The largest chimpanzee enclosure in the world will open in March 2008 at Edinburgh Zoo, one of Europe’s leading centres of animal conservation and Scotland’s major animal attraction. The Budongo Trail, a specialised enclosure which can house up to 40 chimpanzees, represents a £5.65 million investment by Edinburgh Zoo and will become the jewel in the crown for the 650,000 visitors who come to the Zoo each year.

The Budongo Trail, which is closely linked to the Budongo Conservation Field Station in the Budongo Forest in Uganda, incorporates three cutting edge living pods of varying temperature and layout, and an extensive outdoor climbing frame offering the chimpanzees unprecedented space for exploration. It will offer world-class interactive exhibits for visitors to learn about the primates and their habitat, as well as an array of opportunities to view the chimpanzees up close from innovative viewing platforms and panoramic windows into three living pods.

The Budongo Trail will also be used by behavioural researchers as a study base and will raise the awareness of visitors to the major threats to the forest and its wildlife and allow them an insight into the sophisticated primate behavioural research being carried out in both Edinburgh and Uganda.

For more information visit: www.edinburghzoo.org.uk