Plan Your Visit to Edinburgh Zoo
We are open every day of the year, including Christmas Day, from 9am until:
| 6.00pm | April - Sept. |
| 5.00pm | Oct. & March |
| 4.30pm | Nov. - Feb. |
How you can help
The natural world needs our help...and we need yours! Please consider making a donation to support our conservation, education and research work, both within our parks and across the world.
Why Reintroduce Beavers to Scotland?
The beaver became extinct in Britain in the 16th century – primarily due to hunting for its pelt, meat and the medicinal properties of a secretion from its anal gland (‘castoreum’). It is a missing element in our native biodiversity. The beaver is what is known as a ‘keystone’ species’ in forest and riparian ecosystems and there are few species which have such significant and positive influences on ecosystem health and function.
Their modification of their local environment brings enormous benefits to other species, including otters, water shrews, water voles, birds, invertebrates especially dragonflies, and breeding fish, creating more diverse habitats (there are 13 species of dragonfly in Knapdale and all will benefit from the beaver related habitat modification). In effect they are a natural way of creating and maintaining habitats. Their dams can hold water in periods of drought, can regulate flooding and improve water quality by holding silt behind dams and catching acidic and agricultural run-off. They coppice broad-leafed trees and bushes and diversify habitat structure. There is also the moral responsibility for their restoration: under the EU’s Habitats Directive, the government is obliged to consider reintroductions of extinct native species.