Edinburgh Zoo reopens with new social distancing measures in place

With penguin designed facemasks at the ready and brightly coloured paw prints to guide visitors, Edinburgh Zoo is all set to welcome back the crowds to enjoy some of the city’s most exotic animals.

New social distancing measures have been put in place with quirky signage to ensure people can enjoy walking around the grounds in a safe, yet entertaining way.

At full capacity for the next two weeks, staff have been working hard to make the much-awaited reopening go smoothly.

Edinburgh Zoo reopened on Monday, June 29. Pictures: Lisa Ferguson

“We have all sorts of new and fun social distancing reminders dotted around the park to make sure people can enjoy visiting in a safe way,” David Field, chief executive of Edinburgh Zoo, said.

“We have all been so tired of rules in lockdown, so we have made sure to keep those reminders fun.

“There are colourful paw prints painted on the pathways to guide people where to stand and signs such as ‘unaccompanied children will be fed to the tigers’ to gently nudge behaviours.”

With just over 200 guests coming in on the first day, Edinburgh Zoo is slowly reintroducing visitors, hoping to welcome up to 1,200 towards the end of the week.

Edinburgh Zoo has opened with a range of new social distancing measures. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

One of the biggest changes to expect is all tickets are to be booked online and visitors will be allocated a time slot to attend the zoo.

“The community has been incredibly supportive of us through lockdown and we are really excited to be welcoming visitors back to the zoo, to enjoy one of the city’s main attractions once again,” Mr Field said.

The zoo reopens at 10am and visitors are given an allocated slot when booking online.

Spaces are fully booked for the next two weeks, but to reserve a place, click here.