Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh Zoo Rebrand

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ZooNut23

Well-Known Member
With Sir Nils Olav III becoming a general today, I was wondering how everyone would rebrand Edinburgh Zoo once the Pandas have gone.

I for one would like to see the focus back on the signature species for the zoo; penguins.

I'd quite like to see a new penguin pool near the entrance (possibly where the sea lions were...sorry Meerkat fans) for a smaller species such as fairy penguins. This would really help double down on Edinburgh being the penguin capital of the UK.

I'd also love to see the old big cat walk repurposed for smaller carnivores if possible, the enclosures while small for big cats could be ok for animals such as Pallas Cat, Fossa and Lynx even if it means knocking the walls down and joining exhibits.

I'd also like to see a return to the collection for Gorillas for the current giant panda exhibit, sun bears and binturong moved into the old one, clouded leopards in the sun bear enclosure. The drills could be moved to a new enclosure up the hill.

These are just ideas and not entirely sure whether or not they are practical but just wondered what everyone thinks.
 
Nice idea for a thread. I agree that penguins are the zoo's signature species, but (as excellent as it would be for zoo enthusiasts) I am not sure most visitors would take any notice of a fourth penguin species. With no regards for budget etc, here is what I would do:

Personally (this will obviously be very expensive and unlikely), I would love to have Penguin Rock netted over, and other seabirds (including diving ducks, who look spectacular in clear water, and puffins, which no British collection has at the moment) introduced. I would also demolish the playground to the north of it, and add a pinniped species (preferably a more unusual one, such as Northern or Cape Fur Seal). I would also move the Indian Rhinos (whose enclosure is inadequate, in my opinion) to the unused fields north of the giraffes, allowing their space to be used for an additional species (perhaps the Arctic Foxes from HWP, although, of course, the enclosure would have to be adapted quite a bit!).

We sadly don't have a major polar exhibit in the UK, and given that Edinburgh already has the best penguin exhibit in the country by far, and a lot of unused space in that area, it feels like a perfect opportunity to build something spectacular. Of course, financing it will be difficult, given how expensive it is to add and clean water for such animals, and it would not be geographically accurate, given how few suitable Antarctic species there are, but it would still be a worthwhile addition to RZSS and the British zoo scene in my opinion.

I would move the Sun Bears to the most recent Giant Panda enclosure, and (just as you did) Clouded Leopards to the bear enclosure. Not quite sure what to do with the original panda enclosure, as I never saw it in person, but as it used to be an Ape House, I think smaller primate species would be a nice focus (from pictures, it doesn't look adequate for apes).
 
Kalaw said:
Nice idea for a thread. I agree that penguins are the zoo's signature species, but (as excellent as it would be for zoo enthusiasts) I am not sure most visitors would take any notice of a fourth penguin species. With no regards for budget etc, here is what I would do:

Personally (this will obviously be very expensive and unlikely), I would love to have Penguin Rock netted over, and other seabirds (including diving ducks, who look spectacular in clear water, and puffins, which no British collection has at the moment) introduced. I would also demolish the playground to the north of it, and add a pinniped species (preferably a more unusual one, such as Northern or Cape Fur Seal). I would also move the Indian Rhinos (whose enclosure is inadequate, in my opinion) to the unused fields north of the giraffes, allowing their space to be used for an additional species (perhaps the Arctic Foxes from HWP, although, of course, the enclosure would have to be adapted quite a bit!).

We sadly don't have a major polar exhibit in the UK, and given that Edinburgh already has the best penguin exhibit in the country by far, and a lot of unused space in that area, it feels like a perfect opportunity to build something spectacular. Of course, financing it will be difficult, given how expensive it is to add and clean water for such animals, and it would not be geographically accurate, given how few suitable Antarctic species there are, but it would still be a worthwhile addition to RZSS and the British zoo scene in my opinion.

I would move the Sun Bears to the most recent Giant Panda enclosure, and (just as you did) Clouded Leopards to the bear enclosure. Not quite sure what to do with the original panda enclosure, as I never saw it in person, but as it used to be an Ape House, I think smaller primate species would be a nice focus (from pictures, it doesn't look adequate for apes).
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There are impressive polar bear exhibits in the UK already, at HWP, the zoos sister park as well as Yorkshire wildlife park and I think at Peak wildlife park too?
 
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Ratty said:
There are impressive polar bear exhibits in the UK already, at HWP, the zoos sister park as well as Yorkshire wildlife park and I think at Peak wildlife park too?
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I wasn't referring to Polar Bears. Rather, I meant 'polar' as in focusing on the polar regions (Antarctica and the Arctic Circle), not Polar Bears. ;) I didn't include Polar Bears in my plans, partly since HWP has some, and partly since I'm not sure there is space.

You are right that there are other very good Polar Bear enclosures, but I can't think of a single major exhibit themed to Antarctica and the Arctic in a UK zoo. Compare that to continental Europe, where there are several excellent exhibits, such as Hagenbeck's Eismeer, with Walrus, Fur Seals, two excellent penguin enclosures, Polar Bears and a Seabird Aviary (a big inspiration for my design), and it does feel like we are missing out. :( When done well, with underwater viewing, chilled halls and convincing rockwork, they can be truly incredible exhibits.
 
Kalaw said:
I wasn't referring to Polar Bears. Rather, I meant 'polar' as in focusing on the polar regions (Antarctica and the Arctic Circle), not Polar Bears. :) I didn't include Polar Bears in my plans, partly since HWP has some, and partly since I'm not sure there is space.

You are right that there are other very good Polar Bear enclosures, but I can't think of a single major exhibit themed to Antarctica and the Arctic in a UK zoo. Compare that to continental Europe, where there are several excellent exhibits, such as Hagenbeck's Eismeer, with Walrus, Fur Seals, two excellent penguin enclosures, Polar Bears and a Seabird Aviary (a big inspiration for my design), and it does feel like we are missing out. When done well, with underwater viewing, chilled halls and convincing rockwork, they can be truly incredible exhibits.
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Sorry, I read your post too quickly! Yes polar exhibits are few and far between in UK
 
As I’ve said many times on this forum it’s a shame that the Pandas have to go back because , if nothing else they were the “big draw“ for Edinburgh and made it unlike any Zoo in the UK for that reason, and for that part - most of the world.

I do feel that they don’t exclusively market Edinburgh as “the Zoo with the pandas” however, and in recent years they’ve focused a lot on their Giraffes , for example they feature on the front of a lot of the zoos marketing & were at the forefront of the “Giraffe about Town” campaign etc so perhaps a greater emphasis will be on them too.
 
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