Mountain View Conservation + Breeding Centre » Mountain View Conservation Centre

Mountain View Conservation + Breeding Centre
19-12-2007

The Mountain View Conservation and Breeding Centre is a great little place that is unknown to almost everyone here in British Columbia, Canada. It has an impressive (yet small) collection of rare and endangered animals, and is not open to the public. However, it is possible to book guided tours around the closed facilities, but they only take bookings at least 48 hours in advance.

An example of what they have: Aardwolf, Amur Leopard Cat, Fossa, Brazilian Ocelot, Caracal, Bat-Eared Fox, Cheetah, Fishing Cat, Geoffrey's Cat, Gordon's Cat, Indian Desert Cat, African Hunting Dog, Painted Cat, Rusty Spotted Cat, Pallas Cat, Serval, Sand Cat, and Temminck's Golden Cat. Those are just the rare carnivores...

They have some cuvier, mhorr and slender-horned gazelles, which they list as all being extinct in the wild, as well as malayan and mountain tapirs, scimitar-horned oryx, etc.

There is a lot more information on their website: mtnviewconservation.org/ for those who are interested in rare creatures.

19-12-2007

They have had their male mountain tapir for a while, but the female is relativly new from Either Columbia or LA zoo.

19-12-2007

After looking at the site, they have a very impressive collection!

Indian Rhino, Mountain Tapir, Masai Giraffe and Cape Buffalo all stand out for me, as well as the large amount of carnivores that you previously mentioned.

The guided tours seem interesting as well.

19-12-2007

Is it privately owned..? If so by who..?

19-12-2007

A couple bought 200 acres of land and founded the centre in 1986, and it has never been open to the public in terms of being able to just walk in the front entrance. There have always been bookings at $30 per individual for an hour and a half tour. The website has lots of information on the place...

19-12-2007

Do they still have the fish-eating addax antelopes? Let me see-no, they changed that part...:
Mountain View - Addax Antelope
Too bad they don't have the pygmy hippos anymore-the mixed species exhibit of bongos and them was really interesting.

20-12-2007

Sun Wukong: I see from this and other postings that you've visited Mountain View, as well as the Vancouver Aquarium and the Greater Vancouver Zoo. Did you at one time swing through Canada on a zoo-going vacation? It's great that you had the opportunity to come to North America.

20-12-2007

@snowleopard: Yes, I have visited Canada several times-and besides of the zoos/aquariums You mentioned, I also visited the Montreal biodome, Toronto zoo and two or three smaller zoos in Quebec as well as in Alberta. Wish to repeat that another time.

20-12-2007

@Sun Wukong: I plan to visit the Montreal Biodome next summer, as well as the Toronto Zoo. What are your thoughts in regards to those two establishments, and did you visit Granby Zoo in Quebec? Did you see the Calgary Zoo or Edmonton's Valley Zoo?

20-12-2007

I liked the Toronto zoo and considered parts of the Biodome as well-made (though I was there in 2001, so things surely have changed there). I have not been to the other three zoos You mentioned-yet.

22-12-2007

Sun Wukong if you are going back th Canada the African lion safari park in Rockton might be worth a visit they have an outstanding breeding herd on Asian elephants and have bred quite a few calfs there.

24-12-2007

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

24-12-2007

Hi guys, I volunteered at Mountain View a few summers ago working with the carnivores, primates and hoofstock...its a truly amazing place. In terms of African Lion Safari though I dont reccomend it, although they have a large herd of elephants they keep them in an almost circus type environment which is very barren and mostly concrete. They do parade them through the park and take them to a small lake where they bathe but there are usually way to many people around to actually see anything. The rest of the park is ok, the bird and primate exhibits are very lacking and in the summer months you move through the safari park at around 2 miles/hour (make sure you have air conditioning in your car, or take the bus around). If you do get out near Toronto I think the Toronto Zoo is far better. It has a much wider variety of animals and is currently undergoing many improvements to the Eurasian and Australian exhibits. There is also a buzz about them possibly building a China exhibit and getting some pandas, snub-nosed monkeys etc as well as creating a Madagascar exhibit there (there are currently no lemurs at all!). Over all its a nice place with lots to see and you are much more likely to see animals there than at African Lion Safari. If you want to know about any smaller zoos in the area such as Jungle Cat World, Twin Valley Zoo or Zooz let me know and I can tell you about them too

24-12-2007

Snub-nosed Monkeys?!?! (Rushes to the nearest travel agency to get a ticket to Toronto)...

24-12-2007

I agree with you Torontos collection is a better one than the African Lion Safari, Their herd of Asain elephants is one of the best I have seen in my years of zoo visiting and their breeding record is outstanding, the "small" lake (in the gallery) you say they have to swim in is quite large and the biggest I have ever seen in any zoo or animal park, The elephants are mostly kept on dirt, cant say I saw too much concrete anywhere?, I have seen all the off exhibit areas for this herd which are not only quite large yards but also on dirt, (as shown in my photos in the Gallery), I also know that this herd is allowed to roam for many hours on most days in the large forest which is outback of the exhibits which is a very large area indeed, this is in fact a very successful herd with many calfs to their credit.