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Keeper Experiences terms and conditions

These terms and conditions apply to all Keeper Experiences and Magic Moments delivered at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo.

Please see section 4 for additional terms and conditions for each experience. You are asked to confirm that you have read and understood these terms and conditions prior to the start of your experience.

1. General terms and conditions

1.1 Whilst every effort will be made to accommodate participants on their preferred date, we cannot guarantee the first choice of date will be available. We ask that you do not make any travel arrangements prior to confirming your experience. RZSS will not be responsible for any changes to travel, accommodation or any other costs incurred if dates are unavailable.

1.2 RZSS reserves the right to alter the experience at any point due to animal welfare, health issues or change in the zoo's collection, but will ensure the experience will be replaced with another similar activity.

1.3 RZSS reserves the right to reschedule or cancel any booked experiences for reasons such as severe weather, staff shortages and animal welfare reasons. RZSS will endeavour to provide as much notice as possible but please be aware that cancellations may occur on the day of the experience for reasons beyond the control of RZSS. RZSS will not be responsible for any travel, accommodation or any other costs if a date is cancelled.

1.4 RZSS reserves the right to cancel your experience if you don't arrive for a booked experience or arrive at the meeting point more than 10 minutes after your pre-booked experience time.

1.5 Any accompanying guests with the Keeper Experience participant need to pay zoo admission (unless they are members) and are only able to observe from the public viewing areas. Only the Keeper Experience participant can enter enclosures and areas off limits to normal zoo visitors. Please see section 4 for exceptions regarding accompanying adults.

1.6 A Keeper Experience cannot be rescheduled without at least 14 days' notice before the booked date. Only exceptional circumstances will be considered for a change of date at RZSS discretion. Work commitments or holidays are not considered exceptional circumstances. Please note, if a date has been changed for exceptional circumstances, we are unable to reschedule again for any reason.

1.7 We require at least seven days' notice for any bookings.

1.8 Your experience is not confirmed as booked until you receive the confirmation PDF from the experiences team. Please note, we need all participant details within 48 hours of your date being offered (unless stated otherwise) or your reservation will be removed.

1.9 Keeper Experiences are subject to health and safety restrictions. It is the purchaser/participant's responsibility to check the participant (and accompanying adults where applicable) fit these criteria prior to booking:

  • Full-length wellies and long trousers must be worn by all participants and accompanying adults for the duration of the experience (wellies are not required for our Otter Magic Moment, Giraffe Magic Moment and Close Encounters Magic Moment)
  • All participants and accompanying adults must have an up-to-date tetanus vaccination prior to the experience
  • Any sickness of the experience participant must be disclosed to the animal department staff at the start of the experience

1.10 It is the responsibility of the participant to declare any medical conditions, learning difficulties or disabilities at the time of purchase or booking. Regrettably, certain guests will not be able to participate in Keeper Experiences including people with any relevant phobias, pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals. Whilst every effort is made to accommodate individuals, due to health and safety reasons this is not always possible. Please contact RZSS on edz-keeperexperiences@rzss.org.uk for advice before purchase or booking.

1.11 Participants are also subject to the terms and conditions of entry to RZSS Edinburgh Zoo.
 

2. Gift vouchers 

2.1 Unless otherwise stated, vouchers are valid for 12 months from the month of purchase. It is the participant's responsibility to ensure a date is booked and completed before the voucher expiry. All our Keeper Experiences are very popular, so we recommend enquiring at least three months in advance to avoid any disappointment.

2.2 Vouchers can be gifted to family and friends, however RZSS is not responsible for unauthorised use of your voucher.

2.3 All RZSS Keeper Experiences and Magic Moments are non-refundable. Vouchers will only be considered for a refund or extension due to exceptional circumstances. This will be at Edinburgh Zoo’s discretion.

2.4 All Keeper Experience vouchers are only valid for one participant (except for our 6–11 Giraffe Magic Moment when the voucher covers the cost of both one participating child and one participating adult).
 

3. Privacy 

3.1 In order for RZSS to deliver and provide the contract we have with you (bring the contract for sale of products or services), we need to collect and process certain data about you – for example, your name, address, bank account details (to enable payment) and in some cases, health data to ensure that we can ensure your comfort and safety during the experience you have contracted from us. We will only ever process this data in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the GDPR. 

You can see more details of the data we collect in Section 6 of our Privacy Policy, which you can view at rzss.org.uk/privacy. 

 

4. Experience specific terms and conditions 

4.1 Full Day/Half Day Keeper Experience

  • Participants must be aged 16 and over
  • Maximum number of participants is two per timeslot
  • When a Full Day/Half Day Keeper Experience begins at 9am, only the participant will be able to enter the zoo. No accompanying guests will be permitted until 10am when the zoo opens to the public

4.2 Junior Keeper Experience

  • Participants must be aged 8-15 years of age
  • Maximum number of participants is three per timeslot
  • One accompanying adult (aged 18 and over) must be present throughout the whole experience (included in the price).
  • Please note this may include going behind the scenes during the experience with the participant and it is therefore not suitable for this same adult to be supervising another non-participating child
  • When a Junior Keeper Experience begins at 9am, only the participant and one accompanying adult will be able to enter the zoo

4.3 Mini Keeper Experience

  • Participants must be aged 5-7 years of age
  • Maximum number of participants is two per timeslot
  • One accompanying adult (aged 18 and over) must be present throughout the whole experience (included in the price). Please note this may include behind the scenes during the experience with the participant and it is therefore not suitable for this same adult to be supervising another non-participating child
  • When a Mini Keeper Experience begins at 9am, only the participant and one accompanying adult will be able to enter the zoo

4.4 Family Fun Keeper Experience

  • Participants must be aged five years plus
  • Minimum two participants and maximum five participants per experience
  • At least one child and one adult must be booked per slot

4.5 Meerkat Magic Moment

  • Participants must be aged eight years plus. Participants under the age of 16 need an accompanying adult paying full admission cost
  • Maximum number of participants is two per timeslot

4.6 Penguin Magic Moment

  • Participants must be aged 12 years plus. Participants under the age of 16 need an accompanying adult paying full admission cost
  • Maximum number of participants is two per timeslot

4.7 Armadillo Magic Moment

  • Participants must be aged six years plus. Participants under the age of 16 need an accompanying adult paying full admission cost
  • Maximum number of participants is two per timeslot

4.8 Close Encounters Magic Moment

  • Participants must be aged five years plus. Participants under the age of 16 need an accompanying adult paying full admission cost
  • Maximum number of participants is five per timeslot

4.9 Sloth Magic Moment

  • Participants must be aged eight years plus. Participants under the age of 16 need an accompanying adult paying full admission cost
  • Maximum number of participants is two per timeslot

4.10 Otter Magic Moment

  • Participants must be aged 8 years and over. Participants under the age of 16 need an accompanying adult paying full admission cost
  • Maximum number of participants is two per experience

4.11 Giraffe Magic Moment (6-11 years)

  • Participants must be aged 6-11 years
  • This voucher includes one participating child (aged 6-11) and one participating adult (aged 18 and over). The child participant must be accompanied by one participating adult. This voucher covers the cost of both one child and one adult participant
  • Maximum number of participants is four people per timeslot

4.12 Giraffe Magic Moment (aged 12 years and over)

  • Participants must be aged 12 years and over. Participants under the age of 16 need an accompanying adult paying full admission cost
  • Maximum number of participants is four per timeslot

 

Wellies must be worn for all experiences apart from the Otter Magic Moment, Giraffe Magic Moment and Close Encounters Magic Moment. Please note that trousers must be full length for all Keeper Experiences even in summer. Face coverings are not required for our Magic Moments but need to be worn for our Full Day, Half Day, Junior and Mini Keeper experiences.

Please note, for all our Keeper Experiences no accompanying guests will be permitted until 10am when the zoo opens to the public. All accompanying guests will need to pay zoo entry online in advance.