Edinburgh Zoo is one of Scotland’s top visitor attractions with over 800,000 visitors a year. Set on a beautiful hillside just three miles (4.6km) from the city centre, it is over 100 years old and is world famous for its penguins and its pandas.

Edinburgh Zoo Animals

The zoo keeps over 2,500 animals and like most zoos now, they’re linked to conversation. 

Big Cats

The zoo keeps five Asiatic lions, three of which were born at the zoo. The lions are endangered species as only around 600 survive in the wild now, mostly confined to the great Gir Forest in western India.

There are two tigers at the zoo. These are Sunda tigers that are now found only on the island of Sumatra (the tigers that once were found on Java and Bali are now extinct). Both tigers at Edinburgh Zoo were born in captivity; one at the Fota Wildlife Park in Ireland, and the other at Bristol Zoo in England. The Sunda Tiger is the smallest of the species and only around 400 remain in the world, all of them on Sumatra.

Apes

Of the great apes – gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo, and orangutan – only  chimpanzees may be seen at the zoo. There are 17 chimpanzees at the zoo, the youngest, Masindi, was born at the zoo in 2020.

Hippos

You can see two pigmy hippos at the zoo; Otto and Gloria. 

Penguins

Edinburgh Zoo is famous for its penguins, especially the ‘Penguin Parade’ where the penguins march down the path around the enclosure. It’s been going since 1951 when a zoo keeper accidentally left a gate open and a Gentoo penguin waddled out. Instead of taking the penguin back into the enclosure, the keeper decided to see what would happen. The little Gentoo then just marched down the path toward the entrance, much to the delight of the visitors, especially the children.

Since then, the Penguin Parade has been a fixture of the zoo and is a delightful sight. None of the penguins are forced to walk or tempted out with food – they just march if they want to.

The zoo has had penguins since 1915 and the first chick hatched in 1919 and there are three species of penguin at the zoo: the Northern Rockhopper, King and Gentoo. All of the penguins live together at Penguin Rock, the largest Penguin enclosure in Europe. 

The Northern Rockhopper is an endangered Penguin. Its habitat is almost exclusively on Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island in the South Atlantic, whose populations have dropped dramatically over the last 150 years. The Rockhopper at only 20in (50cm) tall, is one of the smallest penguins and is easily identified – it’s the one with the bright yellow head feathers.

If the Rockhopper penguin is one of the smallest penguins, the King Penguin is one of the biggest. In fact, only the Emperor Penguin is larger. The King Penguin is a native of the Antarctic where millions of pairs live on islands such as South Georgia.

King Penguins mate for one life and their chicks look so different to their parents that they were once thought to be a different species. The chicks are covered with a heavy coat of brown shaggy feathers and when the chicks grow they can often seem bigger than their parents.

The final penguin you can see at the zoo is the Gentoo. The Gentoo is the fastest penguin in the world, reaching speeds of up to 22mph (36kph) under water. It is also from the South Atlantic, breeding on the Falkland, South Georgia and South Sandwich islands. With hundreds of thousands of breeding pairs, it is not an endangered species.

There are almost 100 Gentoo Penguins living at the zoo.

Giant Pandas

Perhaps the most famous animal currently at Edinburgh Zoo – you won’t see them anywhere else in the whole of the UK or Ireland. The pandas, Yang Guan (the male) and Tian Tian came to the zoo in 1991 with a view to breeding a baby panda. Unfortunately, Tian Tian never became pregnant. 

Both pandas have separate enclosures as pandas are solitary animals and only meet once a year to breed. One of the rarest animals in the wild, it’s thought that only 1,800 survive in the bamboo forests of their native China.

Giraffes

The zoo hasn’t had giraffes since around 1985 but it has great plans to bring giraffes back to the zoo. It is currently building a brand new giraffe enclosure on a huge piece of land at the top of the hill and has launched a crowdfunder to help with the cost.

The type of giraffe that the zoo wants are Rothschild’s Giraffes. Of all the giraffe species, these are the most endangered. Only about 1,600 Rothschild’s Giraffes remain in the world, their habitat is shrinking and they continue to be plagued by poaching. 

Here’s a link to the crowdfunder page if you’d like to help. Stick your neck out for giraffes – Edinburgh Zoo’s BIG 5 | Edinburgh Zoo

Bears

Two Sun Bears may be seen at the zoo. The Sun Bear is the world’s smallest and rarest bear species. They’re endangered as their habitat shrinks and are poached for the illegal wildlife and pet trade.

The Sun Bear stands only 4ft (1.2m) high but has an enormously long tongue! It can reach nearly 10 inches (25cm) long and the bears use it for getting to honey and insects in the trees that it climbs in the wild.

There are no polar bears at the zoo, although there are polar bears at the zoo’s Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie. The park is part of the great Cairngorm National Park, around 115 miles (185km) from Edinburgh and may be reached by car, bus or train.

How Long Does It Take To Walk Around Edinburgh Zoo?

It’s a big zoo spread out over the side of a hill, so it takes around 3-4 hours to walk around the entire zoo and take time to look at the animals as well.

Once you’re in Edinburgh Zoo and walking around, it’s hard to remember that you’re actually in the middle of an urban environment in the middle of a city. So a visit to Edinburgh Zoo is more than just a visit to see some animals. Walk to the very top of the zoo where the antelope are and you will see some of the most stunning views of the city of Edinburgh and the surrounding area. It’s a beautiful place.

Zoo Opening Times

Normally, the zoo is open every day of the year except for Christmas Day. Opening times are:

April – September: 10.00 – 18.00

October and March: 10.00 – 17.00

November – February: 10.00 – 16.00

Last entry is one hour before closing time.

How To Get To Edinburgh Zoo

As the zoo is only 3 miles (4.6km) from the city centre it’s easy and quick to get to. As with many of our recommendations for travelling around Edinburgh, the bus is a good choice but you can drive or cycle (or walk!).

By Bus

As with getting anywhere in Edinburgh, it’s best to get there by bus. Edinburgh buses are frequent and cheap. The direct services from the city centre are numbers 12, 26, and 31. All three buses stop directly outside the zoo entrance and take about 15-20 minutes, depending on traffic.

By Car

Limited parking is available at the zoo for a reasonable charge. As the zoo is on the main east-west trunk road parking is very limited on this road apart from Sundays when most parking restrictions are lifted and there is no parking charge. 

By Bike

It’s an easy cycle to the zoo from the city centre as it’s mostly flat on a straight road, although be careful as this road is often very busy. Keep to cycle lanes where you can. And if you’re too tired to cycle back, just jump on a bus.