King penguin made a Brigadier in Edinburgh

22 August 2016

A King penguin at Edinburgh Zoo has been made a Brigadier by the King of Norway's Guard.

Nils Olav was given the honour by members of the Norwegian guard who are performing at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

There have been three penguins called Nils Olav at the zoo, which have been mascots of the Norwegian King's Guard since 1972.

The second Nils Olav was knighted in 2008.

Brig David Allfrey, producer and chief executive of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, said: "This is just a simply fantastic example of the great relations between our two countries, and it couldn't be a more charming tradition.

"At the Tattoo we of course have many inspecting officers but this is by far my favourite. Congratulations, Brigadier Olav."

Source 

Gay flamingo couple adopt cute baby chick after parents abandon newborn bird

Edinburgh Zoo has added five Chilean Flamingos babies to its flock of 33 adults birds this year, following successful breeding for the first time since 2010.

A little flamingo chick has been taken under the wings of a gay couple after it was abandoned by its parents.

Edinburgh Zoo has added five Chilean Flamingos babies to its flock of 33 adult birds this year, following successful breeding for the first time since 2010.

But one of the chicks had a rough start when its parents knocked it out of the nest.

Luckily, a male couple stepped in and adopted the fluffy chick.

Senior bird keeper Nick Dowling said: "We weren't short of drama in the flamingo flock this year.

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Edinburgh zoo hatch nine rare Darwin Rhea chicks

by TAMSIN TYESON

Published on the 27 June 2014 

13:43

EDINBURGH zoo bird keepers have faced a delightful dilemma of having “an incredible nine” rare and endangered chicks to care for.

The bird keepers were hoping their hard work would pay off by getting one chick from a rare pair of Darwin’s rheas -- instead they were surprised with nine chicks.

The development was hailed today/yesterday [FRI] as a great achievement for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which owns and manages Edinburgh Zoo, as Darwin’s rhea chicks have only been born and successfully raised in a very small number of zoos in the UK -- certainly never thriving in such large numbers.

Darwin’s rheas are large flightless birds, named after Charles Darwin who came across one of the birds during the second voyage of HMS Beagle in 1833; his party shot and started to eat one of the birds before Darwin realised it was a new species.

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