Hehehe, I made a rhyme Anyway, I am a proud Canadian, and as such, have visited a number of proud Canadian zoo's (and aquariums). I like typing, and I think everyone loves a good zoo review, so I figured I'd hop in and chime in with my two cents too. I won't blast these out all at once, I'll probably type one up every couple of days. I'll be reviewing the following facilities for now: Edmonton Valley Zoo Calgary Zoo Vancouver Aquarium African Lion Safari Marineland of Canada Toronto Zoo I've visited a number of other places, but these are the biggest names out of the ones I've visited, so they go first. And with that, I'll start with arguably the largest in Canada, the Toronto Zoo The Toronto Zoo is one of Canada's largest zoo's, and one of only six currently AZA accredited facilities within Canada. It boasts a rather interesting layout, and without any shadow of a doubt is the most heavily discussed Canadian Zoo on Zoochat. In that regard I would liken it to the Chester or Cincinnati Zoo of the Canadian subform. Anyways, lets jump on in with the review! I have only visited the Toronto Zoo once, a rather recent visit at the beginning of October with the specific goal in mind to view their absolutely adorable pygmy hippo calf who had just gone on display. I had been looking forwards to this visit since the announcement of the calf, and planned it around the animal, not the weather, so you can imagine my disappointment when I show up to the zoo on an overcast and rainy day, with temperatures tickling just above 10 degrees at the highest. I initially was un-daunted by this, however it quickly became apparent the weather would be the biggest hindrance of my day. I started my day early, departing St. Catherines at a healthy 7:30 in the morning, giving myself a healthy two hours to get to the zoo for a 9:30 open. I was feeling good, as I can generally make the drive in just over an hour, and there was my first mistake, as I have only ever drove around Toronto in the evenings, or sleepy weekday afternoons, giving me a false sense of comfort. I did not account for the absolutely DISGUSTING traffic leading into Toronto on a weekday morning, and what was supposed to be a pleasant hour and a half drive to the zoo with a leisurely stop at walmart for a new SD card and breakfast turned into a blood boiling three and a half hour battle through bumper to bumper traffic, a mad dash through a Scarborough Walmart that was a mercifully close 5 minutes from the zoo to procure an SD card and stuff a greasy mcdonalds breakfast down my throat, before finally getting to the zoo for just before 11. An hour and a half cut off from my visit, I was not a happy camper. Now that I was finally in, lets set the scene. The Toronto Zoo is essentially laid out in a series in inter connected loops, more or less based on regional areas. When you first enter the zoo you are greeted with a deceptively small entry plaza, with several admission booths, and a few other customer service type things. Once past that, you find yourself in another plaza, with some giftshops and a Tim Hortons, and the option to head left or right. I chose left, with the first exhibits coming up rather quickly on either side of the path. To the left is their Indian Rhino Pavilion, and to the right a rather large outdoor exhibit for a single young clouded leopard. The Rhino pavillion is small but nice, and I would say affords the best viewing of Indian Rhinos in Canada. Calgary's indoor viewing may have been slightly better, however I unfortunately missed their rhino by a mere week after he was transferred, so I can't say for sure. The indoor "pavilion" is simply just a small room looking into the indoor exhibit. It is rather nice, with good sight-lines and no obstructions blocking views of the animals. Their breeding bull, Vishnu, was on exhibit. Also on exhibit are a pair of Mandarin Ducks swimming in the indoor pool/moat, and a couple of Cattle Egrets. I was excited to see signage for Little Pied Cormorants, and promptly disappointed to find the signage was old, and there have been no birds displayed there for years. Exiting the indoor viewing, to the left of the building is an Outdoor viewing only exhibit for Babirusa. Their male, Bucky was on exhibit and puttering around outside on this cool day. The exhibit is fairly flat and grassy with a few large trees, but one of the nicer Babirusa exhibits I have seen! To the right of the building is the Indian Rhino outdoor exhibit, and the rhinos seemed to have the right idea, with not a single one to be seen outside (upsetting, I was looking forwards to seeing their breeding cow and young calf). The exhibit is fine, and visually pleasant, grassy with a reasonable sized pool and again good sight lines, its one of the nicest exhibits for the species I have seen personally from a visual standpoint. Across the path from all this, is the Clouded Leopard exhibit, which used to house Lion Tailed Macaques. It is fine, and quite spacious, for the single cat, she was lounging on a branch under a heater, which offered very good views for photography. Moving along, you come up to the Malaysian Woods Pavilion. Its fairly small, and very hot and humid, which on this cold day caused my camera lens to almost immediately fog up, rather annoying. It consists of a large glass roofed room that is heavily planted, with a ring of exhibits surrounding it. Living in the main "free flight" are a handful of exotic doves (emerald and luzon bleeding heart), and at the time of my visit, a single butterfly. There were also a couple of chipmunks running around, and this seems to be a recurring theme, as I saw them in virtually all of the pavilions. There is a planted exhibit for Red Billed Magpies (one of which is a piebald individual, a very pleasant surprise!) and Palawan Peacock Pheasant's (one of which was actually produced by an acquaintance of mine). This exhibit is disappointing however, being poor for both viewing and photography. The other "large" exhibit is for a breeding pair of Clouded Leopards that is also terribly for photography, being both backlit from windows behind the exhibit, and having red lighting along the front. The outdoor exhibit for their offspring is much better, IMO. There are several smaller exhibits for various reptiles, insects, and a big fat giant gourami, but nothing to write home about (although a Chinese Big Headed Turtle was a rarity and pleasant surprise). Alright, puttering along, you come to the Indo-Malaya Pavilion, one of the zoo's two largest and most dynamic pavilions. It is rather large, and the absolute first thing that struck me with the overcast weather, the lighting in these things SUCK!!! I'll touch more on this later, but I'll continue on for now. My other first impression, other than the lighting, was DAMN!!!! This is impressive! I can honestly say entering the Indo-Malaya pavilion has been hands down one of my most jaw dropping first presentation zoo experiences I have had to date. Between the massively high vaulted ceilings and lush planting, plus some lovely water features, I was absolutely blown away with the initial impression! One of the first exhibits you come upon is the Tomistoma exhibit. Its very nice, with clear water and good underwater viewing. Its the nicest Tomistoma exhibit for viewing I've seen to date. Also near the entrance is a small aviary for Green Naped Pheasant Pigeon and Asian Fairy Bluebird. Its fine, nothing special. Next is a large free flight with a large pond full of fish, and a few free flying birds. At the time of my visit the only birds I saw were a pair of Pied Imperial Pigeons, according to staff most of the others were off exhibit while they did some renos to the glass panels in the ceiling. Next up you enter another largely empty free flight, but it is very nicely planted. There's also a nice aquarium featuring a variety of asian carp species, along with some other impressively sized fish specimens, but I can't remember the exact placement of it in the Pavilion. Moving along, you next come up to a fairly average exhibit for a hefty reticulated python, followed up by the Orangutan exhibit. I have seen pictures of it, but I was honestly underwhelmed by the size of it. It's entirely indoors, however it does offer some rather nice photography opportunities. It would rank rather low on the list of Orang exhibits I have seen, probably tied for last with Lowry Park. Following that is an nice but average exhibit for Boelen's Python, and an exhibit for Lar Gibbons that is fine. It's all indoors, but offers them a decent amount of space (better than a monkey island, for sure) but could make better use of climbing opportunities. The exhibit, much like the orang's, is moated, so sight lines are good. Beside this is, in my opinion, the biggest jem of the Indo-malaya, the Great Pied Hornbill exhibit. On display is their ancient wild caught male Jonah, I believe he is the oldest male in North America. He is is surprisingly good shape for his age, and he was active and fun to watch during my visit, jumping and climbing about his well planted exhibit and calling back and forth with the gibbons. If you didn't tell me I would have guessed him to be in perhaps his late 20's at best, he is very nimble. I would rank this exhibit as tied for #2 that I have seen, with Miami's very impressive Hornbill aviary taking first place, and holding second place with Houston, both exhibits are nice, but both have their strengths and weaknesses. My main contention with Toronto was the black mesh for the exhibit is not very photography friendly, and as mentioned earlier, the lighting is sub-par if it is not a sunny day out. The zoo also houses another equally ancient female Hornbill named Asha, she is blind and off exhibit, but if you ask the right people real nicely they might let you meet her She's a wonderful bird, and don't let her age and handicap fool you, she is still in good health, and a strong, solid bird. Interestingly, not as soft as they look either, their plumage falls onto the courser side of things. There are a few other exhibits in the Indo-Malaya pavilion I have left out, mostly small reptile exhibits, but also a larger exhibit for Wrinkled Hornbill, however I did not stop by these, so I can't speak for them. If I had to guess through, they are probably nice, but need better lighting. Alrightly, well this is turning out longer winded than expected. I'll call it quits here for now, and continue with part two shortly! (Also feel free to comment in between, lol)
Interesting to see someone who hasn't visited opinion on the zoo. I look forward to your trek around the zoo! Hornbill, Jonah is old. If Sacramento's male is still alive he has Jonah beat. That male would be the oldest hornbill in North America. You didn't meet her on your visit but the zoo's blind female Asha who is used for out reach is older by 5 years. If the Sacramento male and a female at Audubon are still alive shes number 3 and a Tuson female would make Jonah 5th oldest.
Interesting first-review of my local zoo! I must admit that I'm quite fond of the Indomalaya pavilion, the exhibits aren't the best but the species are nice, and the tropical feel is quite good. Probably my favourite part f the zoo.
@TZDugong there are other reviews out there for the zoo if you are interested. You just have to hunt for them in the older threads. Sometimes its fun to go back to those old reviews simply to see how much things have changed if you find a really old one. I can't think of the last time there was one but I remember reading them in the past.
