A Whale Of A Time At Edinburgh Zoo

People say that a change is as good as a rest. A fortnight into the busy school summer holidays, many parents may be getting in need of both!

Living close to York Station, I’ve become accustomed to travelling down to London for some sight-seeing with the kids. This year, in the spirit of change, we’ve visited a different capital.

Go back a century or so and the idea of popping up to Scotland for a day or two from Yorkshire would have seemed like sheer madness, patent insanity. But nowadays, the East Coast line is surely one of the prettiest in the country and, with the train journey from York to Edinburgh a mere two and a half hours, it is only a snip longer than a trip to London.

If you’re looking for something a bit different to do this year on your staycation, Edinburgh may well be what you’re after. Renowned for the historic fortress that overlooks it, a vibrant festival scene and spooky evening ghost tours, there’s lots to entertain a family.

We headed to the world-famous zoo, where I’d heard things were looking a little bit different this year too.

Set in over 80 acres of wooded hillside, dotted with play areas and picnic spots, the Zoo is always worth a trip. If you time your visit well, the spectacular Penguin Parade and other talks throughout the day ensure that there’s plenty to occupy a family with children spanning a range of ages.

However, this summer also sees the launch of an exciting new exhibition, ‘Bricklive Ocean’, which introduces 30 rather different animals to the Zoo and brings me to the latest change on everyone’s lips: climate change.

Painstakingly hand-built over many hours, 30 remarkable sea creatures made out of over one million LEGO® bricks form a trail across the site, designed to teach families about ocean biodiversity and, crucially, to highlight the threats currently faced by marine life, including climate change and, of course, plastic in the ocean. It’s very fitting that the sculptures are accompanied by an exciting Brick Marquee, including a brick pit large enough to swim in, where families can make their own creations, pushing at the boundaries of our creativity and imagination, not to mention dexterity and fine-motor skills!

Lego brick sculptures always make a great family-friendly exhibition, but the scale, variety and intricacy of works that form the ‘Bricklive Ocean’ make it extra special, with tens of thousands of bricks contributing to the formation of each sculpture. The exhibition aims to motivate families to take an active interest in the fish, crabs, sharks and other creatures that share our blue planet and the Zoo is also running a competition all summer to guess the number of bricks taken to build the life-size orca model. That question alone kept my family’s brains busy throughout the day.

Virtually since their inception, Zoos have been evolving, beginning life as places for scientific study in early Victorian times, before opening to the public some years later. The Bricklive Ocean exhibition sits comfortably at Edinburgh Zoo which is well known for its current strong focus on conservation.

Take the giant panda, for instance, which the Zoo has been working to conserve. With only 1600 wild pandas left in the mountainous forests of Central China, the giant panda is currently classified as ‘vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The pandas are one of the Zoo’s most popular attractions and great lengths are taken to ensure that the animals feel safe and secure. Less than a month ago, they were moved into a new enclosure, with their transition carefully managed, meaning that viewing is restricted as they to adapt to the new environment.

Darren McGarry, Head of Living Collections at Edinburgh Zoo, said “Moving the pandas gave us an opportunity to apply what we have learned over the past eight years and make the most of the fantastic natural setting at the top of the hill.”

Giving the pandas lots of quiet time and privacy, does have its drawbacks, of course, in that it’s not always easy to see the animals. But Edinburgh Zoo has developed a rather clever solution, providing Panda Cams around the site, so that visitors can keep checking to see when the Pandas have come out to play.

And thanks to the wonders of technology, you can watch three cameras via their website too – the Panda Cam, Penguin Cam and Tiger Cam – any time you fancy. Have a look at what the penguins are up to here https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams/penguin-cam/#penguincam

An adult ticket to Edinburgh Zoo costs £19.95 when purchased in advance via the website and a child ticket costs £9.