Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh Zoo news 2024

Pertinax said:
I don't see why that should happen. The main area of animal displays would remain it seems, with only certain exhibits- perhaps only the Gorillas and Lions, leaving the park.

I am a bit surprised though that Edinburgh do not have a Grevy stallion of their own, or can't obtain one permanently, rather than this loan from Chessington. Did they lose their own? Are they (mature stallions that is) now in short supply in UK perhaps ?
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Nope, the UK population consists of 10 collections with 4 maintaining a breeding group. The other 6 collections have either bachelor males or an all female herd (of which Edinburgh Zoo used to be one ...). I guess there is an informed breeding policy behind the whole thing.

@Pertinax, If you would wish more detailed info DM only.
 
I visited Edinburgh Zoo today, spent a good four hours there and now I'm exhausted from all that walking. Not to mention my ears are still ringing from that one toddler who was screaming at a sleeping pygmy hippo to wake up. A few things of note:
- When I'm getting to the zoo from Princes Street, it's always fun to note which of the special animal themed Lothian buses pulls up, but seeing it was the cheetah bus was a little bit heartbreaking because I never got to see Cleo before her death.
- Unfortunately I didn't manage to see Akiko the Pallas's cat, I went around his enclosure a couple of times but never spotted him.
- Other no-shows included the L'Hoest's monkeys, red-bellied lemurs, grey kangaroos and Azara's agoutis. Some work was being done in the tank in Wee Beasties where the blue poison dart frogs normally live, so they were sadly off-show as well.
- On the plus side, today marks the first time I've seen Otis the ground cuscus (albeit not a great view, he was in his nest box and I could only make out about half of him), the crowned lemurs and the new Japanese macaques, coppery titi monkey's, Prevost's squirrels and Turkmenian markhor. This visit also marks the first time in a long time that I've seen the drills and giant anteater.
- The male Grevy's zebra on loan from Chessington was trying to mate with one of the females, whether or not he was successful before she kicked him away I'm not sure. The crowd reaction to it was pretty funny as well, with one horrified woman saying "Oooh my God!"
- I was surprised to see Babu the sun bear up and active in her outdoor space. I was under the impression from the AGM meeting back in June that she'd be kept off-show while she has her end of life care for her terminal cancer, but it's nice that she's survived this long and is still on-show for now.
 
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I’m still really sad about Cleo, will they be releasing a postmortem?

I also noted that at the AGM with regards to Babu, from what DF was saying it seemed like she barely had weeks to live.
 
Jambi said:
I visited Edinburgh Zoo today, spent a good four hours there and now I'm exhausted from all that walking. Not to mention my ears are still ringing from that one toddler who was screaming at a sleeping pygmy hippo to wake up. A few things of note:
- When I'm getting to the zoo from Princes Street, it's always fun to note which of the special animal themed Lothian buses pulls up, but seeing it was the cheetah bus was a little bit heartbreaking because I never got to see Cleo before her death.
- Unfortunately I didn't manage to see Akiko the Pallas's cat, I went around his enclosure a couple of times but never spotted him.
- Other no-shows included the L'Hoest's monkeys, red-bellied lemurs, grey kangaroos and Azara's agoutis. Some work was being done in the tank in Wee Beasties where the blue poison dart frogs normally live, so they were sadly off-show as well.
- On the plus side, today marks the first time I've seen Otis the ground cuscus (albeit not a great view, he was in his nest box and I could only make out about half of him), the crowned lemurs and the new Japanese macaques, coppery titi monkey's, Prevost's squirrels and Turkmenian markhor. This visit also marks the first time in a long time that I've seen the drills and giant anteater.
- The male Grevy's zebra on loan from Chessington was trying to mate with one of the females, whether or not he was successful before she kicked him away I'm not sure. The crowd reaction to it was pretty funny as well, with one horrified woman saying "Oooh my God!"
- I was surprised to see Babu the sun bear up and active in her outdoor space. I was under the impression from the AGM meeting back in June that she'd be kept off-show while she has her end of life care for her terminal cancer, but it's nice that she's survived this long and is still on-show for now.
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Funny, I was also at the zoo yesterday. I did see someone around the pallas cat enclosure a lot- this could've been you?

Notes not already said by @Jambi:

- Eva the chimpanzee's sign has been taken off the ID list- has she passed away, and if so, how? I did also see some signs on the enclosure saying the vets are monitoring them so there may have been another fight.

- The pallas cat enclosure now takes up both the spaces previously occupied by the large hairy armadillo and the binturong, with the former being covered by rocks on the ground and another larger pile next to the fence. In the latter part (I couldn't tell if Akiko would have access to this section yet) there is still grass on the ground and some branches to climb on (The pool of water is still there) but most of the old bushes have been removed and another rock pile is in the enclosure. The indoors that used to occupy the armadillo is also for him, though as Jambi said he was nowhere to be found, which was the same for me too. The old binturong indoors seems to be getting changed, with there being new paint inside and the closed off enclosure round the corner also getting foliage removed from it from what I could see. The cat's sign is up above the indoor viewing area, a lick of paint has been applied to the interior of it and there is also a new rainforest pattern on the covered up holding cages between the closed-off enclosure and the indoor viewing, indicating that a new species is coming too, hopefully binturongs returning.

- The cheetah merch in the shop is gone and the it has been removed off the map. Pallas cats not added yet.

- Work on the new zebra house seems to be going well and it looks big.

- Dharma the tiger was sleeping in a very strange spot and I managed to get some good photos of her, which I will upload at some point in the future.

- Saw Oberon the zebra stallion locked away from the rest of the herd in a holding area, contradictory to what Jambi said.
 
GeeZee said:
I’m still really sad about Cleo, will they be releasing a postmortem?

I also noted that at the AGM with regards to Babu, from what DF was saying it seemed like she barely had weeks to live.
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They are probably going to have to for Cleo as it was very unexpected since she was so healthy and young.
 
felis silvestris said:
Funny, I was also at the zoo yesterday. I did see someone around the pallas cat enclosure a lot- this could've been you?
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Was this person wearing a black raincoat and carrying a grey backpack? If so, yes that was me. :)

- Dharma the tiger was sleeping in a very strange spot and I managed to get some good photos of her, which I will upload at some point in the future.
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Amongst all the foliage on the wall of the enclosure? I also saw the tiger sleeping in that spot, and got a photo of it which I've uploaded to the gallery.
 
Jambi said:
Was this person wearing a black raincoat and carrying a grey backpack? If so, yes that was me. :)


Amongst all the foliage on the wall of the enclosure? I also saw the tiger sleeping in that spot, and got a photo of it which I've uploaded to the gallery.
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No, but I think they had glasses and shortish hair .
 
Some highlights from my visit yesterday:

- Nyala Birth! My first time ever seeing an animal in a zoo actually being born, will attach a photo to the gallery soon of this little cutie :)

- Akiko (Pallas's Cat) out pretty much all day, some stunning views of him both on the rocks and climbing on the logs in the enclosure

- First time ever seeing Otis (Ground Cuscus) come out of his nest box — being one of my favourite animals at the zoo and previous times only resulting in his back and a singular look at his face this was a top moment for me.

In a similar strain, a sloth (not sure on which one) was climbing over the path towards the armadillo enclosure where another was sleeping in the box.

It was also my first time seeing a cloud rat use the outside portion of the enclosure, nice to know they do venture out occasionally :p

A few questions/extra comments:

- What are some good tips for seeing the White-Naped Pheasant-Pigeon? Never seen them at Edinburgh and they're one of my favourite birds

- Does Akiko have access to the outdoor enclosure furthest away from the indoor area or is this remaining free to use for a future female? If so, I'm presuming the other indoor viewing area will be for her. I believe Edinburgh have mentioned wanting to regain Binturong to their collection in the near future, does anyone know where they'll go when/if they receive more?


I can say on a whole, the zoo seems to be developing extremely quickly, I've been a few times this year and each visit something new has been there to see. The number of new arrivals the zoo has gained is pretty impressive to see :D
Will definitely be renewing my membership if this new species trend keeps up
 
ItsZach said:
Some highlights from my visit yesterday:

- Nyala Birth! My first time ever seeing an animal in a zoo actually being born, will attach a photo to the gallery soon of this little cutie :)

- Akiko (Pallas's Cat) out pretty much all day, some stunning views of him both on the rocks and climbing on the logs in the enclosure

- First time ever seeing Otis (Ground Cuscus) come out of his nest box — being one of my favourite animals at the zoo and previous times only resulting in his back and a singular look at his face this was a top moment for me.

In a similar strain, a sloth (not sure on which one) was climbing over the path towards the armadillo enclosure where another was sleeping in the box.

It was also my first time seeing a cloud rat use the outside portion of the enclosure, nice to know they do venture out occasionally :p

A few questions/extra comments:

- What are some good tips for seeing the White-Naped Pheasant-Pigeon? Never seen them at Edinburgh and they're one of my favourite birds

- Does Akiko have access to the outdoor enclosure furthest away from the indoor area or is this remaining free to use for a future female? If so, I'm presuming the other indoor viewing area will be for her. I believe Edinburgh have mentioned wanting to regain Binturong to their collection in the near future, does anyone know where they'll go when/if they receive more?


I can say on a whole, the zoo seems to be developing extremely quickly, I've been a few times this year and each visit something new has been there to see. The number of new arrivals the zoo has gained is pretty impressive to see :D
Will definitely be renewing my membership if this new species trend keeps up
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For where the binturong will go, the indoor enclosure that used to be theirs seems to be getting work on it and the small closed-off enclosure round the side of the pallas cats could be used for them in the future.
 
ItsZach said:
Some highlights from my visit yesterday:

- Nyala Birth! My first time ever seeing an animal in a zoo actually being born, will attach a photo to the gallery soon of this little cutie :)

- Akiko (Pallas's Cat) out pretty much all day, some stunning views of him both on the rocks and climbing on the logs in the enclosure

- First time ever seeing Otis (Ground Cuscus) come out of his nest box — being one of my favourite animals at the zoo and previous times only resulting in his back and a singular look at his face this was a top moment for me.

In a similar strain, a sloth (not sure on which one) was climbing over the path towards the armadillo enclosure where another was sleeping in the box.

It was also my first time seeing a cloud rat use the outside portion of the enclosure, nice to know they do venture out occasionally :p

A few questions/extra comments:

- What are some good tips for seeing the White-Naped Pheasant-Pigeon? Never seen them at Edinburgh and they're one of my favourite birds

- Does Akiko have access to the outdoor enclosure furthest away from the indoor area or is this remaining free to use for a future female? If so, I'm presuming the other indoor viewing area will be for her. I believe Edinburgh have mentioned wanting to regain Binturong to their collection in the near future, does anyone know where they'll go when/if they receive more?


I can say on a whole, the zoo seems to be developing extremely quickly, I've been a few times this year and each visit something new has been there to see. The number of new arrivals the zoo has gained is pretty impressive to see :D
Will definitely be renewing my membership if this new species trend keeps up
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Oh where abouts are the White Naped Pheasant Pigeons?
 
jtrbmvcq said:
Big rumour from a friend in the industry that Edinburgh will receive a pair of sloth bears to replace the giant pandas.
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That’s good news, for a while it was thought that it may have been a moon bear (which, personally I would have slightly preferred but never mind).

Has anyone seen the new penguin parade (or wee waddle as it’s known now) yet?
 
From the zoos website new female Red Panda has arrived.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Edinburgh Zoo has welcomed a new female red panda, Priya, from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. Priya was born at Whipsnade Zoo in 2023 to parents Nilo and Ruby - this makes her arrival extra special as mum, Ruby, was born at Edinburgh Zoo in 2021 to parents Bruce and Ginger, who both still live at the zoo.

Priya will join the wildlife conservation charity’s male red panda Kevyn in the habitat behind Penguins Rock.

Edinburgh Zoo is home to five red pandas – Priya and Kevyn, as well as Bruce, Ginger and their new kit.
 
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Martii said:
Priya was born at Whipsnade Zoo in 2021 to parents Nilo and Ruby - this makes her arrival extra special as mum, Ruby, was born at Edinburgh Zoo in 2021 to parents Bruce and Ginger, who both still live at the zoo.
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That would be an incredibly tight timespan if so ;) but in fact, Priya was born last year!
 
Martii said:
I'll need to inform the zoo
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The zoo had it right in a press release so they do know. Priya was a twin with Alex, to Nilo and Ruby in 2023.

Scottish zoo welcomes endangered red panda

On Tuesday, Edinburgh Zoo announced the arrival of Priya, a female red panda from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable, England.

Priya was born in 2023 to parents Nilo and Ruby, who was born in Edinburgh Zoo in 2021 to parents Bruce and Ginger – both of whom still live at the zoo.
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