NEWS

Monkey business results in a new Japanese arrival!
Born on 23 April 2010 and just over a month old, we are celebrating the arrival of a new baby snow monkey to the Park.

The female, named Bishoujo, Japanese for beautiful, young girl, is the second snow monkey baby to be reared at the Park since they were introduced to the animal collection nearly three years ago. We are also hoping that other monkey infants may follow later in the season.

Aimi, our baby macaque born last year, is fascinated by the new arrival in the group and once Bishoujo is a bit older, they will likely be seen playing together.

Snow monkeys, also known as Japanese macaques, occur throughout Japan, except for the island of Hokkaido, and are the most northerly-living non-human primate. Long associated with Japanese art and culture, they are thought to be the monkeys originally behind the “see no evil, hear no evil” legend. There is a strict hierarchy within the troop; each monkey’s place is inherited from their mother and females usually remain within the group for life.

Guide Map
We now have a brand new Guide Map for sale. This ingeniously covers the Reserve and the Walking area, giving lots of interesting facts about the Park and also details on each species. Costing £2.95, these can be picked up at the gate kiosks or in the shop.

Season Tickets
Why not buy a season ticket which lets you visit the Park and Mercedes every day of the year for just £25 (adults) or £15 (children)? Valid for a year from date of purchase, simply fill in the application form on your next visit or telephone 0131 314 0334.

Scotrail Kids go Free Ticket
Up to two children aged between five and 15 can travel free with each adult who purchases a Kids Go Free ticket on any route within Scotland. Show your Kids Go Free ticket at the Highland Wildlife Park or Edinburgh Zoo and get a free child place with each full paying adult.

Wildcats
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland is a partner in a number of conservation projects around Scotland, one of which is the Cairngorms Wildcat Project. This project is working to secure the future of the Scottish wildcat through practical conservation; raise awareness of the plight of this iconic species and promote public support of its conservation. As part of this partnership, the Society are placing camera traps around the Cairngorms National Park in the hope of catching a glimpse of this rare, native mammal.

Above is a glimpse of what looks very much like a wildcat moving through the Park at night. They are a difficult species to identify (looking very much like a tabby cat), but the one in the image has the striped tail and the size is right.

POLAR BEAR
"Mercedes" the polar bear is now well settled in her huge new 4 acre enclosure and seems to be enjoying all the new sights and sounds, particularly the winter snow we had (photos courtesy of Andrew Smith). She moved from Edinburgh Zoo to the Highland Wildlife Park, arriving here on the 19th of October.

After a massive fundraising campaign and the help of the Royal Engineers who constructed a fantastic viewing platform, having already dug out a huge pond earlier in the summer, her enclosure is one of the largest in the world for polar bear. We hope that she will thrive in her new home. For more on Mercedes, please click here.

OTHER ANIMAL NEWS
We have had 2 Mishmi takin born in April and May and our Bukhara deer have had one calf.

Sadly our female European otter had to be put to sleep at the end of January. She was very old and had been suffering from ill-health for a few weeks. Her enclosure is temporarily being used to hold a young male beaver, prior to his transfer.

Our three tiger cubs born on the 11th of May 2009 have just celebrated their 1st birthday with a special cake! We have one male, Vladimir, and two females, Natalia and Dominika. We currently have talks at the tigers at 2.15pm.