Edinburgh Zoo Pandamonium to hit Edinburgh! #2

Glad you were not disappointed. I think it is a fantastic idea letting members a sneak preview. Good on you Edinburgh zoo!
 
Lovely pics Lesley, will the public be able to see the inside quarters or was it for members only today?
 
The public should be able to see the insides. Its basically the same layout as the gorilla house. Nothing has changed much inside apart from birghter paint and more light. Sweetie is in the enclosure to the left as you walk in and Sunshine is on the right. He is considerably larger than she is. The keeper said he is one of the biggest male pandas and she is one of the smallest female pandas.

You then walk out the indoor enclosures and head down and round the corner and the first enclosure you come to is hers. with HUGE floor to ceiling windows. You then move around the corner to his outdoor enclosure and again its ceiling to floor window that runs the whole length of his enclosure. It is pretty impressive. There was about 20ish people allowed on a tour so there was plenty of room for everyone to watch him wander up and down. So there is floor level viewing and also above that another level which is the entrance out which because of the massive window also gives a good view.

I think the zoo staff have got the "which panda goes where" perfectly right cause he is definately more active than she is. But i would imagine if she ever has cubs they will swap them around as his enclosure give the better views but thats just my opinon.

And seemingly they are enjoying the scottish and danish bamboo much better than the bamboo that was brought over with them...lol

The whole timed viewing system went well... and tho as a person that can stand and watch and animal for hrs i could have spend all day just watching them... i appreciate that its not possible at the moment and i didnt feel rushed or crowded.

What was funny was while listening to the rhino talk i was asked where i was going next by the person standing next to me...when i said i was going to see the pandas they asked if they could join me as members got to take five guests. They even offered me money. That definately felt a bit weird and as far as i know members were not allowed guests... or i know a certain four yearold would have been glued to my side all day...lol
 
I also saw the pandas yesterday in the rather blustery weather. As some one who doesn't get all that excited by pandas (I saw them as a young child at London and remember them never really doing anything which when you're young is a bit boring) I went because I appreciate the historical significance of them for the zoo and UK zoos in general and because my partner was a bit more excited than me! I have to agree with the above that it was a very enjoyable experience, well organised and the staff's enthusiasm was obvious. The tour was about 15 mins which was plenty of time to get good views and ask questions, with only about 15 visitors present. Tiang Tiang was inside, mostly sleeping with a bit of scratching and yawning while Yang Guang was active the whole time walking around the outside part of his enclosure and coming pretty close to the windows.

As a new member (my first visit to the zoo was only this autumn after moving up to Scotland) I can't comment on the old enclosure, while these new ones didn't completely win me over. The indoors area was pretty small and basically just a cement square with some wooden edged steps/platforms to one side. I don't know all that much about panda husbandry and I know the zoo had to meet requirements to get the pandas so I assume that's all the pandas need but it does look quite bare inside and might put some people off if that's the first area they see. The outside enclosures are a different story-good size, well planted and with different areas with gravel, water, rocky areas and caves. I did manage to take a few long shots of inside and out (only on a regular digital compact though) so will try to put those up this evening.

Overall the pandas did win me over and I will definitely be spending more time down there in the coming year.
 
Tunanta said:
The indoors area was pretty small and basically just a cement square with some wooden edged steps/platforms to one side. I don't know all that much about panda husbandry and I know the zoo had to meet requirements to get the pandas so I assume that's all the pandas need but it does look quite bare inside and might put some people off if that's the first area they see.
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It sounds as if the indoor areas are not much changed from the original Ape House days. Its worth remembering that in China, the main Panda breeding centres have traditionally had very barren, concreted indoor areas(usually more like cells) so presumably the Chinese okayed these dens as being suitable too.
 
I've posted some pics in the gallery-they're not exactly good but they give an idea of enclosure sizes and features.

I have seen footage of the panda breeding centres and did wonder whether the inside enclosures are quite bare to keep it similar to what they are used to. Of course it has all the benefits of being cheaper and easier to clean etc on top too. Maybe if panda's spend so much time eating they don't need that much extra enrichment anyway-Yang Guang was walking around his outdoor enclosure the whole time we were there, but he didn't really interact with any of the features in there anyway.
 
Today is the first day on display and there are pictures on Facebook. But the map on the zoo website is still from last summer! I hope they update it soon.
 
I was interviewed by a reporter today as I was in the first group of members of the public to see the Panda's. It appeared on ITN.

I had already seen the Panda's during the members preview.

Being a member at the Zoo I have seen the progress and process of acquiring the panda's from the very start when it was mentioned at a membership night. I hope that someone has documented the journey of the Panda's and either a documentary or book is made.

I feel that Edinburgh Zoo is now a world leader in the Zoo community and will grew stronger. The Zoo does a lot in animal conservation which many members of the public do not know about. They also carry out a lot of work for other Zoo's.

I have now seen the Panda's twice and both where very active. I feel that the exhibit is fantastic and can't wait to hear the patter of tiny paws.
 
Bongo said:
I feel that Edinburgh Zoo is now a world leader in the Zoo community and will grew stronger. The Zoo does a lot in animal conservation which many members of the public do not know about. They also carry out a lot of work for other Zoo's.

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I agree and would expect to see edinburgh prosper and attract up to and beyond a million visitors a year. Even before the arrival of the pandas they had a wealth of great and unusual species such as koala, aardwolves etc. plus the spectacular penguin display and the big abcs. When vienna zoo brought in pandas and koalas etc., it became trendy for the locals to visit plus a large ammount of extra tourists and the increased revenue allowed them to improve facilities to become a world leader, and i can see some similarity with the possibilitys for edinburgh. City zoos dont seem to be as badly affected in recessions as other attractions as people are looking for good value for their family days out.
Also general tourism and spending in and around edinburgh should benefit and even the politicians should see this and come on board with support.
The big deal with the success of any attraction is tv exposure, just look at x factor and reality tv where untalented (usually) people can become huge stars and make fortunes.
Finally, edinburgh zoo's website is my absolute favorite of all zoos and for this alone i'm a huge fan.
 
Me too, I hope this is a new beginning for Edinburgh after some difficult times. They are actually lucky, they have a stunning site (although a bit hard work getting up and down the hills perhaps), are situated in one of the world's most visited tourist cities and as has been mentioned, some great species.

It's also true that they have a great online presence that is responsive and creative. I just wish they would update their map! :)
 
I saw the pandas today and have mixed opinions about the whole experience. I'll write more when I'm home and can upload images, but I wouldn't suggest anyone visit Edinburgh for the pandas alone, the zoo has far better exhibits and more interesting animals. Being ushered through the whole exhibit in the space of ten minutes is also really hard to swallow, especially if you're an enthusiast and/or like taking photographs.

And just for the sake of my sanity, they're giant pandas, not giant panda's. Never before has an animal brought about such wanton apostrophe abuse.
 
Some clips with good views of the enclosure (the first is from the Scottish Government, hence the flag in the opening graphic):


 
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Better views than visitors are getting. Aside from (magically) when the press were at the zoo, neither panda was outside either today or yesterday. The male's enclosure is being "modified following studies of his behaviour" - which essentially means he ripped up the planting and ate some of it, whereas the female seems content to just sit inside and munch.
 
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