Rainbow Landings » Edinburgh Zoo

08-09-2008

I went in May and feeding was not allowed. The keeper I spoke to said it was because people were getting bitten. They must have had a rethink.

08-09-2008

I fed them in Edingurgh in March and had one climb up my arm and onto the back of my neck to nibble my hair , an enjoyable experience - for me ! You only got a tiny amount of nectar which was consumed very quickly .

08-09-2008

oppps well i suppose edingburgh might consider a new use for the building as it seems to have failed so far!

08-09-2008

Its not failed it works great as a large indoor walk-thru exhibit for Lorikeets,i thought it was great to see them not decending on to the first human with a pot of nectar they don`t do that in the wild so why should they do it in a zoo?????????

08-09-2008

well i suppose from our point of view its seems good but to a normal zoo visitor they make think its a waste of time to visit the exhibit as it has no signifcant purpose to them

09-09-2008

I haven't seen the new aviary, but I would be surprised if it 'didn't work'. Lorikeets are extremely pugnacious and noisy birds that work very well with visitors. As has already been mentioned Currumbin Sanctuary in Queensland has wild birds coming in as their chief attraction (yes they do get fed). I don't see that the public not being able to feed the birds should lessen the attraction. Walk-through aviaries are far more popular than viewing from the outside.

10-09-2008

i suppose but this aviary isnt that varied

10-09-2008

Tiger, that's not the point.

It is a walk-through aviary, which means that most of the general public will appreciate being able to walk so close to such bright, attractive birds without a fence in the way. Taking away the public feeding the birds means nothing towards the walk-through (London Zoo doesn't allow visitors to feed the squirrel monkeys... ). The feeding was a bonus that the zoo probably had in mind to take away if the birds were agressive.

10-09-2008

well at least squirrel monkeys are entertaining, if the walkthrough was to sat y i would prefer the zoo to keep more rarer animals there

10-09-2008

But the zoo wouldn't risk rare animals in close contact to humans. The aviary seems fine as it is and they are popular with guests (there wouldn't be so many walk-through lory exhibits around the world if this wasn't the case).

Also some people would argue that birds can be more entertaining than squirrel monkeys (especially ones as brightly coloured as lories)...

10-09-2008

Thats true...its why most zoos have lemur walk thrus with Ring tailed or ruffed lemurs.

10-09-2008

What with an exhibit for Long-nosed Potaroos and a seperate aviary with Blue-faced Honeyeaters and Crowned Pigeons in there on top of the large flock of Lorikeets and you say its not varied,crikey you must be one hard to please zoo visitor.

10-09-2008

THey do it in teh wild here, wild Rainbow Lorikeets become tame quite easily in the presence of food

11-09-2008

Okay i give in my point was you don`t have to pay for the Experience with wild ones,yet you do with captive ones.