by Holly Holman, Year 12
On 23rd March, Year 12 Biologists visited Edinburgh Zoo. When we first climbed down from the bus we could immediately hear the strange calls of exotic birds and, eager to see them, we quickly headed towards the busy crowds.
After entering the zoo we were quickly met up with a keeper there who took us on a tour of some of the most important animals in conservation at Edinburgh like Bertus, an enormous Indian rhino. We had the chance to get really close to his enclosure (though I think we were far more excited about this than he was!) We also visited the chimpanzees and saw their vast enclosure and the chimp research facility where the chimps can choose to interact with scientists for treats. Here the keeper talked to us about how the zoo’s funding helps animals overseas too.
Most of the rest of the day was spent in a workshop called ‘The role of Zoo’s in conservation’ in the visitors centre (which contained, amongst other things, a taxidermied lion!) and had a go at a range of tasks to demonstrate to us some of the methods and struggles that conservationists face when trying to pull endangered animals back from the brink. Amongst other things we had to arrange a zoo enclosure with limited funds and had to determine whether a cat spotted was a true Scottish wildcat or just a tabby.
After that, we were free to wander around and find out for ourselves the exceptional work Edinburgh Zoo has done for the endangered species’ there by climbing some rather steep hills to look at the other
amazing animals!
