£6.5m wildlife discovery centre opens in Cairngorms

A new £6.5m wildlife centre has opened near Kincraig in the Cairngorms National Park.

Based at Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park, Scotland's Wildlife Discovery Centre has been built to help rare species such as wildcats and scabious mining bees.

The centre has an area with interactive games and exhibits, also a learning hub for schoolchildren and a hilltop building called the Conservation Den.

Head of discovery and learning, Beccy Angus, said: "Watching kids run in and start to play - that is everything we were hoping for."

The conservation den overlooks the park's wildcat breeding-for-release centre.

Ms Angus said the den also has views of the Cairngorms mountains, which have the types of habitats kittens born and raised in the centre have been released into.

She added: "I think sometimes conservation can feel like it is really far away, that you are not necessarily involved in it.

"Whereas bringing people into this space and putting them right at the centre of it shows them it is happening right here, right now."

RZSS's Stuart Owen said outreach work being done from the new site included a nature connections project.

It involves about 30 people with complex additional needs.

Mr Owen said: "We have tailored a volunteer programme for them.

"They do survey assessing our on-site biodiversity, the RSPB Big Garden birdwatch and butterfly counts."

Ben Supple, RZSS deputy chief executive, said one in nine species were at risk of extinction in Scotland.

He said: "It is more important than ever to engage and inspire people to create a world where nature is protected, valued and loved.

“Access to nature can have tremendously powerful mental and physical health and wellbeing benefits and this project will help more people and communities experience the joys of being close to wildlife."