Having spent several months compiling an exhaustive list of 670 zoos throughout the United States it took me only a couple of days to complete the research for my home nation of Canada. Even though in my lifetime I've visited 210 American zoos I feel rather embarrassed to admit that I've only toured 10 of the following 79 Canadian zoos. Maybe one day I'll go across the country again and visit many establishments, but for now I'd like to know what zoos I am missing. There must be several in Ontario that are not on my list and I'm only interested in zoos that are open to the public. 79 Zoos: 14 British Columbia Zoos: BC Wildlife Park (Kamloops, BC)* Bloedel Conservatory (Vancouver, BC) Greater Vancouver Zoo (Aldergrove, BC)* Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife (Vancouver, BC) Kicking Horse Grizzly Bear Refuge (Golden, BC)* Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre (Golden, BC) North Island Wildlife Recovery Association (Errington, BC) Parrot Island Sanctuary (Peachland, BC) O.W.L. (Orphaned Wildlife) Rehabilitation Society (Delta, BC) Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre (Sidney, BC)* Ucluelet Aquarium (Ucluelet, BC) Vancouver Aquarium (Vancouver, BC)* Victoria Bug Zoo (Victoria, BC) Victoria Butterfly Gardens (Brentwood Bay, BC) 7 Alberta Zoos: Alberta Birds of Prey Centre (Coaldale, AB) Calgary Zoo (Calgary, AB)* Discovery Wildlife Park (Innisfail, AB) Reptile World (Drumheller, AB) Edmonton Valley Zoo (Edmonton, AB)* GuZoo Animal Farm (Three Hills, AB) Sea Life Caverns (Edmonton, AB)* 1 Saskatchewan Zoo: Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo (Saskatoon, SK)* 3 Manitoba Zoos: Assiniboine Park Zoo (Winnipeg, MB)* Club Regent Casino Aquarium (Winnipeg, MB)* Thompson Zoo (Thompson, MB) 33 Ontario Zoos: African Lion Safari (Hamilton, ON)* Bird Kingdom (Niagara Falls, ON) Bowmanville Zoo (Bowmanville, ON)* Brantford Twin Valley Zoo (Brant, ON) Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory (Cambridge, ON) Cedar Meadows Resort Wildlife Park (Timmins, ON) Chippewa Park Wildlife Exhibit (Thunder Bay, ON) Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat (Cochrane, ON) Colasanti’s Tropical Gardens (Kingsville, ON) Elmvale Jungle Zoo (Elmvale, ON) Greenview Aviaries Park & Zoo (Morpeth, ON) Haliburton Wolf Centre (Haliburton, ON) High Park Zoo (Toronto, ON) Indian River Reptile Zoo (Indian River, ON)* Jungle Cat World (Orono, ON)* Killman Zoo (Caledonia, ON) Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo & Nature Centre (Hamilton, ON)* Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo (Ottawa, ON)* MarineLand Canada (Niagara Falls, ON)* Mountsberg Raptor Centre (Campbellville, ON) Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory (Niagara Falls, ON) Oshawa Zoo (Oshawa, ON) Papanack Zoo (Wendover, ON) Reptilia: Reptile Zoo & Education Facility (Vaughan, ON) Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada (Toronto, ON) Riverview Park & Zoo (Peterborough, ON)* Safari Niagara (Stevensville, ON)* Saunders Country Critters (Oxford Station, ON) Scales Nature Park (Forest Home, ON) Science North (Sudbury, ON)* Spruce Haven Zoo (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) Toronto Zoo (Toronto, ON)* Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre (Midland, ON)* 10 Quebec Zoos: Aquarium du Quebec (Sainte-Foy, QC)* Biopark Gaspesie (Bonaventure, QC) Granby Zoo (Granby, QC)* Montreal Biodome (Montreal, QC)* Montreal Insectarium (Montreal, QC) Parc Omega (Montebello, QC) Parc Safari (Hemmingford, QC)* Zoo de St-Edouard (St-Edouard-de-Maskinonge, QC) Zoo Ecomuseum (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC)* Zoo Sauvage de St-Felicien (Saint-Felicien, QC)* 4 New Brunswick Zoos: Butterfly World (Moncton, NB) Cherry Brook Zoo (St. John, NB)* Fundy Discovery Aquarium (St. Andrews, NB) Magnetic Hill Zoo (Moncton, NB)* 4 Nova Scotia Zoos: Maritime Reptile Zoo (Dartmouth, NS) Oaklawn Farm Zoo (Aylesford, NS) Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park (Shubenacadie, NS) Two Rivers Wildlife Park (Mira, NS) 2 Newfoundland & Labrador Zoos: Newfoundland Insectarium (Reidville, NL) Salmonier Nature Park (Avalon Peninsula, NL) 1 Yukon Zoo: Yukon Wildlife Preserve (Whitehorse, YT)* * 32 Canadian zoos are CAZA accredited
Don't feel too bad my total is just 6. Toronto Zoo Riverveiw Park and Zoo African Lion Safari Marineland Calgary Zoo Vancouver Aquarium I dont see that list growing much. Maybe Assiniboine and Safari Niagara but Id probably have to be going there anyway. My US list is even more pathetic.
Is this "Refuge" part of the Grouse Mountain attraction (bears, birds of prey, wolf); or a separate entity located elsewhere?
I just wondered, as I hadn't heard it called "Refuge for Endangered Wildlife". It would be hard to decide on a good definition of zoo, but it would be hard to come up with one that didn't include Grouse Mountain. I think it has to qualify as a zoo really. Albeit a very small one
Reptile World in Drumheller, Alberta, has now permanently closed. Lack of anti-venom at longtime Drumheller Reptile World zoo deemed ‘crazy’ | Metro SPCA Seizure of Reptiles: Drumheller?s Reptile World closing after SPCA seizure | Globalnews.ca GuZoo Animal Farm (Three Hills, Alberta), renowned as arguably Canada's worst "zoo", is getting rid of all of its exotic animals: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/guzoo-closure-celebrated-by-animal-rights-activists-1.3058541
Here is an updated list of 80 Canadian zoos and aquariums that is very similar to the one that I posted a year and a half ago. However, I made some minor changes and I'm curious to know if there are any zoos that I'm missing. British Columbia gained two small places that I didn't know about the first time around, Alberta had two zoos close in terms of showcasing exotics, CAZA accreditation has changed for several facilities, and Ontario saw the opening of a brand-new aquarium as of this month. Brockville Aquatarium: Aquatarium » at Tall Ships Landing The good news is that almost half of all Canadian zoos are CAZA accredited, meaning that there is a lack of substandard facilities across the nation. This is in direct contrast to the United States, where there are far superior zoos but also a large number of "roadside menageries". 80 Zoos: (69 zoos & 11 aquariums) 16 British Columbia Zoos: ++BC Wildlife Park (Kamloops, BC)* ++Bloedel Conservatory (Vancouver, BC) Butterfly World & Gardens (Coombs, BC) ++Greater Vancouver Zoo (Aldergrove, BC)* ++Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife (Vancouver, BC) Kicking Horse Grizzly Bear Refuge (Golden, BC)* Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre (Golden, BC) North Island Wildlife Recovery Association (Errington, BC) O.W.L. (Orphaned Wildlife) Rehabilitation Society (Delta, BC) Parrot Island Sanctuary (Peachland, BC) ++Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre (Sidney, BC)* ++The Reptile Guy: Rescue & Education Center (Mission, BC) Ucluelet Aquarium (Ucluelet, BC) ++Vancouver Aquarium (Vancouver, BC)* ++Victoria Butterfly Gardens (Brentwood Bay, BC) ++Victoria Bug Zoo (Victoria, BC) 5 Alberta Zoos: Alberta Birds of Prey Centre (Coaldale, AB) ++Calgary Zoo (Calgary, AB)* Discovery Wildlife Park (Innisfail, AB) ++Edmonton Valley Zoo (Edmonton, AB)* ++Sea Life Caverns (Edmonton, AB)* 1 Saskatchewan Zoo: Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo (Saskatoon, SK)* 2 Manitoba Zoos: Assiniboine Park Zoo (Winnipeg, MB)* Club Regent Casino Aquarium (Winnipeg, MB)* 35 Ontario Zoos: African Lion Safari (Hamilton, ON)* Aquatarium (Brockville, ON) Bird Kingdom (Niagara Falls, ON)* Bowmanville Zoo (Bowmanville, ON)* Brantford Twin Valley Zoo (Brant, ON) Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory (Cambridge, ON) Cedar Meadows Resort Wildlife Park (Timmins, ON) Chippewa Park Wildlife Exhibit (Thunder Bay, ON) Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat (Cochrane, ON)* Colasanti’s Tropical Gardens (Kingsville, ON) Creature Quest Canada (Hillsburgh, ON)* Elmvale Jungle Zoo (Elmvale, ON) Greenview Aviaries Park & Zoo (Morpeth, ON) Haliburton Wolf Centre (Haliburton, ON) High Park Zoo (Toronto, ON) Indian River Reptile Zoo (Indian River, ON) Jungle Cat World (Orono, ON)* Killman Zoo (Caledonia, ON) Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo & Nature Centre (Hamilton, ON)* Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo (Ottawa, ON)* MarineLand Canada (Niagara Falls, ON)* Mountsberg Raptor Centre (Campbellville, ON) Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory (Niagara Falls, ON) Oshawa Zoo (Oshawa, ON) Papanack Zoo (Wendover, ON) Reptilia: Reptile Zoo & Education Facility (Vaughan, ON)* Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada (Toronto, ON)* Riverview Park & Zoo (Peterborough, ON)* Safari Niagara (Stevensville, ON)* Saunders Country Critters (Oxford Station, ON) Scales Nature Park (Forest Home, ON) Science North (Sudbury, ON)* Spruce Haven Zoo (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) ++Toronto Zoo (Toronto, ON)* Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre (Midland, ON)* 10 Quebec Zoos: Aquarium du Quebec (Sainte-Foy, QC)* Biopark Gaspesie (Bonaventure, QC) Granby Zoo (Granby, QC)* ++Montreal Biodome (Montreal, QC)* Montreal Insectarium (Montreal, QC) Parc Omega (Montebello, QC) Parc Safari (Hemmingford, QC)* Zoo de St-Edouard (St-Edouard-de-Maskinonge, QC) Zoo Ecomuseum (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC)* Zoo Sauvage de St-Felicien (Saint-Felicien, QC)* 4 New Brunswick Zoos: Butterfly World (Moncton, NB) Cherry Brook Zoo (St. John, NB)* Fundy Discovery Aquarium (St. Andrews, NB) Magnetic Hill Zoo (Moncton, NB)* 4 Nova Scotia Zoos: Maritime Reptile Zoo (Dartmouth, NS) Oaklawn Farm Zoo (Aylesford, NS) Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park (Shubenacadie, NS) Two Rivers Wildlife Park (Mira, NS) 2 Newfoundland & Labrador Zoos: Newfoundland Insectarium (Reidville, NL) Salmonier Nature Park (Avalon Peninsula, NL) 1 Yukon Zoo: Yukon Wildlife Preserve (Whitehorse, YT)* * 36 Canadian zoos are CAZA accredited ++ I’ve visited 14 of the zoos on this list....but 285 in the USA!
If you count public parrot sanctuaries, in BC besides Parrot island, there is another one in Coombs. World Parrot Refuge – A Home for Life There is also a petting zoo with exotic animals north of Kelowna. Meet the Animals of Kangaroo Creek Farm I think are probably more small places like these that are virtually unknown for whatever reason.
The World Parrot Refuge on Vancouver Island has now closed due to insufficient funds. It was open from 2005 to 2016.
Hi snow leopard , I really enjoy enjoy and appreciate all of your posts. I recently found thousands of pics from hundreds of zoos aquariums etc etc that I'd thought were lost forever on a hard drive and hope to start posting some soon when I have any time at all. I thought this Phrase was interesting "The good news is that almost half of all Canadian zoos are CAZA accredited, meaning that there is a lack of substandard facilities across the nation. This is in direct contrast to the United States, where there are far superior zoos but also a large number of "roadside menageries". I'm not engaging in a war but I don't understand your comparison if there is one that you're trying to make.... If so isn't it like comparing facilities in Canada to Mexico as well or Europe to Australia , SEAZWA to South America Perhaps in terms of population or cultural and philosophical approaches to zoological populations or so ? Kindly and thoughtfully posed , Eric
As you know, I love touring the United States on long road trips and I have spent many summers visiting zoological attractions all across the nation. With more than 710 zoos (including 135 aquariums) the U.S. is arguably the world's #1 zoo nation and other than Germany I'm not sure if there is a single other country even close in terms of the breadth and depth of captive wildlife institutions. However, while America has a lot of fantastic zoos there are just as many appalling roadside attractions that should really be closed down. My point was that Canada might only have around 80 zoos but for the most part there aren't the endless stream of "home-made menageries" that are still common in the United States. In Canada there are only a handful of major zoological attractions that I'd call excellent but there have been a number of subpar zoos that have closed down over the past 20 years. The Canadian government appears to be stricter when it comes to validating and accommodating zoos and just since the 1990's there are several B.C, Alberta and plenty of Ontario zoos that have all closed to the public...meaning that many crappy zoos have been forced out of existence. In the United States there still happens to be far too many crappy zoos that look even worse when compared to the amazing establishments that abound in that nation.
I've been to one of these. Its a small petting zoo in Colbourne, Ontario that's part of some tacky roadside attraction called The Big Apple.
There is a new Insectarium in Ottawa right near Parliament Hill if I'm reading the directions right. Home - Ottawa Insectarium Reptilia also opened a second location in Whitby that there billing as the largest Reptile Zoo in Canada it's inside a former Rona. Is pretty nice large exhibits, but definitely not the largest collection wise. Bowmanville is also officially closed, in 2017 a new attraction attempted to reopen under different management wor with many fewer animals but was unsuccessful the location was unused in 2018.
Thanks for the information and it is intriguing that the new Ottawa Insectarium is only open for 4 months of the year. I can't imagine that they will have a lot of annual visitors if it is just a seasonal facility. Also, I read a recent article about Reptilia and there was mention of a possible future third site and so that franchise seems to be doing well.
Hello, Thanks so much for this interesting and extensive Canadian zoo list! It is definetely very informative and very helpful. I will be travelling to Bristish Columbia later this spring and I was wondering if there is any further updates on zoological institutions around there? Any other new institution opened since the last update of the full list in March 2016? Any closed institution? Thanks for your help, Jonas Livet
Here some possible additional zoological institutions not included in the 2016 list or in the updates following (most of them taken from my personal notes and listing): Alberta Calgary - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary & Nature Centre De Winton - Devonian Wildlife Conservation Centre (P?) Edmonton - Telus World of Science British Columbia Langley - Mountain View Wildlife Conservation Centre (closed?) Vancouver Island - Tony Barrett Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Centre (P) Manitoba Winnipeg - Canada's Diversity Gardens (under construction) New Brunswick Shippagan - New Brunswick Aquarium and Marine Centre Québec Chambly - Fauna Foundation (P?) Frampton - Miller Zoo Saint-David-de-Falardeau - Zoo de Falardeau Sainte-Anne-des-Monts - Exploramer Sherbrooke - Refuge de Buzz Ontario Barrie - Bear Creek Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary Simcoe - Trinity Acres? Sunderland - Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary (P?) Toronto - Riverdale Farm Toronto Whitby - Reptilia Whitby Closed institution Dartmouth - Maritime Reptile Zoo (2013-2015)
Alberta Calgary - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary & Nature Centre Does not house any animals. Is simply a protected natural area with an interpretive center. De Winton - Devonian Wildlife Conservation Centre (P?) Calgary Zoo's off-site breeding center. Closed to the public aside from a public visitation opportunity once a year. Edmonton - Telus World of Science Not a zoo in the slightest sense. They have two fish tanks and some composting worms, and maybe a few garter snakes off display still. British Columbia Langley - Mountain View Wildlife Conservation Centre (closed?) Closed years ago, sadly. Vancouver Island - Tony Barrett Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Centre (P) Off display, strictly a breeding center (but a very nice place to give a call to if you ever want to chat about marmots!) Manitoba Winnipeg - Canada's Diversity Gardens (under construction) New Brunswick Shippagan - New Brunswick Aquarium and Marine Centre I believe this place is still open and exhibiting! Québec Chambly - Fauna Foundation (P?) This place is strictly a sanctuary, and a genuine one. Not open to the public (however they do host workshops and the like on an as booked basis) Frampton - Miller Zoo Place is legit, its an actual zoo Saint-David-de-Falardeau - Zoo de Falardeau I don't want to use the words "roadside zoo", bbbbuuutttt.... Sainte-Anne-des-Monts - Exploramer Small public aquarium. Its legit. Sherbrooke - Refuge de Buzz This is a public collection, but its definitely not what could be considered a zoo. Ontario Barrie - Bear Creek Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary This place is on the cusp of being either a zoo, a glorified private collection, or a sanctuary for me (honestly I think its a bit of all three). Only open to the general public for a few months of the year, and only by pre-booked, guided tours. Simcoe - Trinity Acres? I can't find any reference to any sort of a business operating under this name in this location. Any links? Sunderland - Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary (P?) This place is a genuine sanctuary, not a zoo. Only open a handful of days a year. Toronto - Riverdale Farm Toronto Like Yi Qi said, just a petting zoo. Whitby - Reptilia Whitby Legit reptile zoo, recently opened. Closed institution Dartmouth - Maritime Reptile Zoo (2013-2015)
