Wow a price tag of $30 is outrageous for what you describe when the country's largest zoo, Toronto, only charges that and you get to see roughly 500 species (or so the website claims). If I paid that much for that little I would be livid.
That being said I do hope their master plan can transform the zoo. It has struggled definitely in the past but might be on the cusp of a better, brighter future. Vancouver deserves a zoo on par with Toronto and Calgary. Not saying it will get there any time soon. It would take a ton more money then budgeted to get there at any real rapid pace. But their plans do make it sound like a they are looking to move up the ranks in the Canadian zoo community.
As always I appreciate your reviews of the places I can't visit.
I just feel that both the government and the public in Canada don't want to support the zoo that much. Vancouver has the best environment in Canada for a big zoo, since it has warm temperatures and mass of wealthy citizens, and it is a well-known city for tourism. But Greater Vancouver Zoo doesn't utilize this environment at all. When I see those great projects being done by Leipzig, Zurich, Prague, and Lodz, I always wonder when can I see similar work done by Canadian zoos, but their cities are very supportive of the zoos, while cities in Canada may not.
The Greater Vancouver Zoo, along with Wildlife Preservation Canada (WPC), released 2000 Taylor's Checkerspot butterfly larvae into the wild on Hornby Island.
Three snow leopards named 0.1 Batu, 1.0 Bodhi, and 1.0 Kyanada arrived in mid-November from the Assiniboine Park Zoo. The snow leopards are currently exhibited in the former yellow baboon exhibit.
Two alpacas named 1.0 Titus and 0.1 Penelope arrived in mid-November from a private facility. The alpacas are currently exhibited in the American flamingo exhibit.
Six bighorn sheep named 1.0 Lutin, 1.0 Saturnin, 0.1 Demi-Lune, 0.1 Blanca, 0.1 Olive, and 0.1 Popcorn arrived in late February from the Saint-Félicien Zoo. The bighorn sheep are currently exhibited in the former aoudad exhibit.
Two reindeer named 0.1 Dancer and 0.1 Vixen arrived in mid-April from Grouse Mountain. The new reindeers are currently exhibited in the very south-west corner exhibit beside the dwarf zebu and common eland. They are currently undergoing quarantine there before joining the zoo's resident herd.
Princess, the zoo's 16-year-old female common eland, has been moved to the dwarf zebu exhibit. She now lives with Zeus, a dwarf zebu, and Ernie, the zoo's 18-year-old male common eland.
• Construction of the new giraffe barn is progressing well.
• The giraffe and tiger gazebos at the picnic area have been demolished, new foundations have been constructed, and a new tent structure has been raised.
• ‘This exhibit is currently being renovated’ signs have been hung up at the American alligator exhibit. Also, the American alligator sign has been replaced with a ‘Native Species around the Zoo’ sign.
• The informational signage at Conservation Corner have been given a much-needed update.
• The forested area west of Mesozoic Adventure has started to be cleared out.
The Greater Vancouver Zoo has followed suit with several other American and Canadian zoological institutions by moving their avian species to indoor areas and modifying the enclosures to protect the birds against the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
Tess, one of the zoo's white lionesses, has been introduced to Boomer, the zoo’s African lion. The zoo now maintains two prides: Boomer and Tess in the southwest enclosure, and Kasal and Prim, the zoo’s other white lions, in the northwest enclosure.
Bob, the domestic donkey, Pearl, the American miniature horse, and Zeus, the dwarf zebu, have been moved into the vacant enclosure beside the scimitar-horned oryxes.
Gigi, one of the zoo's female grey wolves, has given birth to six (0.0.6) pups. The pups emerged from the den on June 4th, and are expected to become more active over the next few months.
• The wood and wire fencing at one of the old farm exhibits has been replaced with new wood panel fencing.
• Construction of the new giraffe barn is still ongoing, but progressing. Exterior panel siding has now been added.
• The zebra gazebo has been demolished and a second canopy tent has been raised at the pavilion area. A new foundation has been constructed where the zebra gazebo once stood.
• The American miniature horse and domestic donkey exhibit is now vacant, and the informational signage has been removed. A ‘This exhibit is currently being renovated’ and a ‘Where did the animals go?’ signs have been hung up at the exhibit.
• Hazina and Haben, the zoo’s hippos, are now sharing the same space again. During my visits, Hazina and Haben were together in the outdoor enclosure.
• The former American alligator exhibit is now home to Philly, the zoo’s Indian crested porcupine.
Will be interesting to see how things between Boomer and Tess workout, especially considering Tess is several years Boomer's junior. Do we know if one or both of them are fixed?
(Not gonna lie, I'll miss the animal-themed gazebos :'c)
Will be interesting to see how things between Boomer and Tess workout, especially considering Tess is several years Boomer's junior. Do we know if one or both of them are fixed?
(Not gonna lie, I'll miss the animal-themed gazebos :'c)
I was at the zoo today. There are 2 red panda cubs. No idea when they will be out for viewing. Generally, the cubs would begin to start exploring their enclosure any week now.
The zoo has updated the info on their site regarding the birth of the red pandas. It looks like the got the date of birth wrong by one day though. I've been sitting on the pictures below for the past couple of months as the zoo wasn't ready to announce the newcomers quite yet. The picture showing the afterbirth was taken on the 13th of June. It was close to closing time so I didn't get a chance to alert zoo staff till the next day that the birth had taken place. So as far as they are concerned, they likely thought it happened on the 14th.
Tess and Boomer have been mating again the last few days so could be she isn't pregnant. It is unusual but lionesses have been known to mate even while pregnant . If she is pregnant litter should be mid Sept.
Plan is for Black Bears to move over to the enclosure they are working on by Shadow and the grizzly cubs move into black bear enclosure.
Also the Alligator Pandora died this past winter sometime.
On the zoo's website, it says that they have 0:2 River Hippos that are sisters. Does that mean that Haben is actually female, and not male? By the way, the two hippos have been successfully reintroduced to each other, as stated by @Elephant Enthusiast. https://gvzoo.com/animals/hippopotamus/
On the zoo's website, it says that they have 0:2 River Hippos that are sisters. Does that mean that Haben is actually female, and not male? By the way, the two hippos have been successfully reintroduced to each other, as stated by @Elephant Enthusiast. https://gvzoo.com/animals/hippopotamus/
Sakura, the zoo's female red panda, gave birth to two (1.1) cubs on June 14th. The cubs have yet to be named. The father of the cubs is Arun, the zoo's male red panda.
Does anyone know the origins (birth dates, birthplaces, and parents) of the zoo's former Common Hippopotamus pair "Gertrude" and "Harvey", who passed away in August 2004 and January 2005, respectively?
Harvey was born at Granby on Dec 12 1983 and was called Alcide 4. He arrived in 1984 at 10 months old. His father was Patriarche and his mother was Sirene. He was the older full brother of Toronto's Petal and Perky II as well as the late Samson, Philly's Cindy, and 4 other siblings (also named Alcide 1, 2, 3 and 5).
In a statement on Friday morning, officials at the Greater Vancouver Zoo said Tempest, a one-year-old grey wolf, had been found and was “back with her family”. She had been located near the zoo, the statement said.
The news came a day after the zoo announced that another escaped wolf, Chia, had died, probably after being hit by a car.
Very sad to hear about Chia, but wonderful news that pup has been found. Truly makes you wonder what goes through peoples heads when they do things like this, thinking they're "saving" the animals and end up causing their death instead.
I've been following this story, both as a local and someone with an interest in zoological facilities, since the news first broke and honestly?... I'm not at all surprised this happened.
This isn't the first time someone has broken into the Greater Vancouver Zoo, and every one of my recent visits has only reaffirmed my concern on the zoo's lack of security. During my visits, I never encounter more than 1 to 3 zookeepers, and only once have I seen a security guard. In the back corners of the zoo (which is where the wolf enclosure is located), it feels very empty and un-managed, if that makes sense?
I sincerely hope this terrible incident prompts a serious upgrade in security measures at the zoo, for the safety of the animals and people, otherwise I really do fear something like this will happen again.
Very sad to hear about Chia, but wonderful news that pup has been found. Truly makes you wonder what goes through peoples heads when they do things like this, thinking they're "saving" the animals and end up causing their death instead.
Made the mistake of reading the comment sections of several articles/social media posts on the incident, and the brain rot is real. "Sorry to hear [you're] back in prison" and "Awe... I sincerely wanted the wolf to be free..." were just two of the many comments I came across, and they just highly how utterly disconnected most people are when it comes to animals in captivity.
Is the Greater Vancouver Zoo a great place to be as an exotic animal? No, not in its current state, but neither is being "released" into an environment (i.e. suburban Aldergrove) that you, an animal who's spent their entire life in captivity, are completely ill-equipped for.
Gah, okay, mini rant over lol.
At the end of the day, I'm very glad to hear most of the zoo's pack, especially the recent litter of six's parents, are safe and sound. And am super curious to see what comes of the investigation into the break-in/vandalism.
