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. 

High Park - Cherry Blossoms

If you feel up for a walk this weekend, you might want to consider heading over to High Park to take part in the Japanese tradition of Sakura Hanami, or viewing the cherry trees in bloom.

High Park has an extensive collection of flowering cherry trees which usually bloom in late April or early May, but which, due to our remarkably warm weather so far this year, are flowering a bit early. The collection of trees, which are not native to the area, began with a donation of 2000 Sakura trees (Japanese flowering cherry), a gift from the citizens of Tokyo back in 1959. They were a gift to the city in appreciation of Toronto accepting re-located Japanese -Canadians following World War II. This planting was followed by others of other varieties in 1984, 2001 and 2006.

Many of the trees were planted in the Hillside Garden and along the east side of Grenadier Pond. I suggest walking down to the Pond from the Grenadier Restaurant - it's spectacular. And very popular. We went on an early Thursday afternoon, and we had lots of company!

For more information about the history of the trees, and about the tradition of Sakura Hanami, visit the High Park website. The staff of the High Park Nature Centre also posts regular updates on the state of the blooms, so you can check how well along they are before you leave home. Keep in mind that the Grenadier Restaurant opens at 7 am, and offers a weekday early bird breakfast special. If you plan to go on the weekend, and like me, enjoy a later start, they also offer an all-day breakfast which is still really reasonable.