Another Fish Nerd Vacation – The Toronto Zoo

Hi folks,

Desiree’s blog about fish nerd vacations brought back memories of a trip I’ve taken recently. In October of last year I was fortunate enough to find myself in our neighboring country to the north. On our way to Montreal to visit a friend, my girlfriend and I stopped at the Toronto Zoo that we have read so much about. We knew that it was the largest zoo registered with the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and one of only five accredited zoos in Canada, but we still couldn’t contain our amazement once we arrived.

Fish and aquarium enthusiasts will be pleased with the zoo. A new exhibit in the Australia region of the zoo features several different aquariums representing the reefs bordering the continent. One of these contains live soft and stony corals, another is home to species of fish not considered reef safe (angels, butterflies, etc), and one contains several dozen moon jellyfish. They even have several aquariums dedicated to freshwater crayfish (the really cool ones from Australia). Other aquariums around the zoo include an enormous Lake Malawi exhibit, South and Central American biotopes, and one with endangered cichlids from Madagascar.

The entire zoo sits on 710 acres of land. There are over six miles of walking trails, and we walked almost all of them in a single day, which unfortunately did not leave us much time to sit and enjoy any single exhibit. The zoo has everything for animal lovers. There are over 5,000 animals at the zoo from almost every corner of the world. Herp lovers will enjoy the many species of snakes, lizards, and amphibians that the zoo has on display.

So if you ever find yourself in the Toronto area, take a day to check out the zoo. You will not be disappointed.

Until next time,
Brandon