RZSS chief executive - 'His main task is to regain the zoo's respect'

IN his first major interview since taking over as head of Edinburgh Zoo, Hugh Roberts today makes a brave attempt to paint an optimistic future for the much-loved institution.

He's right to suggest that the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) stands on the brink of something great at the moment, with the imminent arrival of giant pandas offering the tantalising possibility of an even brighter future both as a visitor attraction and as a player in global conservation.

But everyone who cares about the zoo knows that it in recent months it has also strayed too close to the precipice of disaster.

There's no need to recap the various calamities on Corstorphine Hill, but suffice to say that it seemed almost predictable when we revealed on Monday that officials had forgotten to apply for planning permission for the new panda enclosure.

So far, the Chinese don't appear to have been too troubled by such problems, or the suspension of two senior managers, and the pandas could still be here as early as July.

But the main task facing Mr Roberts is to rid the RZSS of this recently-acquired reputation for cock-ups and return it instead to one of respect for an admired institution.

It helps that he was brought in with a reputation as a calm but determined troubleshooter. What's more, he handled the planning application fiasco deftly, conceding the mistake without obfuscation. He even took a share of the blame himself - even though he has only been in post for three weeks.

We sincerely hope this is a sign that the zoo now has good, pragmatic leadership and that this will continue in the key months ahead, for the sake of the city as a whole as well as one of its best-loved features.

Ward awards

When TV chiefs decide to make their next fly-on-the-wall documentary, they should consider setting it inside the ERI - specifically in the offices of private contractor Consort.

The moment when the company's own maintenance inspectors get stuck in a lift and find the emergency button doesn't work might leave viewers in stitches - of the non-A&E variety, of course.

And when senior managers decide that despite such problems they would award themselves a 99 per cent mark for that month's maintenance work then viewers' jaws would surely hit the floor.

The only problem with televising this tale of everyday life behind the ERI's barmy PFI contract would come when it came to the schedules. What would you bill it as - comedy or tragedy?