Further Education - College and University Groups
Please click here to view the Further Education Programme
The Role of the Modern Zoo
1 hour and 50 minutes
An overview of the role of modern zoos as centres for conservation, education and research. This topic includes a tour and a workshop that allows students to discuss the dilemmas that zoo and conservation organisations face regularly. Problems such as choosing which animals to have in the zoo, how to enrich the animals that we keep and how to help conserve animals and their habitats in-situ.
Zoo Careers
1 hour
Zoos and conservation organisations offer an exciting array of careers. There are animal focused roles such as zoo keepers, enclosure designers, veterinary staff and conservationists, but there are also people focused jobs such as education, marketing and visitor services.
In this lesson you will discover the responsibilities of some of these roles, how to find the jobs, plus learn how others in animal career’s keep up to date with recent advances in animal care.
Zoo Animal Care
1 hour and 50 minutes
Edinburgh Zoo promotes animal welfare through providing high-quality housing and husbandry for all species. This topic includes a tour around the zoo to explore the methods of enclosure design, identifying animals and the importance of studying animal behaviour to benefit animal care.
The group will then attend an session about animal health, nutrition, record keeping, transport, training and enrichment. This topic links in well with college courses on animal care and management.
Zoo Animal Behaviour
3 hours or an extended study tour
Students will work in small groups to investigate animal behaviour through observing and recording our zoo species. They will be able to choose 1 of 5 set study species (1 of 10 for large groups) and undertake a mini behaviour study. The animal species for the projects include primates, hoofstock, birds and carnivores. Each group of students will be provided with a booklet that includes; information about the individual animals, an ethogram, and a tick sheet template. There are a variety of studies to choose from which include many aspects of behaviour such as feeding, social behaviours, vigilance, and enclosure usage.
Zoo Tour
1 hour 30 minutes
Take a tour of some of the zoo’s highlight species. Zoo tours are ideal for Fresher groups.
Animal Handling
1 hour
This session allows students to handle some of the smaller animals we have here in the zoo. Animals for each session will vary, however may include invertebrates, reptiles, and small mammals.
Zoo Art
1 hour 15 minutes
A 15 minute introduction to Edinburgh Zoo, including a brief discussion on some of our most photogenic/model animals. Then enjoy a 1 hour drawing session with still-life resources such as skulls, skeletons, skins and taxidermy animals. Once this session is complete you are free to undertake a self guided tour to draw some of the animals at their enclosures.
RZSS Specialist Sessions
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland employs specialists from various disciplines of science such as genetics, animal nutrition and veterinary medicine. We are now pleased to announce our experts are able to deliver lectures or workshops to college and university students.
Please click here to view the RZSS Specialist Sessions programme.