficult decision about Maadili's future. Learn more at http://bit.ly/MaadiliEZ”

The zoo has put this message on their social media pages however the link doesn’t seem to be working.
 
They've updated it now - they had to put him to sleep as he was unable to integrate safely with the group.

In June 2020 we received a recommendation for Maadili, a 10-year-old chimpanzee, to transfer to Edinburgh Zoo where our charity’s experts have significant experience with the species.

As he had been attacking females and youngsters with no intervention from the males in his original troop, Maadili needed to be separated. This caused real concerns for his wellbeing because chimpanzees are very social animals with complex needs. Solitary living seriously compromises their welfare and individuals cannot survive on their own in the wild.

Following a year of intensive efforts from our dedicated team to try and integrate Maadili with the group, it became clear this would not be possible without risking severe injury or death for him and the other chimps. Sadly, this was also severely impacting his health and welfare.

After exhausting all alternatives, we took the difficult decision to put Maadili to sleep to prevent him from suffering mentally or physically.
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