ZOO OPENING TIMES
We are open every day of the year, including Christmas Day, from 9am until:
| 6.00pm | April - September |
| 5.00pm | October & March |
| 4.30pm | November - February |
St Andrew's Day
Celebrate Scotland's national day at Edinburgh Zoo. We are offering FREE admission on St Andrew's Day, 30 November 2008.
Admission will also be free to the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig, near Kingussie.
Budongo Trail
A New Home for our Chimpanzees - Now Open!
Budongo Trail is a world class chimpanzee enclosure, linking an exciting visitor experience with wildlife conservation, science, education and research.
The former chimpanzee enclosure has been redeveloped to create a naturalistic environment that can house a community of up to 40 chimps. One of the features of this enclosure is that, as well as a large outdoor area, there are a network of rooms for the chimpanzees. These rooms have different environmental conditions such as humidity, temperature and lighting so each chimpanzee can move between their preferred areas. There are also interactive displays for visitors.
In addition, the exhibit features a link to the Budongo Conservation Field Station in Uganda which is funded by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) which owns Edinburgh Zoo.This long-term conservation project involves the study of endangered chimpanzees in their natural habitat and the relationship between biodiversity and the local community.
This makes the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland the UK centre of expertise for primate behavioural research.
Budongo Conservation in Uganda
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park) is the principal sponsor in the long term study and conservation of a group of approximately 60 chimpanzees as part of the Budongo Conservation Field Station in Uganda, Africa.
Research students from various parts of the world are based at the site to undertake projects over several months. The results of the research help our understanding of chimpanzees and of the forest, and how best to support conservation.
The Budongo Conservation Field Station is home to around 600 wild chimpanzees, as well as blue monkey, colobus monkey, forest baboon, duiker antelope, bush pig, and over 350 bird species. Budongo is a 'managed' forest with some timber extraction over the past 70 years. The effects of this upon wildlife and the relationship of the forest to local people are also being studied.
To find out more about the Budongo Forest in Uganda please visit www.budongo.org