Visiting the Scottish Deer Centre

This wildlife park is located in Fife, near Cupar. It’s home to 12 species of deer, a wolf pack, wildcats, otters and European brown bears. There’s also a bird‑of‑prey centre. It’s a great destination for children with plenty of play areas. You can get to it by cycling 3.7 miles from the nearest station, Ladybank

Highlights

hand‑feeding deer, they will come right up to the fence to take the food
watch birds in flight at a falconry show
a chance to see a Scottish wildcat
treetop walk where there is a chance of spotting red squirrels
play areas for children, including vehicles like an old fire engine to play on

Getting there

You can cycle to the Scottish Deer Centre from one of these stations in Fife- Springfield, Cupar or Ladybank. It takes about one hour from Edinburgh to get to these stations. Springfield is the closest, but hardly any trains stop there.

I would recommend using Ladybank. It’s about 3.7 miles from the Scottish Deer Centre. Most of the route is on a quiet country road, only the last half mile is on the A91.

Hand-feeding the deer

You can buy some food at the ticket desk. Many of the deer will come right up to the fences to take it from your hand. Scotland’s iconic red deer can be hard to spot in the wild, so it is special to be able to get this close to these beautiful animals.

I felt a little bit sad that these creatures were in fenced enclosures and running over to get fed by visitors, rather than roaming the wild. However, the park does promote conservation and education by means of information panels and an education programme.

There are many species of deer to spot in the park, including sika, reindeer and elk.

A deer at the Scottish Deer Centre

A red deer with its head down eating from the ground

A red deer enjoying the food we passed to him

An information board about red deer

A container filled with deer antlers. The sign says 'antlers. Please touch'

You can pick up antlers to feel their texture and weight

The predators

The park also has European brown bears, wolves, lynx, otters and the Scottish wild cat. They are harder to spot than the deer. I managed to see a bear and otters, but not the wild cat or lynx.

Initially I did not see the wolves, but later on I noticed a gathering of visitors at the enclosure. I went over and one of the wolves showed itself for a few minutes. Even that short encounter, from a distance was special. I had always imagined wolves to be similar in size to large dogs, but they are much, much bigger than that.

Eagle at the Scottish Deer Centre

Bird of prey shows

The Scottish Deer Centre also has birds of prey. There are magnificent creatures like the snowy owl, kestrals and falcons. There are daily falconry shows where the birds are flown and one of the handlers tells you all about them. Visitors are gathered in a natural amphitheatre whilst these impressive birds swoop and dive, sometimes very close to people!

Play time

There are loads of things to play on at the Scottish Deer Centre. There’s an adventure playground, pedal go-karts, a fire engine and tractors. It makes this a brilliant place to come with children.

Fork lift truck for kids to play on

A tractor painted with a deer and snowy owl

One of the play tractors with paintings of deer and a snowy owl

The last thing I expected to find at a deer park was an RAF fighter jet, but a Buccaneer takes pride of place. It was an impulse purchase by the owners of the park.

Buccaneer fighter jet

Forest and tree top walk

The woodland sections of the park are a nice contrast to the fields with the deer. One of the forests has the adventure playground and the other has a tree top walk. It’s a short wooden walkway through the trees where you can look down on the elk enclosure. The map of the park shows red squirrels in this forest, but I did not spot any when I visited.

Summing up…

The Scottish Deer Centre offers the special experience of being able to hand-feed deer, including the iconic red deer. You can also see magnificent birds of prey and watch them in flight at one of the falconry shows. Children will love it here with the many different things they can play on. It can be reached by bike if you are okay with cycling for half a mile on an A-road.