Calgary Zoo
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| Calgary Zoo | |
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 Calgary Zoo on St. George's Island
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| Date opened | 1929 |
| Location |  Calgary,  Alberta Canada |
| Land area | 0.3 km² (0.12 sq mi) |
| Coordinates | |
| Number of Animals | 1,001 [1] |
| Number of Species | 290 [1] |
| Accreditations/ Memberships |
WAZA, AZA, CAZA |
| Calgary Zoo Website | |
The Calgary Zoo is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Calgary Zoo is located just east of the city's downtown (adjacent to the Inglewood neighbourhood) and is easily accessible via Calgary's C-Train light rail system and just off Memorial Drive. A large portion of the zoo is located on St. George's Island in the Bow River.
The AZA, WAZA, and CAZA accredited zoo was among the first in Canada. As of 2006, it is home to 1,001 animals (does not include individual fish or insects) and 290 different species.[1]
It is the second largest zoo in Canada. The Calgary Zoo's facilities are considered to be world-class. The featured animal exhibits are organized by geographic region in large, realistic, and natural enclosures. A botanical gardens and a prehistoric park are also featured.
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[edit] History
The Calgary Zoological Society was established in 1929.
The recently completed Destination Africa expansion included two new high-tech facilities: The TransAlta Rainforest and the African Savannah. Another expansion project known as Project Discovery is currently underway and will feature a significantly expanded elephant enclosure (already completed), a new main entry (under construction), an overhauled conservatory, and an Arctic/Antarctic addition.
On November 17, 2004 an Asian Elephant calf was born at the Zoo. She was rejected by her mother and later died of an overwhelming infection, despite the efforts of zoo keepers and veterinarians. She was given the name, Keemaya, after her death.
Despite the unfortunate deaths of Keemya and a baby gorilla, a baby giraffe named Richard was born in late November and has been doing well. Also in March 21, 2007 a new baby siberian tiger was born. Its name is Vitali.
In August 2007, a new baby elephant, Malti, was born. Malti is doing very well (as of May, 2008).
Between May 10 and May 15, 2008, a total of 40 cownosed stingrays died from an unknown cause. Three survivors from the original group were quarantined in smaller pools where they, too, are exhibiting the black spots their fellow rays were afflicted with before dying.[citation needed]
[edit] Areas of the zoo
- Arctic Shores & Antarctic Landing: A project is planned at the current location of the north entry and will include the area of the prehistoric park. The project will likely involve both indoor and outdoor exhibits and the building will be the size of a football field. It will replace the zoo's former Arctic complex, which was demolished in 2000. In a controversial move, the zoo is currently planning to acquire Polar Bears for the project. Antarctic Landing is slated to feature King Penguins. Beluga Whales had been a planned addition until July 17th, 2007 when it was announced that they would not be included for finance reasons.
- Australia: The Australia complex is among the smaller areas of the zoo and includes a number of mammals, reptiles, and birds from Oceania in both outdoor and indoor enclosures.
- Botanical Gardens and Dorthy Harvie Conservatory: The outdoor gardens are among the zoo's most popular attractions and include the Dorothy Harvie Gardens. The zoo's sheltered location supports many exotic, marginally hardy plant species. The conservatory essentially comprises the indoor component of the zoo's gardens. It includes a number of "themed" areas such as the tropical garden, the rainforest, the arid garden, and the butterfly garden. A number of animals including birds and invertebrates are housed in the conservatory. The 30 year old facility is currently in the process of being upgraded and will soon feature increased emphasis on teaching visitors the importance of plants and improving energy efficiency.
- The Canadian Wilds: The Canadian Wilds were built in the 1990s to house the majority of zoo's collection of North American birds and mammals. The area is very large and includes spacious, realistic outdoor enclosures in three zones: the Aspen Woodlands, the Northern Forest, and the Rocky Mountains.
- Creatures of the Night: The Calgary Zoo's indoor nocturnal exhibit re-opened in 2004 as Creatures of the Night. The new exhibit features a lush nighttime forest that is home to a number of small mammals, birds, and insects.
- Destination Africa: The Destination Africa project was among the zoo's most ambitious expansions in its history. It opened in 2003. The complex of four buildings includes the TransAlta Rainforest and the African Savannah. The rainforest complex features an indoor forest and houses African mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, and invertebrates. The zoo's Western Lowland Gorilla troop is housed here as well. The savannah building is home to the zoo's hippos, including the forty year-old "Foggy" (originally from the Houston Zoo) and his mate "Sparkey" (originally from the Toronto Zoo)[2], giraffes, along with many smaller animals. Both the rainforest and the savannah have outdoor areas, which are used when the weather is good. The zoo's pride of lions are housed in an outdoor enclosure adjacent to Destination Africa (the African Bushweld).
- Eurasia: The western portion of St. George's Island is dedicated to Eurasian animals. Most of the exhibts are outdoor and animals include the Snow Leopards, the Siberian Tigers, and the Japanese Macaques. The Tropical Eurasia building is home to the zoo's Asian Elephants. The facility known as Elephant Crossing is home to the zoo's Asian elephants.
- Prehistoric Park: The Calgary Zoo's unique Prehistoric Park is an outdoor re-creation of southern Alberta as it might have appeared millions of years ago. The park features life-sized dinosaurs in their re-created geographical environment. This exhibit is quite rundown looking and will be removed once construction starts for Antarctic Landing and Arctic Shores.
- Primates: The zoo's indoor/outdoor primate facility is home to a number of monkey and prosimian species as well as Gibbons. Many of the animals are South American or Asian. There are quite a few African species still present as Destination Africa is not large enough to house all of the zoo's African species.
- Areas under development include Arctic Shores, Antarctic Landing, Elephant Crossing and the Conservatory[3]
[edit] Logo
The Calgary Zoo logo was designed to be interpreted as either a paw print, a stegosaurus, or a family of four.
[edit] Zoolights
Zoolights is a Christmas lights festival held annually at the Calgary Zoo. In 2005-06, it was held between December 1 and January 7. It closes only on Christmas Day. The animal themed show consists of almost 3 million lights and is the largest seasonal light show in Western Canada.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Calgary Zoo - 2005 Report
- ^ Telushippo.com - Facts. URL accessed June 22, 2006
- ^ Calgary Zoo - Project Discovery
[edit] External links
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