The Toronto Zoo
For those looking to take a walk on the wild side in Toronto, look no further than a trip to the landmark Toronto Zoo. The park opened in August 1974, and it is the largest Zoo in Canada with 500 species. Over 5,000 animals call the zoo home, situated on a sprawling 287 hectares of natural parkland, making it one of the largest zoos in the world. Each year more than one million and five hundred thousand visitors trek to the Toronto Zoo. The Toronto Zoo vision states “a world where wildlife and wild spaces thrive.”
Originally, Toronto was home to The Riverdale Zoo ( 3 hectares), but in 1967 the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto approved plans to build a grand enhanced zoo. The project included new innovative designs for visitor’s viewing and the animals living comfort. Animals would be displayed in their natural environments; some exhibited outdoors and others indoors. The old Riverdale Zoo was converted into an urban farm and open to the public in 1978.
The Toronto Zoo is home to a vast number of animals, and they reside in seven different zoogeographic regions, including Indo-Malaya, Africa, Americas, Tundra Trek, Australasia, Eurasia, and the Canadian Domain. Each region provides the animals the most naturalistic environments with both indoor and outdoor pavilions. These natural habitats are designed with several public viewing levels and spaces. Each region showcases plants and animals from that area of the world, making visitors feel they have stepped right into that part of the world!
The Indo-Malaya region hosts two pavilions exhibiting plants and animals from South and Southeast Asia, which feature the Indian rhinoceros, Sumatran orangutans, Mandarin ducks, spiny turtles, various freshwater fish, Sumatran tigers, and reticulated pythons. Clouded leopards, butterflies, red-tailed green rat snakes, and whistling ducks are all found in the Malayan Woods pavilion./this region focuses on the rainforest habitat and shows how many animals adapt to live in the area.
The Americas Pavilion exhibits a wide variety of animals from both North and South America and houses most of the Zoo’s amphibian and reptile collection. The Mayan Temple Ruins features American flamingos, jaguars,black-handed spider monkeys, blue-and-yellow macaws, green-winged macaws, and capybaras. The entrance takes you through a large aviary of free-flight birds into the primate habitat, the home of the golden lion. The Americas also houses New World Monkeys, sloths, beavers, river otters, and a giant Pacific octopus.
Australasia displays animals from mainland Australia and its surrounding islands. The pavilion is home to the Komodo dragons, which were a gift to the Zoo from the President of Indonesia. This area is also home to kookaburras, wallabies, Matschie’s tree-kangaroos, and Western grey kangaroos. It also houses the impressive Great Barrier Reef exhibit featuring a 7-metre long community tank filled with hundreds of vibrantly colored fish. It also houses the jellyfish tank, pot-bellied seahorses, lionfish, and brown-banded bamboo sharks.
Eurasia is home to the majestic endangered Amur tigers, the largest cats in the world. Visit Bactrian camels, chamois, mouflon, snow leopards, and Steller’s sea eagles. A family favourite is the Red Panda exhibit. From May 2013 to March 2018, the pavilion included two giant pandas and created an impressive visitor panda education centre. On October 13, 2015, twin giant pandas were born and raised at the Zoo until 2018, when the giant panda exhibit moved to Calgary.
The Africa Savanna pavilion combined with the African Rainforest pavilion covers the southern third of the Zoo. The African Rainforest pavilion houses the world’s largest gorilla exhibit, along with meerkats, pygmy hippopotamuses, dwarf crocodiles, ring-tailed lemurs, and Aldabra tortoises. The African Savanna is home to a pride of
white lions, Grevy’s zebras, olive baboons, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, African penguins, and Masai giraffes( the Zoo’s tallest residents).
The Canadian Domain features plants and wildlife from all around North America in their natural habitat. The animals in the Canadian pavilion include the Wood bison, North American Bald Eagles, American moose, cougars, raccoons, Canadian Lynx, and grizzly bears. Also on display are the Trumpeter Swans with graceful elongated necks and snowy white plumage; they are the largest of all wildfowl. The trumpeter swans were on the brink of extinction, but through the dedication of several caring organizations, they have been brought back from extinction. The Toronto Zoo is proud to house one of the restoration programs.
The Zoo’s mission states, ” Our Toronto Zoo – connecting people, animals, and conservation science to fight extinction.” The Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy was created to partner with the Zoo and is solely dedicated to the preservation of endangered species. Through vital programs such as breeding, conservation education, and reintroducing animals back into the wild creates a stronger connection between people and nature. A small sample of the animals being helped includes polar bears (one of the world’s most vulnerable species), the Masai Giraffe, Orangutans, black-footed ferrets, Vancouver Island marmots, and so many more!
The Waterside Theatre, Splash Island, and the Kids Zoo are all highlights in the Discovery Zone. The Waterside Theatre is an outdoor amphitheatre offering live educational, family-friendly animal shows that interact with the audience, such as the recent Wonders of Wildlife. There is no better way to cool off on a hot summer day than to visit Splash Island, a two-acre splash park with endless tipping buckets, waterfalls, water-spouting animals, lots of misters, and waterslides. The Kids Zoo is a fun way to learn about some Canadian habitats and maybe even get the chance to meet a Toronto ZooKeeper. Kids will love the two-story treehouse, complete with a slide ride, the opportunity to dig for dinosaur bones, and to bird watch in the giant aviary. Best of all, Discovery Zone activities are included with park admission.
The Toronto Zoo has been a landmark attraction for over forty-five years and still remains a favorite of the residents and tourists. Come and enjoy the day and leave feeling like you were on an adventure that took you through several different countries without boarding a ship or plane. Visitors can hop on the Zoomobile, a four-car open-air tram that tours guests through the park. The Toronto Zoo is a year-round attraction, open 364 days a year, only closing on December 25th.
Check out the Toronto Royal Ontario Museum which is in Toronto ON too.
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