Spring into action

Spring is certainly in the air. The warmer weather, lighter nights and roadmaps out of lockdown are showing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Here at Highland Wildlife Park, it starts with being able to reopen our gates to provide a safe, outdoor environment for Highland residents from Friday 26 March. We closed on 4 January and have been busy ever-since to prepare for everyone's return.

We are doing everything we can to make the park safe for everyone which means your visit will be different to normal.

While we appreciate the Highland weather can be unpredictable with four seasons often appearing in one day at this time of year, tickets must be purchased in advance of arrival.

In line with government guidelines, all indoor areas, including our giftshop, must close. But don’t worry, you can still buy all your park merch on our online store.

It’s been a challenging year for us as a charity and the kind donations and continued support of the general public, our members and patrons has been vital for to continue to look after our staff and amazing animals.

April showers bring forth May flowers, and there is a lot to look forward to at Highland Wildlife Park in the coming months.

If all continues to go well, travel restrictions should ease at the end of April, and we will be able to welcome visitors from further afield.

Our tiger, polar bear and snow leopard couples have all been introduced so visitors will be able to see the pairs during their visits. Keep an eagle-eye out for, Koshi our new male snow leopard, who is not only incredibly handsome but taking to Scottish landscapes like a duck to water. He has enjoyed the snow over the past few months and we cannot wait until he experiences the beautiful Highland summer sunshine too.

In the background, our conservation efforts on-site have reached very exciting milestones. Thanks to a kind donation from game creators Marvelous, we have been able to upgrade our pine hoverfly breeding facilities. This will include a larval rearing room, space for the adult hoverflies to fly and mate, and preparation space for staff to ready the abundance of flowers the hoverflies need for food. All important work to save the critically endangered species.

The first wildcat has also gone into our off-show conservation breeding for release centre as part of our charity’s work leading the Saving Wildcats partnership project. Together, we are aiming to bring the Highland tiger back from the brink of extinction in Scotland. Little Nell is settling in well and we hope it won’t be too long before other cats arrive at the centre.

While visitors will not be able to see the pine hoverflies or Nell, every ticket supports conservation efforts behind-the-scenes and helps feed the animals you love here at the park. We can’t wait to see you again and create new wild memories together.