Visit the Zoo Day: Meet the amazing animals of Edinburgh Zoo
EDINBURGH Zoo opened its doors in 1913 and is now home to over 1,000 animals. Our gallery takes a closer look at some of the amazing animals at the popular tourist attraction.
TODAY is international Visit the Zoo Day - aimed as an opportunity to appreciate some of the world's most intriguing and engaging species.
Edinburgh Zoo is the largest and more exciting wildlife attraction in Scotland.
It first opened its doors in 1913 and is now home to over 1,000 animals in the outskirts of the capital city.
The mission statement of Edinburgh Zoo is "To excite and inspire our visitors with the wonder of living animals, and so to promote the conservation of threatened species and habitats".
And what a job the zoo has done in delivering its promise.
Edinburgh Zoo receives over 600,000 visitors a year, which makes it Scotland's second most popular paid-for tourist attraction, after Edinburgh Castle .
As well as catering to tourists and locals, the zoo is involved in many scientific pursuits, such as captive breeding of endangered animals, researching into animal behaviour, and active participation in various conservation programs around the world.
Edinburgh Zoo is well known for housing penguins in its collection, the first three being king penguins, which arrived in January 1913, and were the first penguins to be seen outside of the South Atlantic anywhere in the world.
Monty The Penguin, who was the face of last year's John Lewis Christmas advert, was inspired by Edinburgh Zoo resident Snowflake.
It is also the only zoo in Britain to house giant pandas.
Edinburgh Zoo is currently the only zoo in the United Kingdom to keep koalas. The zoo currently has three males and one female Queensland koalas which are part of the European Breeding Programme.
So to celebrate the day, take a closer look at the amazing animals which can be found in Edinburgh Zoo with our gallery above.
Take a look at more amazing Scottish animals with our gallery below.
Plus, see stunning pictures of a bottlenose dolphin leaping in the air to catch wild salmon in Moray Firth .
Discover Scotland's five most dangerous animals here .
Visit our Discover Scotland section here .
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