Calgary Zoo

About

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo is located in Bridgeland, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, just east of the city's downtown and adjacent to the Inglewood and East Village neighborhoods. It is accessible via Calgary's C-Train light rail system, by car via Memorial Drive, and by bicycle and footpath via the Bow River pathway. A large portion of the zoo is located on St. George's Island in the Bow River. The zoo is operated by the Calgary Zoological Society, an independent not-for-profit organization that is Alberta's oldest registered charity. The AZA-, WAZA-, and formerly CAZA-accredited zoo was among the first in Canada to be accredited by all three associations. It is home to over 1,000 animals, excluding individual fish and insects, and 272 different species. The 125-acre zoo is organized into distinct zones: Destination Africa, Wild Canada (formerly Canadian Wilds), Penguin Plunge, Dorothy Harvie Botanical Gardens and ENMAX Conservatory, Exploration Asia, and Prehistoric Park. The zoo is open every day except for Christmas Day. As of 2023, it is Canada's most visited zoo. The zoo has also received international recognition as one of the top zoos in the world for conservation research...

St. George's Island was Calgary's first park, used by the community for picnics, relaxing, and socializing. The first collection of animals began with two mule deer on the island in 1917. The collection expanded with more local wildlife as the popularity amongst park-goers increased. The Calgary Zoological Society was established on 9 January 1929 and took over administration of the facility from the City of Calgary.

Several animals died during floods in June 1929 when St. George's Island was swamped.

In 1937, the closure of the Banff Zoo in Banff National Park led to the transfer of more species and allowed the Calgary Zoo to cement itself as the largest zoological collection in the region.

In 1972, the zoo launched the "Ban the Bars" campaign to modernize its facilities with more natural enclosures.

Destination Africa opened in 2003 to include two new facilities The Rainforest and the African Savannah. The zoo opened Penguin Plunge, an Antarctic penguin addition in 2012.

In April 2013, the Calgary Zoo announced a master plan for rebuilding the zoo over 20 years. The initial focus on the master plan was preparing for the arrival of two giant pandas in 2018 for a five-year stay. Four giant pandas arrived in 2018 after the successful birth of twins at the Toronto Zoo. The cubs left the Calgary Zoo for China in January 2020, followed by their parents in November 2020 due to a lack of bamboo availability during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Calgary Zoo Foundation rebranded itself as the Wilder Institute and instituted the new joint Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo branding in 2021.

In 2025, the Wilder Institute, in collaboration with Parks Canada, University of Alberta, University of Kentucky, and University of California, Los Angeles, announced the discovery of a new species of hairsteak butterfly known as Satyrium curiosolus or Curiously Isolated Hairstreak.

The Calgary area suffered extensive flooding in June 2013 resulting in over $50 million in damage to the island section of the Calgary Zoo and parts of its Canadian Wild zone (see 2013 Alberta floods ). In a 12-hour period, with flood waters rising, zoo staff managed to move 140 animals to higher ground. In the end, the only animals lost were a number of fish, two peacocks, and a pot-bellied pig. The zoo was closed for most of July 2013; the northern 60 acres of the zoo reopened to the public for August through November. The zoo fully reopened in November 2013 with new animals, exhibits, and features unveiled in 2014, including mandrills and Komodo dragons.

The Calgary area suffered extensive flooding in June 2013 resulting in over $50 million in damage to the island section of the Calgary Zoo and parts of its Canadian Wild zone (see 2013 Alberta floods ). In a 12-hour period, with flood waters rising, zoo staff managed to move 140 animals to higher ground. In the end, the only animals lost were a number of fish, two peacocks, and a pot-bellied pig. The zoo was closed for most of July 2013; the northern 60 acres of the zoo reopened to the public for August through November. The zoo fully reopened in November 2013 with new animals, exhibits, and features unveiled in 2014, including mandrills and Komodo dragons.

Opened in 2003, the Destination Africa project was among the zoo's most ambitious expansions. The complex of four buildings includes the Rainforest and the African Savannah. The Rainforest occupies 2,900 square metres (31,000 square feet) and features a collection of African rainforest flora and fauna. The African Savannah building is home to hippos, Masai giraffes, red river hogs, and a baobab tree. A 340,000-litre (80,000-gallon) indoor pool for hippos offers view of the creatures underwater.

In the warmer months, the doors lift to connect the building with the rest of the Savannah exhibit, home to Hartmann's mountain zebras, grey crowned cranes and ostriches. Many other animals of the grasslands, including African lions, also reside in the Savannah exhibit. In the Rainforest, there are primates such as western lowland gorillas, eastern black-and-white colobus, and mandrills, and a number of reptiles including leopard tortoises, Malagasy tree boas, and a pair of dwarf crocodiles, as well as an aviary containing various species of African birds.

In 2017, the Land of Lemurs was opened to the public, with 3 different species of lemurs residing within; the black-and-white ruffed lemur, the ring-tailed lemur, and the red-fronted lemur.

The Canadian Wilds were built in the 1990s to house the majority of zoo's collection of North American birds and mammals. The area includes outdoor enclosures in three zones: the Aspen Woodlands, the Northern Forest, and the Rocky Mountains. Animals in the enclosures include river otters, caribou, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, grizzly bears, black bears, polar bears, north american porcupine, muskoxen, moose, whooping cranes, black bears, Canada lynx, wood bison, and grey wolves.

Dorothy Harvie Botanical Gardens and ENMAX 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 marginally hardy plant species. The conservatory 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 ENMAX Conservatory was completely renovated in 2009 and features an increased emphasis on teaching visitors the importance of plants and improving energy efficiency. The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo achieved LEED ( Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ) Gold in energy conservation and responsible building practices, the first facility of its kind to achieve this level of certification.

The western portion of St. George's Island is dedicated to Eurasian animals. Animals in this area include Amur tigers, snow leopards, Pallas's cats, Japanese macaques, red pandas, Japanese serows, Bactrian camels, and Komodo dragons. This section was also home to four giant pandas which debuted in early May 2018. The giant pandas were on loan from the Chengdu Research Base in Chengdu, Sichaun, China. Panda Passage featured adult male Da Mao, cubs Jia Yueyue and Jia Panpan as well as their mother Er Shun. The pandas returned to China because of bamboo supply chain issues arising from COVID-19. Formerly residing in the Panda's habitat area was a herd of Asian elephants (relocated to the Smithsonian National Zoo ) and later a male Indian rhinoceros named Sabari (now residing in Safari Niagara, Ontario ). The area known as Panda Passage has since been renamed to Gateway to Asia and has seen the addition of Malayan tapir and white-handed gibbons.

In February 2025, the zoo announced a multi-phase redevelopment of the Exploration Asia zone starting with the 'Asia Highlands' phase focussing on species of Southeast Asia, the Eastern Himalayas, and Northeast Asia. This first phase is expected to be completed in summer 2026.

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo's six-acre Prehistoric Park features life-sized dinosaurs in their re-created geographical environment, including replicas of an inland sea and volcanic mountain, and more than 100 species of living plants. Dinosaurs include Albertosaurus, Allosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Apatosaurus, Baryonyx, Centrosaurus, Corythosaurus, Deinonychus, Dilophosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Elasmosaurus, Euoplocephalus, Iguanodon, Metriacanthosaurus, Nothosaurus, Omeisaurus, Pachyrhinosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Protoceratops, Pteranodon, Pterosaur, Stegosaurus, Struthiomimus, Styracosaurus, Tanystropheus, Triceratops, Tylosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex, and Yangchuanosaurus.