@Jaxon, YiQi is mistaken. She was born at Safari West and her original name is Marcie. She was then transferred with her mom, Genny, to the Safari Park. She only came from the San Diego Zoo because they held her and did the necessary medical testing before she was shipped to Calgary. She was there for only a month. Fun fact she is the granddaughter of Toronto's former breeding pair of Ginetta and Stripes and when Emara and Nabo have their first daughter she will be sent back to Toronto.
Here's an article about Youri's arrival. I have to credit the writer. They didn't just republish a press release. They tried to make it fun. It takes two to tango: Zoo hopes new male tiger can woo one special lady
Sophia, a female black and white lemur has arrived from Europe to join male Menabe who also came from Europe awhile back. Er Shun has been separated from the twins finally! Should have been done when they were 18 months old. They are nearly 3! Because of that a breeding year was lost for Er Shun. A few on Facebook don't seem to understand pandas just don't need each other after a certain point. The twins are still together and will remain so until and probably for a little while after moving home to China late next year.
Does anyone happen to know what the winter hours are, and what parts are closed? Thinking late October. They only have their hours through Sept 3 on the website.
@TinoPup I cannot say definitively, but I visited last year on October 10th and the hours I had listed on my itinerary were 9-5, I checked my zoo map from that day and it also says 9-5. As for what is open/closed, animal wise I don't know if there's a firm schedule or if it's day by day according to temperature. When I was there last year, it was already getting cold (below 10 degrees Celsius, with a notable amount of snowfall the next day) and as such the lemurs and gorillas were indoors, as were the hippos while the giraffes mostly remained inside. The lemurs were particularly disappointing as their new outdoor habitat looks excellent. Overall I still really enjoyed my visit that day, but think Calgary is a zoo probably best seen in warmer months.
Thanks! I don't mind the cold at all - I used to visit Toronto every January - but I'm planning a one-off zoo trip, so with it being that cold so quickly, I think I'll take Calgary off my list for this year so I don't miss anything.
The zoo is in the new for not letting a service dog into the zoo. Sounds bad right? The mom says that service dog information isn't communicated. But wait... I thought I would check because that seems silly for a zoo with a precious collection of endangered animals and tons of visitors with special needs visiting every day. Within 2 clicks I had the information from the website. Go to plan your visit then accessibility. Bam right there register service dogs is right there. Guess they didn't plan their visit very well. She complains its not publicly known... what does she think the website is there for. Literally two clicks and she would have known the dog needed to be registered. Three and she would have the policy fully explained or have completed registration. Just thought I would point out the obvious that the author of the article chooses to neglect to make the zoo seem like its not even trying. Woman and son turned away from Calgary Zoo because service dog hadn't been registered Accessibility | The Calgary Zoo https://www.calgaryzoo.com/sites/default/files/2018-06/Service_animal_policy_2_.pdf
I'm not sure the requirement that they register with the zoo beforehand, or that they only allow dogs from certain organizations, is legal.
@TZFan I agree with your dismay at claims that the zoo's policy was not publicly available. Regarding the legality that @TinoPup raised, granted that I'm not even close to an expert on Alberta law; regarding the later statement that the zoo "only allow dogs from certain organizations" what their policy indicates to me is that only dogs who are registered as Service Dogs with the provincial government are permitted. Doing a quick google search showed that service dogs in Alberta do have to be registered with the provincial government. As for the preregistration process, I tried to find comparable establishments to see what their policy is (not implying that because other places do it is legal, but simply for perspective) the Edmonton Valley zoo website only states that service dogs are allowed with no further information. Looking at other zoos in Canada (which isn't entirely fair, as the legal requirements could vary widely from province to province), the Greater Vancouver zoo asks that wherever possible guests notify the zoo at least one day in advance, Toronto Zoo requires a week notice (so that they can ensure a volunteer is with the guest and their service dog for their visit), and Granby Zoo in Quebec stipulates that 24 notice is necessary. It was also interesting that Vancouver and Toronto also require proof of vaccinations, which was another thing the guest at Calgary objected to.
By registration, they aren't referring to the provincial requirement, just their personal requirement. They can't require that. It's polite to notify them, but legally service dogs are the same as a wheelchair or any other medical device and requiring people register in advance would be a form of discrimination. If the public is allowed, service dogs are allowed. Vancouver and Toronto also can't require proof of vaccinations. The actual law: CanLII - Service Dogs Act, SA 2007, c S-7.5 Alberta's webpage about service dog requirements and laws: Service dogs in Alberta Guide to laws by one of the main service dog organizations in Canada, starts on pg 112: https://www.assistancedogsinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ADI20062ndprint.pdf
The provincial registration requirement I referred to was in reference to your comment about dogs from specific organizations. Again, I'm not a legal expert, and I can certainly see how that legislation can be interpreted to mean that they cannot require advance notification. However, I could also be convinced that the zoo is completely compliant with that legislation as they allow people with service dogs, they just require the advance notification. I appreciate that you feel that the advanced notification is discrimination (and it may very well be), but I'm not convinced the law sees it that way. The legislation itself does not speak directly to this issue (I'm not familiar with relevant case law that may swing one way or the other). That is a very information link but nothing I saw in there (if I missed it I apologize) explicitly stating that vaccination records cannot be requested.
Service animals, legally, are not "dogs". They are medical equipment. They cannot deny someone because of a lack of advanced notification, or because they didn't provide vaccine records, because that would be treating the person differently than the public is treated. For example, they wouldn't require documentation that a personal oxygen tank has been serviced and is up to code. Not requiring vaccine records doesn't need to be explicitly stated because it's covered by reasonable accommodation and by treating the person like any other member of the public. It's also a reasonable assumption that a registered service dog would be up to date with vaccinations - most, if not all, programs require them in the first place - and would be well behaved, given the requirements of getting that registration.
I do not fundamentally disagree with much of what you are saying. However, there is an important difference between what you or I feel to be right, along with what we read into the legislation and what the legislation actually states and actually requires. A lot of what you say the zoo can't do, it is doing along with several other zoos. Will have to wait and see if their policies change. I'm going to end my participation in this debate at this point, as this conservation is hijacking the thread and for my taste it has gone too far from the relevant policy to personal interpretations.
I'm not coming at this from a personal point of view - I have many friends with service dogs and am well versed in service dog law, both in the USA and Canada. A lot of businesses don't understand what they can and can't do, as it isn't a priority to them; it only means they haven't been challenged yet, as most people can't afford the possible legal costs it would take to stand up against a business's policies, unfortunately.
Not trying to respark the debate I accidentally started. I was just floored the author never bothered to mention the obvious ease in finding the information in an very obvious attempt just to make the zoo look bad. Those attempts always cheese me off. It's not the big bad zoo verse the service dog which is how the article comes off. Seeing as I did set of an interesting conversation maybe one of you should start a thread about accessibility in zoos either in the Canadian forum or the general forum? Carry on the conversation in a dedicated thread. I'm sure others would like to discuss it if there isn't already a thread on the matter. Just an idea for you two.
The zoo is about to get some African pygmy geese from Denver. It's a non breeding group of males but what a beautiful addition they will be to the zoo!
