I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since my first re-opened visit to Edinburgh Zoo! There are still limited numbers of guests allowed in the zoo, however it is more now than in July when I made my last visit. This time I had a week off from work so made a mid-week visit, I wanted to avoid the weekends as there would be a lot of school-age kids about, there are also quite a lot of tourists around the city too. I wasn’t sure I would have enough photos to share from another trip so soon, however we really picked a great day to visit – it was sunny and crisp, and it seemed like all of the animals decided to be active, well, apart from the pandas! But you can’t win on every visit, and the other animals really did make up for less panda activity. The one-way system is still in place, and is the same as it was back in July, however now a few of the indoor viewings are open, mainly the Budongo Trail and the koala habitat. We had to queue for the koalas, with only one group allowed in each of the viewing sections at a time. A staff member was manning this well, and we didn’t have to wait long but also found we had plenty of time to see the koalas. Masks are also required in indoor areas, e.g. the entrance, gift shop and indoor viewings. We weren’t sure if this included the cafe (take away only) or restaurant (sit in only, limited capacity), so we wore our masks in the restaurant until we were eating, and put them back on again to leave once we’d finished. And as per the last visit, there were hand sanitising stations around the zoo as well, and the recommendation to touch things as little as possible.
The red panda enclosure is one of the first that you come to upon entering the zoo. It’s a round enclosure, and typically can be viewed from most sides, however there is just a small viewing section now with the one-way system (the path around the enclosure is quite narrow, so I can see why). We got to the zoo at 10AM which was opening time, and one of the red pandas (we think this was Bruce the male, he has quite a white face compared to the female Ginger) was super active – he came down from his perch up one of the tall trees, made his way into one of the off-show areas, then popped right back out to make his way up into the tree-tops again, of course stopping for a little bamboo snack on the way. He attracted quite the (socially distanced) crowd! I think I can count on one hand how often I’ve seen one/both of the red pandas come down out of the trees and be right at eye-level, so this was really special to capture on camera. And it made for a great start to our day!
Seeing as the Budongo Trail was now open we popped in, it was still relatively quiet when we got there around 10:25AM so we weren’t too rushed to move on from watching this chimp enjoying some vegetables on this ledge. All of the indoor viewing of the chimps is through windows, which can be a little hit or miss for taking pictures – a few of the chimps were in the first area, however most were in the second which looks onto a lecture theatre and this was really difficult to get pictures in mostly due to how sunny a day it was, not something to complain about in Scotland really! Some of the chimps headed outside but didn’t stay in the open too long, opting to sit in the undergrowth where there was maybe some food hidden. I did spot one of the chimps sitting at the top of the outdoor climbing frame when we left the Budongo Trail area – that one had an excellent view over the Pentland Hills! This is a great viewing point to see the chimps if they are outside, however it’s next to a childrens play area so may be busy at some times of the day.
As the koalas were now open for viewing we also waited in the short queue to see them, this was managed by a staff member who kept everyone well spaced through the different viewing sections. The 3 females are in the first enclosure, we think we saw youngest koala Inala right at the front of the enclosure sleeping in a branch (below left), she was super cute and looking pretty comfy there. There was a second koala through towards the back of the trees, I’m not sure if this was Alinga or Kaliri, but the third female wasn’t visible when we went in. Both males were also on show in their enclosures, Goonaroo was sleeping with his back to the window but younger Tanami was posing for everyone who went past!
Of course seeing the pandas was a must, but they had other ideas. On our visit time stopping by both were sleeping. And on the second stop by Yang Guang had moved to sleeping outside surrounded by bamboo, Tian Tian however was up and about, however she was very popular so we couldn’t really get in to see her and get a good look. She did sit at the door looking outside for a while, but I’ve still yet to see her make use of the outside enclosure!
Dharma the Sumatran tiger is well known to be quite elusive, and I’ve mostly seen her asleep in her inside enclosure. On occasion I’ve seen her sleeping outside too, but on this trip she really was anything but elusive! There was only one other family viewing her inside when we arrived at the Tiger Tracks area, and Dharma was enjoying a small chunk of meat. We hung around for almost 10 minutes and no-one else came by, eventually Dharma got up and wandered outside. The Tiger Tracks enclosure combines both an old and new tiger exhibit, and the new outdoor area has two sections separated by a glass tunnel that you can walk through and the tiger can walk over. Dharma walked almost directly towards me standing in the glass tunnel and had a good sniff around for some more meaty snacks. We were still the only people there when she walked right on the glass above us, it was really a one-time thing to see! She then found a few chunks of meat hidden in some long grass, and after enjoying her snack she made a few loops of the rest of the enclosure again right in front of where I was standing. I was really quite impressed!
The lions were next, and again we got really lucky seeing them – at first they were inside, with all of the cubs bundled together looking rather adorable. Then they slowly made their way outside where dad had picked a sunny spot to lie in and mum was waiting for the cubs near the door to follow. They came out slowly and she gave them a good licking before letting them walk out further into the outdoor enclosure! The cubs are about the same size as mum now, however the two male cubs are starting to get a little furrier around their faces with their manes starting to grow so in that way you can tell them apart. We tried to spot them from the lower viewing window down the hill but they were a little far away to see from there.
So I know the above picture focuses on the fence and not the anteater, but I had to include it anyway as I have never seen the anteaters outside at the zoo before! This was at the lower den area right by the path from the tiger to the lion enclosure – we had been inside the viewing area and had looked through the little peak holes in the wall and could see an anteater in the inside den, and by the time we walked back out, it had come out done a little scout around and was heading back inside! I really like anteaters and don’t get to see them in many zoos (I’ve seen one outside previously at Zoo Berlin when I visited last year), so this was really special.
A species I had never seen before at the zoo, and actually didn’t realise were there, were the crowned lemurs. We’ve always loved seeing the lemurs at the zoo, so were surprised that we didn’t know these little lemurs were here. They’re not at the main lemur habitat where the ring-tailed and some of the red-bellied lemurs live, the crowned lemurs can be seen on the walkway after the banteng enclosure. It was lunch time when we saw them and they were enjoying their vegetables. It was very quiet, and most people weren’t entering this walkway and were missing them, which obviously we’ve done too in the past but won’t make that mistake again in the future!
Just one of the rhinos was outside on this visit, it’s unusual to see one on his own as normally this pair of boys spend most of their time together. Access to both indoor viewing areas of the rhinos is still currently closed as they are quite small spaces, but the rhinos do seem to come outside fairly often so there is a high chance of getting to see them. It had been a bit rainy in the days before we visited, so the ground was looking particularly nice and muddy for them!
The monkey house down behind the penguin enclosure and by the old panda enclosure is also closed, however you can still walk along the outer wall with the outdoor spaces. Most of the enclosures were for yellow-breasted capuchin’s however we only saw one outside – who was really making a good search for some food. It was amazing to see how focused it was in its search. The capuchin was right up close to the glass, I was stunned by the beautiful colours and different tones in the fur.
