Edinburgh Zoo

General information

Edinburgh Zoo is owned by The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS). The Society was founded in March 1909, and the Zoo opened in July 1913.

Set in 82 acres of sloping parkland, the Zoo is situated three miles to the west of Edinburgh city centre.

Apart from getting close to over 1,000 rare and endangered animals, there are many different ways to enjoy your day out.

You can experience a busy programme of educational events and activities - ranging from keeper talks through to hands-on animal encounters - and a wide-range of eating experiences, several play areas and a fantastic gift shop.

As part of RZSS, Edinburgh Zoo is one of Europe's leading centres of conservation, education and research. We work collectively with many other zoos and conservation agencies in the UK, Europe and around the world in co-ordinated conservation programmes, to help ensure the survival of many threatened animal species. We support various conservation projects in the wild through funding and expertise.

Our extensive education programme aims to raise awareness and understanding of the fragility of life on this planet, and our responsibility to help care for it.

We also support a range of targeted research projects which are designed to enhance our understanding of animals' behavioural and physiological needs, with many useful consequences for conservation in the wild.