Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo

Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo and its collection

Calgary Zoo, opened in 1929, is a zoo in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Much of the site lies on St. George's Island, reached by C-Train light rail, by car along Memorial Drive, and on foot or bicycle beside the Bow River. It is run by a not-for-profit that is the oldest registered charity in Alberta. Structured programmes reach over 575,000 people a year.

History

Animal keeping on the island began in 1917 with a pair of mule deer. The society was founded on 9 January 1929, taking over the running of the site from the city.

Animals and collection

The Amur tigress Katja produced a litter of three in March 2012, which, with roughly 350 Amur tigers left worldwide, lifted the global total by one percent. By 2014 the near-grown males Vasili and Samkha had to be housed apart from Kira and Katja.

Exhibits

Its exhibits include Destination Africa, Penguin Plunge, Imagine Asia, Wild Canada and Dorothy Harvie Gardens.

Things to do

Things to do include Virtual Reality (VR) Experience, Polar Bear Breakfast and Red Panda Breakfast.

Conservation and approach

Forty-four species are held under Species Survival Plans, and 29 of the species kept face extinction. Its biologists are known internationally for species recovery and reintroduction science.

What the venue says

• Grazers Restaurant June 29 to September 2, 2026 – Sunday to Thursday 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Food service ends at 4:30 p.m.) Experience fine dining with a wild twist at Grazers restaurant!
• The North Lot is the zoo’s primary public parking lot. It is located at 210 St. George’s Drive NE, between the zoo’s North Gate entrance and Telus Spark Science Centre. The West Lot, is located at the west end of St. George’s Island, off Zoo Road NE. Please note that the zoo’s West Gate is closed for construction and the zoo is not accessible from this lot.
• wheelchair-accessible entrances, parking lots, restrooms, and seating areas throughout the grounds