Edinburgh Zoo’s chimps swing into action

The residents of the Budongo Trail had the opportunity to tackle the largest climbing frame ever built for apes last month, when they explored their outdoor enclosure for the first time. Edinburgh Zoo’s 11 chimpanzees have now completely settled in to their internal surroundings and the keepers feel that the time has come to let them venture out into their huge external space.

The Budongo Trail, which is the largest chimpanzee enclosure in the world, officially opened to the public on 1 May 2008 and has received acclaim from both visitors to the Zoo and experts in the field of primatology. The Budongo Trail encompasses 1500m² in total, including three cutting edge living pods, each with different temperature, humidity and design. The external area provides a large space to explore as well as various enrichment features, including exotic vegetation, a stream and moat, as well as the immense climbing frame. In addition, it has specifically been designed in an L-shape to allow primate behaviour experts to study how chimpanzees communicate over long distances.

Gary Wilson, Head of Property & Estates for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), which owns Edinburgh Zoo, said: “This whole project has been a massive undertaking for us. We invested £5.65 million to create a world-class chimpanzee enclosure with enormous internal and external areas. When the chimpanzees go outside they will experience the world’s largest climbing structure ever built for apes. The frame, which we built with the help of the Army, consists of 100, 12m high Brazilian creeper vines and 250 telegraph poles.

We also spent approximately £35,000 on exotic planting and vegetation. We expect the chimpanzees to pull up and damage a certain amount of planting but this is a very important source of enrichment for the animals and is a behaviour they would exhibit in the wild. It will be interesting to see how they react when they go outside but we’re sure that they will enjoy, and to a certain extent, destroy, their new outdoor space.”

Jo Richardson, Head Keeper of the Budongo Trail, said: “Moving to the Budongo Trail involved a period of adjustment for both the chimpanzees and the keepers as we’ve never experienced anything on this scale before. We wanted to make sure that the chimpanzees were completely settled in to their internal area before letting them investigate their outside space, which we now believe they are ready to do.

“It will be fantastic to see them outside and it will be interesting for us to see if they recognise the older climbing frame at the top of their enclosure, as this was a feature in their previous home. Our chimpanzees will have the freedom to roam the external and internal spaces as they please, giving them the choice of where they want to be and which chimpanzees they want to spend time with.”

The Budongo Trail at Edinburgh Zoo is closely linked to the Budongo Conservation Field Station (BCFS) in Uganda. Set up in the heart of the Budongo Forest in 1990 by Professor Vernon Reynolds to study and help conserve its threatened population of chimpanzees, RZSS has been the main sponsor of BCFS for the past three years. The Budongo Trail raises the awareness of visitors to the major threats to the forest and its wildlife, and allows them an insight into the sophisticated primate behavioural research being carried out in both Edinburgh and Uganda.

Get close to the edge!
Top music acts confirmed for Edinburgh Festival season

Bringing together a diverse range of musical talent from around the globe and picking up where T on the Fringe left off, the new Edge Festival promises to wow with a spectacular line up in Scotland’s capital city.

Taking place across various venues ranging from 250 - 2800 in capacity, from the 1 – 27 August, the contemporary music strand to the Edinburgh Festival will feature a phenomenal 50 performances over the festival period with tickets ranging in price from £6 to £17.50.
Highlights on this year’s bill include Scouting For Girls who will kick off The Edge proceedings at the Corn Exchange, delighting fans with a set list including top ten hits ‘She’s So Lovely’ and ‘Elvis Ain’t Dead.’

An electrifying performance is guaranteed from angular indie favourites Maximo Park as they ‘Apply Some Pressure’ on 18th August.
Antipodean multi-instrumentalist Xavier Rudd and barefoot aficionado will pay his Scottish fans a visit on 19 August.
Kate Nash has already won both the best Female Solo artist at the Brits this year, and the NME’s Best Female Solo Artist. See what all the fuss is about as she shakes the Corn Exchange to its ‘foundations’ on the 25th.

Pendulum will play their biggest ever Scottish show to date at the Corn Exchange on 12th August. Famous now as a live act in their own right, Pendulum were previously best known for their remixing skills with one of their most well known efforts being The Prodigy’s ‘Voodoo People’.

Sufjan Stevens’ close friends New Yorkers Clare & The Reasons will make their Scottish debut at the festival and will be joined at Cabaret Voltaire throughout the month by the likes of The Presets and ex Josef K front man Paul Haig.
The walls of the Liquid Room will shake to the sounds of top talent including Mercury Music Prize winner Dizzee Rascal, Digitalism and Deadmau5, who will treat fans to a live set.

Says The Edge promoter Dave Corbet: “The atmosphere in Edinburgh throughout August is truly incredible with the world’s top performers coming together to celebrate the arts. The Edge will deliver the best in contemporary live music to an international audience and offer music lovers the chance to sample gigs by artists from across a variety of genres – everyone from Maximo Park to Pendulum and Michael Franti and Spearhead to Midnight Juggernaughts. I’m also looking forward to announcing a whole host of additional acts including a couple of very special guests, details of which will be unveiled later in July!”

The Edge will also support Scotland’s hottest emerging talent with a special Your Sound night at the Liquid Room on 16th August. Your Sound is an unsigned initiative run by King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut and aims to identify the top independent talent in Scotland and the Your Sound night will be the perfect place for music fans to find their new favourite band!
Tickets for The Edge are available by logging onto www.theedgefestival.com or calling 08444 999 990.