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Charity delighted Highland Wildlife Park can reopen soon


By Gavin Musgrove

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The charity owners of the Highland Wildlife Park have welcomed the green light to welcome visitors from the local area from the end of this month.

David Field at the wildlife park earlier this month.
David Field at the wildlife park earlier this month.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced at Holyrood at lunnchtime that the country was moving onto Phase 2 of restricitons being lifted for Covid-19.

As part of that zoos, garden attractions, outdoor markets, playgrounds and sports facilities will reopen in Scotland from June 29 although visitors should not travel more than five miles from their homes and tickets should be bought in advance.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland has been lobbying to reopen the attraction by Kincraig and Edinburgh Zoo prior to the July 15 date which had been set for the reopening of Scottish tourism by the government last week.

They had estimated it would cost them a further £500,000 if they missed the start of July on top of £5m government coronavirus loans already taken out.

RZSS chief executive David Field said: “We are delighted to be able to welcome visitors from local areas back to Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park at the end of the month.

“Both our parks have large outdoor spaces and there will be a wide range of safety measures in place to protect our visitors, our staff and our animals.

“While we welcome this fantastic news, it is still an incredibly difficult time because we have had to borrow millions of pounds due to the loss of our visitor income.

“We would like to thank everyone for their amazing support so far and for helping us reopen.

“People can help care for our animals and protect threatened species in Scotland and around the world by donating on our website.”


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