Five Sisters Zoo

A patient Kookaburra in the bird walkthrough

One of our my favourite things to do is to visit zoos and wildlife centres, and one of my favourites in Scotland has to be the wonderful Five Sisters Zoo which is situated just outside Polbeth, West Calder. They look after over 190 species of animals, birds and reptiles, some of which have been rescued from horrible circumstances.

Lions and Tigers* and Bears (Oh My!)

*Ok just lions and bears

The zoo acquired two 3 year old bears 🐻🐻 (Henk and Eso) on 5 May 2018 from the International Animal Rescue Centre – Natuurhulpcentrum in Belgium who had rescued them from a terrible existence as an "attraction" at a roadside restaurant in Albania. The bears are thought to be victims of illegal poaching and taken from the wild after their mother was killed, sold to the tourist trade and somehow ended up at the restaurant in a cage that was far too small for them, where the only water they had were from puddles of rainwater in their cage! 😭 You can read about their story here.

Henk (standing) and Eso, exploring their new surroundings
(Photo courtesy of Five Sisters Zoo Facebook page)

Back in 2012, the zoo also gave a home to three ex-circus bears, 🐻🐻🐻 Carmen, Suzi and Peggy. The bears spent 20 years living in tiny cages as part of a circus troupe that travelled around Europe. Sadly Peggy, the oldest bear, had to be put to sleep in 2017 due to a decline in health but at least she lived the last few years of her life in comfort.

In 2015, Five Sisters managed to raise a whopping £150,000 to build an enclosure for four ex-circus lions 🐈🐈🐈🐈** who came from the same rescue centre as Henk and Eso. The lions had their claws removed at the circus and were also castrated at a young age so their manes didn't grow! Thankfully they seem to be doing fabulously 😃

** There was no lion emoji so a cat will have to do!

The four ex-circus lions
(Photo courtesy of Five Sisters Zoo Facebook page)

A Devastating Fire

Unfortunately, the zoo has had more than its fair share of struggles. At about 3.50am on 14 April 2013 a fire broke out in the reptile house. The blaze destroyed the building and claimed the lives of several reptiles, 11 meerkats and an otter, although two crocodiles and a second otter survived. They set up a lovely memorial garden for all the animals that they lost which you can see below.  Amazingly, over £100,000 was raised and a new enclosure (the Lost Kingdom) was built and opened on 30 December 2014.

A list of all the animals who perished in the fire

The memorial garden

There's plenty to do at the zoo, they do handling sessions, daily keeper talks and lemur feeds and there is lots for the little ones as well with a playpark and Leaping Lemurs Soft Play.  Five Sisters is a non-profit organisation, so if you would like to support them you can do so in a variety of ways, through donations, sponsorship, animal adoptions, personalised plaques and volunteering. You can find out more about their facilities and how to donate on their website.

Leaping Lemurs play areas

My favourite animal this visit was one of the Kookaburras, who loved  liked  tolerated me taking a selfie with it!

What's your favourite zoo/wildlife park? Let me know below in the comments!