Hello all, below is my first attempt at reviewing a zoo visit. Personally, I have been to about 30 zoos in North America; I've read many of the reviews posted on here, and tried to develop an approach based off those reviews. I will be going on a long zoo themed road trip in a few weeks and am aiming to do reviews along the way, so any feedback on my format/approach is greatly appreciated. I took a lot of photos, and will hopefully be posting those within 48 hours. Thanks and enjoy! On August 23rd and 24th I had the opportunity to visit Zoo de Granby, which is located in Granby Quebec, approximately one hour east of Montreal. During this past summer, the zoo welcomed 727,000 guests. I was there for two days as I was with a family member who has two children and had purchased a family pack that includes two nights hotel accommodations and two days at the zoo. The zoo includes a water park and amusement park and markets itself as needing two days to fully visit. While the rest of my group spent the first half of both days in the zoo before heading into the water park, I spent both days exploring the zoo (if you are only interested in the zoo then one day is more than sufficient). SPECTACULAR Giraffe/Zebra/Ostrich Exhibit - Along with several other hoof stock species, these animals have a beautiful and large exhibit. I was pleasantly surprised with how spacious and grassy this exhibit was. Visitors are offered multiple viewing spots for the exhibit, which is beneficial as the animals have numerous areas to venture into. The only downside there is that means you are often looking at other visitors directly across from you while you are watching the animals. Combined with very noticeable hotwire in spots and buildings at the back of the exhibit detracts from the immersive feel of that exhibit. While that means this exhibit cannot compete with the Heart of Africa, African Grassland exhibits, it is still a top notch exhibit that was a pleasant surprise to spend a lot of time at. Amur tiger/Amur leopard/Snow leopard - I have lumped these three together even though they do not share/rotate an exhibit space. I feel that all are solid exhibits, albeit not in the conversation of best in class. You come to the snow leopards first, who are next door to an Asiatic black bear exhibit. On both days the exhibit had three cats in it, I believe they were cubs from a couple years ago (my complete lack of French language skills prevented me from gleaming much information from keepers, although I was able to order a burger successfully). The exhibit offers a reasonable sized area of natural substrate, multiple climbing opportunities and a rocky cliff system near the rear. On my second day there I was fortunate to catch the three leopards playing, chasing each other around the exhibit and up the cliff side at the back. There is a similar set up for the Amur leopards, although they have two exhibits. Both exhibits views through fencing or glass. Again, the exhibits offer lots of climbing opportunities, hiding spots, and are a respectable size. Finally, the Amur tigers also have two exhibits. You enter the first exhibit by walking into a den like structure, as you progress down the ramp there are small windows that give you a glimpse into the habitat. Once you enter the main view area, you are surrounded by windows looking into the large space for the cats. Included is a pond that if the tigers choose to use, provides the guest the chance to see them underwater. Exiting the den brings you to the second and slightly smaller exhibit, all viewable through fence. Compared with the leopard habits, the tiger exhibits are relatively plain. Although climbing and enrichment opportunities are still available. The layout of the snow leopard and second tiger exhibit meant that once again you can see visitors in the background as you watch the animals. Red Panda - The red pandas have both an indoor and outdoor exhibit. The indoor exhibit is awful. However, the outdoor exhibit is a wonderful spacious exhibit with a variety of climbing opportunities for the animals to explore. Unfortunately, I was only able to get a brief glimpse of a red panda, as most of the times I stopped by they were sleeping in a den that only provided allowed their tail to be seen. However, I'm sure anyone fortunate enough to see the animal out and about in this exhibit would have a great experience. Japanese Macaque - I wrestled with this one a bit, as it could also go in the category. The macaque's have a larger area with lots of climbing opportunities, including trees and rocks. Guests have multiple vantage points through fencing, a large viewing window, and a cave they can enter which provides a small window view into the exhibit. There were several infants that kept visitors thoroughly entertained. My biggest critique here is the unnatural backdrop of the exhibit, which looks rather unnatural. The exhibit itself didn't blow me away, but I could not find many reasons to critique it. NOT SPLENDID NOR ATROCIOUS White Rhino - Two rhinos share a lush but rather uninspiring exhibit along with grey crowned cranes and zebras (the latter being indicated on the map, but I never saw any in there). As with many other exhibits at Granby, there are multiple vantage points to view the animals from. The biggest knock on this exhibit is its size. While the size of this exhibit is sufficient, a much larger exhibit is preferable. Lions - A pride of three lions live at Granby, with one female and the male being a fairly young pair recently transferred from Bowmanville zoo. They are joined by a much older female. Their exhibit is a grassy hill including several artificial caves for them to get shade in or perch on top of. The size of the exhibit is deceptive; at first glance it appears to be a decent size yet on closer inspection a large chunk of the left size of the exhibit is blocked off by hotwire. This exhibit is a relatively standard exhibit, which equates with it being adequate for the cats but keeps it out of the top category of exhibits. Gorillas - Two male silverbacks comprise the bachelor troop at Granby. They have an indoor exhibit in the Africa Pavilion that is larger than a lot of indoor exhibits, yet is fairly unattractive at the same time. Outdoors, they have a moderately sized exhibit where guests initially have a view of the apes through glass. The glass is formed around a model jeep allowing visitors to sit in the front while the gorillas are in the back of the jeep on the other side of the glass. Moving along brings provides an unobstructed view of the apes via a moat. Unfortunately this view is marred by a line of hotwire at the edge of the grass preventing the gorillas from getting to the water. Hotwire is also used near the rear of the exhibit where there is a massive waterfall. I appreciate the need to keep the apes away from the waterfall, but I also question why have it at all. The hotwire in front of it is clearly visible and detracts from any natural view of the exhibit. The exhibit offers the apes plenty of climbing opportunities. Ring Tailed Lemurs - The lemurs have a lovely little island habitat, with a small shed that offers them lots of opportunity to jump around. On my first day at Granby I passed by the exhibit during a keeper talk, and it was quite enjoyable to watch the lemurs run around the exhibit after food and leap up to and off of the roof. My concern here is what happens to the lemurs in the cooler months? Keeping lemurs outdoors in Quebec is only feasible for a portion of the year. While the zoo is barely open in the winter (more on that later), what are the lemur accommodations like then? When the zoo is open in the winter, are they completely off exhibit? Jaguars - The jaguars have three exhibits at Granby, an indoor one that on its own would been classified below, an adjacent outdoor exhibit that offers the cats numerous climbing opportunities along with a decent amount of water. This exhibit borders an outdoor Patas monkey exhibit, and on several instances I noticed one of the cats sitting quite focused on top of a tree staring into the monkey's exhibit. The biggest issue with this exhibit is that it is quite difficult to see, most of it is view through glass that has an atrocious glare while the remaining viewing opportunities are through double fencing. This doesn't detract from the animal's experience or care in the exhibit, which is obviously most important, but it does limit the ability of guests to be cognizant of the strengths of this exhibit. Finally, there is a third jaguar exhibit in what I think (based off old maps) used to be a bear exhibit. The exhibit has been well set up with multiple trees and platforms for the cats to climb (although the latter have a decidedly unnatural look to them). There is also a small water area for the cats, which ideally would be expanded. The exhibit is self is less than flattering as an old 360 dome with ugly green bars surrounding it, and the common theme of guests staring back at you from the other side of the exhibit. The Temple - Connected with the jaguar exhibits is The Temple, which contains decent primarily indoor exhibits for South American animals, in particular primates. Spider Monkeys do have a nice outdoor exhibit as well. Asiatic Black Bears - I always enjoy seeing this species, especially considering how rare it has become in North American zoos. Viewed at multiple points through glass windows, the bear (I only ever saw one on both days) has a decent size habitat with enrichment opportunities, and a moderately sized pond. Australia - I am reviewing this section of the zoo as a single entity. The Australia exhibit is a walkthrough exhibit where guests are able to get near wallabies and kangaroos, as well as emus who are in an enclosed exhibit. This is a fairly modern section of the zoo, and it offers a lot of engaging activities for children and statues to pose with. My biggest complaint here was the relatively small number of animals present. For most of this section it felt that we were walking through an empty segment of the zoo. That sentiment was forgotten near the end of the section when the kids got to touch a kangaroo, but I think this area would be greatly improved by even a slight increase in the number of animals. River Hippopotamus - I strongly debated whether this exhibit should be listed here or below. Two adults and a baby hippo have a decent size pool to go along with a very small area of sand. Guests have a series of large windows allowing for underwater viewing, although I question the strength of the filtration system as on one trip by it was impossible to see anything. There is also an area to view the hippos unobstructed if they come out of the water to their sandy area. I was rather underwhelmed by this exhibit. The underwater viewing could certainly use an update, and the grazing area is sad even compared to more modern exhibits that have been critiqued for a lack of land area. Elephants - The land available for two African elephants is adequate, although not much more. They have two habitats which are separated by a fence, however on both days the fence gate was open allowing the elephants to explore either habitat. Visually the exhibit is passable (although from certain vantage points, you do have cable wire, walls, buildings and other visitors in the background). My biggest concerns are that the space provided the elephant should be much larger, and their winter accommodations. I think the winter building could be seen in the background and it did not look particularly large. I also wonder what the future of the elephant program is here as they only house the two animals. TIME FOR AN UPGRADE Africa Pavilion - As already noted, this area does contain a passable indoor gorilla exhibit; it is also home to indoor only enclosures for mandrills, otters and several other species. The mandrill exhibit size wise is passable, but aesthetically it is in dire need of an overhaul. The otter exhibit is even worse, being comprised mostly of mock rock with an okay sized pool. My personal preference would be to phase out these animals and reconfigure the space as a much larger and more advanced indoor gorilla habitat. Zoo Infrastructure - I'm not sure of the best way to categorize these issues. To begin, the parking situation is a mess. There is one main lot that on both mornings we sat for at least 20 minutes waiting to turn off the road into it. On the way out the second day, it took us 40 minutes to get out of the parking lot. We finally got out quicker when an employee emerged to direct traffic to an exit at the other end of the lot. I was grateful for this employees assistance, but wonder why there is not regularly staff out there helping with the situation? Similarly, on the entrance to the lot there are staffers once you get in the lot directing you where to park, but this is only after you've passed the bottleneck. Once inside the zoo, signage could be greatly improved. There are very few signs around detailing the animals guests are looking at. My family members who are fully bilingual often had to rely on me to tell them what animals they were looking at (I'm hoping I was mostly accurate). The lack of signage also limits the reach of education and conservation messages from the zoo. Finally, the hours are rather odd. I was there a week and a half before the labour day long weekend and the zoo was only open 10-5. Starting the following week, it is only open weekends until the winter season at which point it completely closes for a brief period. The zoo still draws a respectable level of attendance, but I personally would love for it to have more flexible hours. OVERALL Going in my expectations were limited and I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the Granby Zoo. While the collection is limited compared to Toronto Zoo, and none of the exhibits would compete for top honours; there are a notable number of decent to good exhibits at this zoo. I would fully recommend a visit to any zoo enthusiast as I feel this is quality mid level zoo.
Thank you for the review, I did not get to visit when I was in Montreal some years ago. Are there any birds there besides the ostrich, emu, and grey crowned cranes?
There are other birds, although I did not make a comprehensive list. From recollection (and going through my photos) there are also: marabou stork, greater flamingos, Andean condor, red crowned crane, and according to the map an Eurasian eagle owl, that exhibit however was closed.
