High Park Zoo

When I visited High Park recently to take in the beauty of the cherry trees in bloom, I also made a point of visiting the High Park Zoo, which is located almost in the middle of the park. It is free to visit and is open from 7 am until dusk every day of the week. Contained within are an interesting collection of, for the most part, large ungulates, some native to Canada, others not, although there are some odd exceptions to this. I was most excited about seeing the West Highland Cattle - I had no idea there were any to be seen in Toronto! Here are pictures of some of my favourite animals from the day:

To increase the educational value of your visit, take a moment to read the Who's Who panel on each enclosure and learn a little bit about the animal inside. For example, did you know that a group of West Highland cattle is called a fold, not a herd? I don't know who designed these signs, but I think they're wonderful!

And if you like your animals cute, small and fuzzy, you might want to attend the free Sunday Walking Tour in High Park on Sunday June 3 as it will focus on the new animal babies at the Zoo.

The zoo made headlines recently when the City of Toronto announced that it was eliminating the zoo's operating funds from the budget, leading to fears that the Zoo would close in mid-June when their current funds run out. Friends and fans of the Zoo immediately went into fund-raising mode, and then in mid-April, it was announced that the Honey Family Foundation had come forward and would match funds raised up to $50,000 to help keep the attraction going. If you would like to help, you can either donate on-site, or online. Donations made by June 15, 2012 will be matched by the Foundation, although they have also indicated that they will match donations again in 2013 and 2014. While this doesn't solve the problem of funding in the long term (or help Far Enough Farm, located on Centre Island, which is also losing its funding and has yet to find a corporate or charitable benefactor), it does buy the High Park Zoo some time to come up with a feasible long-term plan.

If you do visit the High Park Zoo, please avoid the temptation to feed the animals. While it might seem like a great way for you or your kids to interact with these creatures, your kindness may make the animals sick.