A high-end immersive experience for animal lovers launched by Edinburgh Zoo has been dubbed “exploitation”, according to an animal welfare charity.
One Kind has voiced their opposition to the new experience allowing the public to participate in feeding the zoo animals, expressing safety concerns about the public being allowed access to areas previously reserved for zoo staff and animal handlers.
Edinburgh’s zoo’s bespoke tours allow visitors to meet the menagerie at meal times, as long as they don’t mind parting with a four-figure sum.
The “build-your-own Wild experience” costs £1,000 for adults and £500 for children but promises visitors will enjoy “the only guaranteed, entirely private and tailor-made adventure”.
A high-end immersive experience for animal lovers launched by Edinburgh Zoo has been dubbed “exploitation”, according to an animal welfare charity
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Close encounters lasting 30-minutes each are arranged with four or more of the park’s animal attractions, from the majestic Asiatic lions and the Sumatran tigers, down to the pygmy hippos and Queensland koalas.
The £1,000 zoo visit includes lunch at one of the zoo’s restaurants, an experience bag to commemorate your visit and packages can be upgraded again to include afternoon tea or a champagne lunch.
Royal Zoological Society of Scotland CEO, David Field, said the new experience will allow visitors to “explore Edinburgh Zoo like never before”.
He said: “Not only is this an opportunity to make memories you’ll remember forever, it’s a chance to learn more about wildlife around the world and support conservation projects globally at the same time, creating a world where nature is protected, valued and loved.”
However, not everyone is so enthusiastic about the zoo’s fundraising plans.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Eve Massie Bishop, Head of Campaigns and Media at animal welfare group One Kind, accused the zoo of holding a “commercial exercise that will exploit these animals to generate revenue”.
Bringing up the matter of public safety around wild animals, she said: “It is very concerning that members of the public, without any comprehensive training, will be allowed to get up close to, and in some cases even touch and handle, these wild animals.
“While a trainer will be on hand, a great deal of trust is put into what will likely be unqualified and under-equipped strangers.
“We fear that this could pose a real risk to the welfare of the animals.”
Edinburgh’s zoo’s bespoke tours allow visitors to meet the menagerie at meal times, as long as they don’t mind parting with a four-figure sum
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The Zoo’s Head of Experiences, Lindsay Ross, has insisted that the zoo experience was safe for participants and that the public would remain outside of the main animal enclosures.
“You don’t get to hand-feed the tigers, obviously,” she said.
The zoo says tour visitors will be able to feed the big cats using long tongs through the wire fences that line the enclosures.
The four-figure sum will price out most visitors from taking part, but the zoo is hopeful that it will help raise funds to help staff take care of some 2,500 animals that call it home.
Previously Edinburgh Zoo successfully sold 17 private panda tours for £5,000 each before Tian Tian and Yang Huang boarded a flight back to China in December 2023 after the pair failed to conceive during a 12-year stay.
During the panda’s Scottish stay, the paid consumed £840,000 of bamboo imported from the Netherlands.
