Clydeside �rainforest� wildlife attraction plan a step closer to reality...

ZOO bosses are looking to a revolutionary Dutch wildlife park for inspiration as a major new tourist attraction is planned for Glasgow.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland - the charity behind Edinburgh Zoo - hopes to create the £35million biosphere-style animal park on the banks of the Clyde in Glasgow's East End.

Experts from RZSS have visited Burgers' Zoo in Holland, which has created a series of habitats to allow visitors to immerse themselves in the natural surroundings of creatures.

The Evening Times first revealed details of the plan four years ago, but zoo bosses say the plans are now well advanced.

The Dutch attraction will be a model for the Glasgow park, which is expected to have a humid Amazon jungle at its centre complete with primates, manatees and sloths.

Burgers' Zoo was the first safari park in Europe and has expanded over the years. In 1988 it opened as the world's first covered jungle It went on to create eight different temperature-controlled habitats for its animals.

They include Burgers' Bush, a tropical rainforest with roaming lizards frogs, manatees, aardvarks and birds, Burgers' Mangrove, which is home to turtles, and Burgers' Ocean, an aquarium complete with sharks.

Glasgow's version of the park, of which details have not been finalised, will be in the Cunningar Loop, a green site between Dalmarnock and Rutherglen.

The site, close to the planned Athlete's Village for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, is owned by South Lanarkshire Council.

Zoo bosses are now trying to gain financial backing for the scheme, which was first revealed three years ago.

It is in talks with regeneration agency the Clyde Gateway Project as well as Glasgow and South Lanarkshire Councils.

David Windmill, chief executive of the RZSS said: "This is all about Commonwealth Games legacy and East End regeneration and having something people are going to come to.

"It will all be enclosed, so that you could control the light so that if you came in at nine o'clock in the morning it could still be dark inside and you could see animals which were normally active at night.

"We are a charity, so we would want to continue to educate children, and do wildlife research and conservation.

"We have had very positive discussions and it is just as case of us doing a next-stage feasibility study to maybe look at exactly how much we can bring to the party and how much others can."

Mr Windmill also revealed Giant Pandas could come to Glasgow as part of the new attraction.

The decision by the Scottish Government not to back Edinburgh Zoo's plans for redevelopment could mean it is not be able to go ahead with the planned 20-year, £72million revamp.

Mr Windmill continued: "If we are unable to develop infrastructure of sufficient quality in Edinburgh Zoo we may have to look elsewhere as to where we take the giant pandas.

"If we have facilities in Glasgow then it has got to be an option.

"We want to do something in Glasgow and therefore you start to say how do we invest the money we do have in those areas which are showing support and enthusiasm for what we want to do?"

Mr Windmill thinks the idea of a new animal- focused attraction will be welcomed in Glasgow despite the lingering public memories of Glasgow Zoo, which closed in August 2003 amid claims of animal neglect and with debts of more than £5million.

He said: "Glasgow Zoo unfortunately got into a cycle of lack of investment and decline of visitor numbers and it was difficult to get out of that cycle.

"There is a bit of negative publicity attached to that but if something is done which is fundamentally different and is doing a lot of good conservation, education and research then I think people will understand."

A spokesperson for South Lanarkshire Council said: "We are in continuing dialogue with the RZSS about proposals for an animal-based visitor attraction at Cunningar Loop.

"We would hope that it would become a national - and international - attraction.

"We are excited by the proposals but obviously discussions are at an early stage and there are many obstacles still to be overcome."

A spokesman for Clyde Gateway Project said: "It's a very exciting proposal and one that fits in well with our aims and aspirations for the next 20 years."