Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh Zoo News 2022

Cat-Man said:
I agree the sentiment, but with them having rhinos already that is probably way down the list of priorities. And their enclosure may not be the best but you can get so close to them - for that reason it’s so lovely.
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Their current rhino digs are sooo underwhelming
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Big Five masterplan? Elaborate please.
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Back in 2019 when the zoo did a crowdfunder for construction of the giraffe house, they stated the giraffe house was planned to be the first of five big projects called the "Big 5" initiative. The other four projects are renovating the penguin, rhino and sun bear enclosures, as well as a new walkthrough tropical house with free-roaming monkeys and birds. Each project is meant to have a semi-educational angle about the various threats endangered species deal with in the wild:
- Giraffe House - Habitat loss
- Sun Bears - Wildlife exploitation
- Rhinos - Poaching
- Tropical House - Unsustainable palm oil
- Penguins - Global warming
That being said, I've only visited the giraffe house once and didn't really pay attention to anything other than the giraffes themselves, so how much it teaches about habitat loss I don't know.
 
Thanks , I remember a bit of this. Question is how much for Covid they remain on track there.

Really what needs doing is changing the trend and narrative from downsizing ever less species fewer occupied enclosures to positives upwards and new species, exhibits and less empty bits.
 
Jambi said:
Back in 2019 when the zoo did a crowdfunder for construction of the giraffe house, they stated the giraffe house was planned to be the first of five big projects called the "Big 5" initiative. The other four projects are renovating the penguin, rhino and sun bear enclosures, as well as a new walkthrough tropical house with free-roaming monkeys and birds. Each project is meant to have a semi-educational angle about the various threats endangered species deal with in the wild:
- Giraffe House - Habitat loss
- Sun Bears - Wildlife exploitation
- Rhinos - Poaching
- Tropical House - Unsustainable palm oil
- Penguins - Global warming
That being said, I've only visited the giraffe house once and didn't really pay attention to anything other than the giraffes themselves, so how much it teaches about habitat loss I don't know.
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Do you know when the next bit will be occurring ?
 
Ben K said:
Do you know when the next bit will be occurring ?
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As far as I can tell, nothing more has been said about it since before the first lockdown, so it's unclear whether they're still going through with it. That's not to say it's been scrapped though: as others have pointed out, what used to be the Malayan tapir enclosure is now sitting empty, and it's beleived that it will be made into an extension of the rhino enclosure. The original giant panda enclosure is also empty and the old monkey house probably doesn't have much longer to go before it's cleared out as well, so that whole area could be demolished to make way for a tropical walkthrough building.
As I've said earlier though, if the zoo are still moving forward with those plans, I don't think there'll be any further development or construction until after the giant pandas are gone, and the zoo is no longer paying several hundred thousand pounds a year to China. This is also why I think there's been a noticeable decline in quality and increase in empty space recently, they're scrimping hard on money to make their future big projects happen.
 
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Jambi said:
As far as I can tell, nothing more has been said about it since before the first lockdown, so it's unclear whether they're still going through with it. That's not to say it's been scrapped though: as others have pointed out, what used to be the Malayan tapir enclosure is now sitting empty, and it's beleived that it will be made into an extension of the rhino enclosure. The original giant panda enclosure is also empty and the old monkey house probably doesn't have much longer to go before it's cleared out as well, so that whole area could be demolished to make way for a tropical walkthrough building.
As I've said earlier though, if the zoo are still moving forward with those plans, I don't think there'll be any further development or construction until after the giant pandas are gone, and the zoo is no longer paying several hundred thousand pounds a year to China. This is also why I think there's been a noticeable decline in quality and increase in empty space recently, they're scrimping hard on money to make their future big projects happen.
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Thank you for letting me know
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Thanks , I remember a bit of this. Question is how much for Covid they remain on track there.

Really what needs doing is changing the trend and narrative from downsizing ever less species fewer occupied enclosures to positives upwards and new species, exhibits and less empty bits.
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I would also argue that they should be a bit more open about communicating their plans if indeed the strategy is to scrimp now to save for significant projects.
 
Shirokuma said:
I would also argue that they should be a bit more open about communicating their plans if indeed the strategy is to scrimp now to save for significant projects.
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Another fair point yes their communications in relation to Zoo development are somewhat at odds with their conservation message that gets out fine.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Another fair point yes their communications in relation to Zoo development are somewhat at odds with their conservation message that gets out fine.
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I’ve found that there is a huge disparity in the way some of our UK collections communicate their plans with their supporters. Some use their news sections to update plans and transfers whilst others keep silent. It’s all about the culture of the organisation.
 
TriUK said:
I’ve found that there is a huge disparity in the way some of our UK collections communicate their plans with their supporters. Some use their news sections to update plans and transfers whilst others keep silent. It’s all about the culture of the organisation.
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I know right. I wish all of them actually updated us with things that are happening, like Five Sisters Zoo update theirs pretty often
 
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