Zoo’s ticketing website is bearly able to cope with the rush

Published on 29/11/2011 00:00

The zoo’s ticketing website crashed yesterday because of the “sheer influx” of people trying to book tickets to see the pandas.

While a visit to the panda enclosure is included in the general ticket price for the zoo, those wanting a chance to see the newest inhabitants need to book a viewing slot to ensure a place.

So many people flooded the site to buy tickets after yesterday’s official announcement that the pandas would arrive in Scotland this week that the booking system broke down for half an hour.

The pandas will spend two weeks settling into their new home before they are revealed to the public for the first time on 16 December.

The zoo opened an online booking service at 1pm, but within half an hour officials informed those trying to book tickets that the system was offline.

Posting on their Facebook page, bosses said: “Due to the demand, our ticketing system is currently not available.”

Ten minutes later they announced “Our online Panda Ticketing is back online”, but people flooded the page to complain that they were still unable to book a time or the number of tickets they wanted.