The Highland Wildlife Park is set in the Cairngorms National Park and is run by the Royal Zooligical Society of Scotland.  The park is home to around 200 animals - tigers, red pandas, polar bears, camels, bison, deer, wolves and many more.  You can enjoy a Land Rover safari through the 200 acres of the park and learn more about the many fascinating species with the daily keeper talks.  You can even be a Keeper for the Day - help to feed the wolves, wildcats, arctic foxes, snow monkeys and bison.   In early 2018 the Park announced the arrival of Hamish a polar bear cub.  The pictures below were taken by Ken Rowe, a guest at Glengarry. The small white bear cub seems to have disappeared and  been replaced by a  very muddy bear who is growing rapidly.  The Park provides a fascinating day out for all the family.

The Cairngorm Reindeer herd were first brought to Scotland in 1952 and today they can be seen roaming freely in their natural environment on the Cairngorm Mountains.  Visit the herd on the lower slopes of the Cairngorms and hand-feed these beautiful, tame reindeer or visit the paddocks where you will learn about how reindeer keep warm and how they live.  Activities for the children, reindeer adoption and reindeer trekking  are all on offer at the centre just outside Aviemore.

If you want real wildlife encounters, then a visit to the famous Speyside Wildlife hide for a dusk watch is a must.  The forest cabin is warm with large viewing windows and fitted with outside spotlights.  Filming takes place regularly by the BBC at the hide for programmes like Springwatch.  As well as the regular visitors to the hide, such as Badgers and Pine Martens, you might also be lucky and see Red or Roe deer.  Beginning around 8 p.m. and lasting around 3 hours, an expert guide is on hand to answer your questions and explain everything you see.

Enjoy a 2 hour Wildlife Watch with Ecoventures where you can see the most northerly colony of Bottlenose Dolphins.  Take an exhilarating trip on a custom built Rigid Inflatable Boat and hopefully you will encounter these beautiful animals in their natural habitat.  You may also see harbour porpoise, common and grey seals and minke whales.  Razorbills, cormorants, guillemots, shags, fulmars and kittiwake colonies can all be seen at close quarters along this  spectacular cliff coastline.