Fire-hit Fife Zoo will reopen to the public on today, 10 days after a devastating blaze.
Owners Briony Taylor and Michael Knight have been overwhelmed by offers of help in the wake of the incident that saw their soft play area and coffee shop burn to the ground.
Footage of the fire is above this article
Supporters have raised almost £10,000 towards rebuilding the destroyed areas, which the couple said was their main source of income.
They had hoped to reopen last Friday but discovered further work was needed to make the entire attraction safe.
They have since been inundated with people trying to buy tickets for the opening day.
Briony said: “After having our site fully checked over after our devastating fire we are safe to reopen to the public.
“The whole team at Fife Zoo would like to thank everybody again for their support during this difficult time, from those who brought us fresh fruit and veg for the animals, fencing, water and to everyone else who kindly donated money to help us rebuild.
“It is truly overwhelming how kind you have all been.”
The fire, thought to have been caused by an electrical fault, hit the Ladybank animal park just six days after it reopened as lockdown restrictions eased.
The indoor soft play was still closed to the public due to social distancing rules and was empty at the time, but around 30 families had to be evacuated from the attraction as firefighters battled the flames.
Around eight fire appliances and crews were involved at the height of the blaze.
Animals closest to the affected building were rescued from their enclosures and checked by vets but none were adversely affected.
Briony and Michael have pledged to replace their popular soft play, which opened in December five months after the rest of the zoo.
“We’ll have to start from scratch because the entire building is going to come down but we will rebuild it,” said Michael.
The zoo is home to zebras, lemurs, meerkats, macaque monkeys and tortoise.
