Giant pandas coming to Edinburgh zoo? » Edinburgh Zoo

14-07-2008

I think "Knut" the polar bear has taken care of that in the past year, i believe the sum of $11 million dollars has been raised by this cub.

14-07-2008

Wow... Lets hope they use that to improve a lot of the animal enclosures

14-07-2008

Ive just returned from a trip to the berlins zoos and i agree the panda enclosure isn't the best however bao bao seems pretty content. Knut on the other hand who helped raise all that money looks rather depressed. The giant pandas in Thailand are in Chaing mai zoo. The inside enclosure is interesting and pretty large but twice when i was there the male climbed into the dry moat infront and tried to climb into the public veiwer! very amusing, i'll try and upload the video clip when i get a chance!

14-07-2008

Yeah, panda's enclosure is probably one of the best for the bears.
Any news on Knut getting moved to another zoo yet?

14-07-2008

I read that the zoo that Knut's father came from is happy for Knut to stay at Berlin but they want a chunk of the money he has made...

14-07-2008

The EEP-Coordinator recommended sending Knut to Bärenpark Orsa/Sweden. But the decision of the Berlin-director is unknow yet.

14-07-2008

What's that place like?
They can't seriously be thinking of keeping him in one of those bear enclosures forever?
They're too small for sun bears, let alone polars!
Sorry, rant over lol...

11-08-2008

It looks as though the Edinburgh bound pandas have some powerful friends.
Edinburgh Pandas Are Pawns In Diplomatic Game (from Sunday Herald)

I think the most important part here is that the royal bank of Scotland is going to underwrite the whole panda development, hopefully this means this will be the cost of transport and the cost of a new exhibit will be taken care of.

11-08-2008

My, they have been busy. Officially, the formal agreement must be signed by Gordon Brown while he is in China for the closing ceremony of the Olympics. I think that will be the next step in the process.

As much as it is breathtaking to visit the edinburgh zoo website and see the amazing species dotted across their pages, and as exciting as it will be to see giant pandas in the UK again, western zoos really aren't needed to house, breed, or fundraise for this species. China is big and ugly enough to conserve it's own wildlife. I don't believe this is a conservation decision on the part of Edinburgh zoo. Sure, they will raise a huge amount for the general work of the zoo, but I guess that's where the argument starts as to whether it's acceptable to use animals in that way.

As for Mercedes, she's not exactly ancient yet, I'm sure she'd survive crate training and/or sedation to be moved to a better enclosure, either at HWP or Edinburgh. I think the main issue the activists have with the zoo is the reversal of the pledge not to replace her when she dies. I personally am torn, the zoological society of scotland is building a more dynamic and interesting collection of species than I have ever seen in my lifetime in the UK, but I think their priority should have been a better polar bear exhibit sooner.

11-08-2008

This is exactly what I mean with "zoos inviting animal activists to make trouble" in the thread about the San Francisco Zoo... they should make it a top priority to improve condition for the animals they already have before spending incredible amounts of money on new species like the giant panda which breed fantastic in China, without a chance to build up a european breeding program because all animals will have to go back to China in due time.... and I guess it`s not just the polar bear who needs an improved enclosure in Edinburgh (havn`t been there yet).

11-08-2008

Exactly. China is in control of it's Panda situation. So why raise money for 'panda conservation' for a country that allowed two large mammal extinctions recently? But I'm not attacking Edinburgh in general....any zoo to invest like that in an existing group of chimpanzees is phenomenal. I just hope the polar bear exhibit isn't far away.....but you kind of know that to justify the expenditure, they will bring in more bears, and maybe that's why they have hesitated to do it.

11-08-2008

I do think it's a little bit more than the polar bear. Whilst that is the most striking example of an enclosure in need of improvement there are other areas of the zoo that really could do to be improved. I do like Edinburgh zoo, and we all agree that it is an amazing collection, but I still think some priority should be given to existing species. I think Edinburgh were similarly accused when the koalas were brought in. All we can hope is that money made from Pandas will allow this.

Edinburgh bears.
11-08-2008

If Edinburgh do intend to continue with Polar Bears and build a new enclosure, then I imagine it would be at the city zoo- which after all is a visitor attraction throughout the year. The Highland Wildlife Park is a far more seasonal location, and as I see it, a very expensive new exhibit for Polar Bears would be rather wasted up there( as far as visitors seeing it). Perhaps HWP should consider Brown bears though- as an ex-native species and one for which they could create a decent and spacious habitat without too much expense.

11-08-2008

How expensive does a polar bear exhibit need to be, though? Was the Dublin exhibit hugely costly? Apart from the pool, and laying the fencing, a large grassy open space for Mercedes would surely still be far less costly that anything involving large amounts of rockwork/concrete/underwater viewing. I would imagine Edinburgh would want to build something impressive, so you're probably right about her staying in Edinburgh, but they could realistically create a low-impact, large and open bear facility at the park, which could then house brown bears after she passes away.

12-08-2008

It seems there are two options here;

1. they decide to have Polar Bears long term and build something 'state of the art' for them, presumably with large pool and underwater viewing facility etc. Add Mercedes and new polar bears for an 'arctic exhibit...'

2. They build a large but cheaper enclosure for her which after her lifetime could later be used by another bear species. (But at this stage in her life she is just as likely to exhibit stereotyped behaviour in any enclosure she is put into)