Toronto Zoo
Toronto Zoo is the largest zoo in North America, located near the largest Canadian city of Toronto. The zoo was founded on the site of an old menagerie in 1974. Today it covers an area of 300 hectares and is located in the heart of Rouge Park. By its size, the Canadian zoo is one of the three largest zoos on the planet. It is difficult to walk around its territory in one day, because the length of pedestrian paths laid here exceeds 10 km. Many visitors prefer to move from pavilion to pavilion on a train with four cars, which is called “zoomobile.”
Video: Toronto Zoo
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In addition to its impressive size, the Toronto Zoo boasts a huge collection of animals. There are more than 5,000 animals in cages, aviaries and open pens, but if you include fish and invertebrates, the zoo has more than 16,000 inhabitants. Notably, some of them – koalas, golden snub-nosed monkeys and white lions – are extremely rare to live in captivity.
.The zoo staff has made a lot of effort to create for all the animals and birds conditions close to their natural habitat. The spacious pavilions are kept at a special temperature and humidity. Biologists daily monitor the proper nutrition and health of the animals and birds.
Interesting places
At the entrance, when buying tickets, all guests of the zoo receive a special guide that contains a map and the most popular routes. The territory of the Toronto Zoo is divided into six themed zones. In each of them you can see representatives of the animal world of one of the geographical regions of the planet – Africa, America, Indo-Malaysia, Eurasia, Oceania and . In addition, there is a separate exhibit of Canada’s animals and the Tundra Track, popular with tourists, its own Botanical Garden and a large aquarium. In addition to birds – the native inhabitants of Canadian forests and lakes, the Toronto Zoo is home to penguins, tiny hummingbirds, flamingos and parrots.
For children, there is a dinosaur exhibit on the zoo grounds. Here, young visitors can wander among moving models of prehistoric reptiles.
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Tourist information
The Toronto Zoo grounds are open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the summer months, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the spring and fall, and 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the winter. Tickets at summer rates (May 6 to October 9) cost CAD $29 for visitors 13 to 64 years old. Seniors (over 65) get into the zoo for 24 Canadian dollars, and children 3 to 12 years old for 19 Canadian dollars. At other times of the year, tickets are $4 to $6 Canadian dollars lower.
.On the territory of the Toronto Zoo, comfortable places for rest are created, cafes work. Especially many food outlets open on weekends, when the zoo has more visitors.
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Parking is paid when you buy a ticket to the zoo and costs 12 Canadian dollars. Note that holders of Toronto CityPass tourist cards can save almost half off the ticket price.
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For those who want to spend the night in conditions as close to wildlife as possible, the Toronto Zoo has organized tent camps. There is a Zoo Camp for children ages 4 to 16, while adults can stay in authentic African tents at Bushlamp.
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How to get there
The Toronto Zoo grounds are spread out in the green space of Rouge Park, 34 km northeast of downtown Toronto. Its entrance is located on Meadowvale Rd. It is not difficult to get here by cab or rental car. In addition, shuttle buses run from Kennedy Station and Kipling subway stations to the zoo.
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