What's missing from your city?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Is it just me, or does Canada only have like 3 real zoos? Toronto, Calgary, Granby.

Generally speaking, small zoos are both bad for visitors and bad for the animals.

The Magnetic Hill Zoo in Moncton has been ranked by CAZA as the #4 zoo in the country and is very well managed. It cooperates in scientific research, and helps with other zoos in the country to breed rare endangered species such as Amur Tigers and Leopards. It is the largest zoo in Atlantic Canada and is a source of civic pride.

Having said this, I agree that there are "the big three" zoos (Toronto, Calgary and Granby). The Magnetic Hill Zoo is simply the "best of the rest".

For anyone who's interested, heres a link to the pdf of the current five year plan for the Magnetic Hill Zoo.

http://www7.moncton.ca/Assets/Visito...2016-2021).pdf

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Is it just me, or does Canada only have like 3 real zoos? Toronto, Calgary, Granby.

Generally speaking, small zoos are both bad for visitors and bad for the animals.

I still haven't been to the Toronto Zoo yet but my sense is that the Calgary Zoo is the biggest and best zoo in Canada?

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Pavlov

I still haven't been to the Toronto Zoo yet but my sense is that the Calgary Zoo is the biggest and best zoo in Canada?

The Toronto Zoo is much larger in terms of area and number of animals/species than that of Calgary, is it not?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Having said this, I agree that there are "the big three" zoos (Toronto, Calgary and Granby). The Magnetic Hill Zoo is simply the "best of the rest".

I'm not so sure about that, hometown pride compels me to cite Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg as a pretty solid competitor in the race of also-rans:

[Taeolas]

Originally Posted by Razor

- I like the idea of an observation tower..It would have to be put on the Gatineau side though..It has the best view!

Actually, in a way, Ottawa does have an Observation tower... The Peace Tower in the Parliament buildings. I was there over the summer and the views were fabulous. (Partly from what I understand, the city limiting building heights to be below the Peace Tower) Of course you don't get a 'good' view of Parliament buildings from the tower itself, but you can see the rest of the region quite well.

That said, a tower on the Gatineau side would work well; maybe it could fit in with the Canadian Museum of History grounds somewhere.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

Actually, in a way, Ottawa does have an Observation tower... The Peace Tower in the Parliament buildings. I was there over the summer and the views were fabulous. (Partly from what I understand, the city limiting building heights to be below the Peace Tower) Of course you don't get a 'good' view of Parliament buildings from the tower itself, but you can see the rest of the region quite well.

That said, a tower on the Gatineau side would work well; maybe it could fit in with the Canadian Museum of History grounds somewhere.

Well there was a proposal to build two gigantic condo towers (55 and 35 storeys) right across the street from the museum, but it was rejected a few months ago.

[TorontoDrew]

It's been stated before but the Toronto Zoo is missing a direct connection from downtown. If the subway went there or a shuttle from Union was offered that would be so much better. It's reportatly the 5th largest zoo in the world encompassing 710 acres (287 ha) so what it's also missing is it's monorail. It's a huge place to get around on foot.


The zoo is currently home to over 16,000 animals representing over 491 species. The animals are divided into seven geographic regions: Indo-Malaya, Africa, Americas, Tundra Trek, Australasia, Eurasia and the Canadian Domain.

• Video Link

[SaskScraper]

originally posted by esquire
I'm not so sure about that, hometown pride compels me to cite Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg as a pretty solid competitor in the race of also-rans:

With ~1,200 animals including ~300 species, Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg probably is in top Canadian Zoo tier too ranking closely in size, i'd imagine, to the 1,800 animals including 200 species Granby Zoo in Quebec.

Greater Vancouver Zoo's 600 animals in 135 species, Edmonton Valley Zoo 350 animals in 100 species, Saskatoon Forestry Farm Zoo +300 animals in 80 species would represent the next tier for Canada, for Western Canadian Zoos at least...

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by esquire

I'm not so sure about that, hometown pride compels me to cite Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg as a pretty solid competitor in the race of also-rans:

Judging from your map, I would say that the Magnetic Hill Zoo is probably similar in size to the Assiniboine Park Zoo. Your zoo seems to have a very good collection of animals too.

Not having ever been to your zoo, I can't say which one is best. All I know is that about 5-6 years ago, a story came out that the MHZ had been rated as the 4th best zoo in the country. I don't know if this is an annual ranking or was a one-off event. In any event, the MHZ has won multiple CAZA awards, most recently for the new Amur tiger and leopard exhibit that was unveiled a couple of years ago. In addition, when the Calgary Zoo was flooded out a few years back, that institution deemed the MHZ to be trustworthy enough to allow some of their valuable animals to be relocated here (including the only giant anteaters in Canada).

I'm glad to see there are other good mid sized zoos in the country.

[WoodlandCritter]

Originally Posted by acottawa

African Lion Safari isn't a full zoo, but a pretty substantial operation.

I liked visiting African Lion Safari. If found this set up better than going to an actual zoo. Up close to so many animals that are allowed to wander around freely.

[TorontoDrew]

The last time I was there a lion chewed a hole in my friends bumper and the baboons covered her car in shit and blood. When we went to get a car wash after it looked like we were trying to wash away the evidence from a hit and run.

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

The Toronto Zoo is much larger in terms of area and number of animals/species than that of Calgary, is it not?

I suppose I could have just googled it. You're right. Toronto is much larger and has twice as many different species of animals. Not sure where my perception that Calgary was larger/better came from.

I should really get around to visiting Toronto Zoo I guess.

[suburbanite]

The Toronto Zoo is one of the best I've been too. Rivals San Diego for top in North America for sure.

Would definitely like to see the monorail back though. I thought the story was that it was defunct since it crashed into the wolf exhibit in the early 90's and the passengers had to be rescued.

[TorontoDrew]

I heard one crashed into another injuring several people. I never heard of the wolf story, though it does make for a better tail.

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Judging from your map, I would say that the Magnetic Hill Zoo is probably similar in size to the Assiniboine Park Zoo. Your zoo seems to have a very good collection of animals too.

Not having ever been to your zoo, I can't say which one is best. All I know is that about 5-6 years ago, a story came out that the MHZ had been rated as the 4th best zoo in the country. I don't know if this is an annual ranking or was a one-off event....

^^ Moncton Zoo is 40 acres in size and Assiniboine Zoo is 80 acres. I also took a quick look at your Magnetic Hill Zoo link to see what that the '4th place' ranking was all about, it was done by a company called Day Trips Canada https://www.day-trips.ca/
It's list not only had the Moncton Zoo as top 4 zoo in Canada but also Cherry Brook Zoo in New Brunswick as well with its 87 total animals in the top ten. Just have to take the rankings with a grain of salt I guess.

I also found a Zoo ranking that had Saskatoon Forestry Farm Zoo at top 9 AND top 23rd zoos of Canada, AHEAD of Vancouver Aquarium & Toronto Zoo (?)

https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best...nada/worldchap

Saskatoon Forestry Farm Zoo only averages about 140,000 visitors a year though
...which puts it about the same as the Moncton Zoo average visitors/year.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

The Toronto Zoo is one of the best I've been too. Rivals San Diego for top in North America for sure.

Would definitely like to see the monorail back though. I thought the story was that it was defunct since it crashed into the wolf exhibit in the early 90's and the passengers had to be rescued.

So according to wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Zoo_Domain_Ride

The train began running in 1976, and closed in 1994, after a train lost power and rolled backwards down the track into a second train, injuring about 30 people. Parts of the line were subsequently taken over by the Zoomobile, an open-air tractor-drawn vehicle with five stations (Main Station, Canadian Domain Station, Africa Station, Americas Station)[1] which had been operating since 1980.[2]


Also I never heard of this but I wonder if it's still a thing?...

There have been plans for the Toronto Zoo to have a maglev train operation replacing the Toronto Zoo Domain Ride. The Edmonton-based maglev consortium, which includes Magna and Lockheed Martin, would pay for the construction, as well as the first five years of operation, while the zoo would pay for the operation afterwards.[11]


Maglev, that's something we are missing lol.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

The last time I was there a lion chewed a hole in my friends bumper and the baboons covered her car in shit and blood. When we went to get a car wash after it looked like we were trying to wash away the evidence from a hit and run.

That is god damned hilarious...best zoo outing ever!

[suburbanite]

That's disappointing. I always remembered the wolf story from childhood trips to the zoo.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by esquire

I'm not so sure about that, hometown pride compels me to cite Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg as a pretty solid competitor in the race of also-rans:

That’s a slightly out of date map. The heavy horse facility has been open for quite a while. It’s very interesting. Why did they replace the lions with gibbons?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Andy6

That’s a slightly out of date map. The heavy horse facility has been open for quite a while. It’s very interesting. Why did they replace the lions with gibbons?

Yes, the heavy horse barn has been open for a couple of seasons now, and the finishing touches are happening to the new temporary exhibit building near the butterfly garden. As for the lions, they are still there near the tigers in the Asia section.

Much like the rest of Assiniboine Park, the zoo has been steadily improving over the last few years after a fairly long period of stagnation.