The Toronto Zoo

06/25/2026

We’re open this Long Weekend and we can’t wait to welcome you 🎉🍁

Watch as some of your favourite species celebrate Canada’s 159th birthday with a number of talks, special feedings, enrichment sessions, beverages and exciting activities happening all throughout your Toronto Zoo 🇨🇦

Expect plenty of fun, music and wildlife wonder 🦦

Book your tickets in advance, and learn more at torontozoo.com 🍁

06/25/2026

Making a splash, one penguin paddle at a time 🐧💦

For the African penguins here at your Toronto Zoo, time in the pool is more than just fun. It’s an important form of enrichment that encourages natural behaviours, builds positive social bonds between penguins and their Wildlife Care team, and helps the birds spend more time where penguins are built to be: in the water. During swim time, members of their Wildlife Care team join them in the pool.

Extra swim time can also help reduce the risk of foot conditions like pododermatitis (better known as bumblefoot), which can occur when penguins spend too much time standing on land. Thanks to generous donations made at retail locations through the Donations at Till program, the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy was also able to help fund new wave machines in the penguin habitat, which encourage natural swimming behaviours and provide additional opportunities for enrichment.

Sadly, the African penguin is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, highlighting the ongoing challenges facing wild populations and the urgent need for conservation efforts to protect this species for future generations. Native to parts of South Africa and Namibia, this unique seabird is threatened by overfishing, oil pollution, and climate change. As a Zoo committed to protecting the species, we are proud to participate in the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for African penguins, having welcomed more than 17 chicks since 2011 🐧

Your Toronto Zoo is also committed to a long-term partnership with SANCCOB saves seabirds, expanding our conservation impact beyond our gates. Through the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy’s Wilding Endangered Species Preservation Fund, we are proud to support SANCCOB’s Penguin and Seabird Rangers Program with $50,000 over five years, helping protect penguins and seabirds where they need it most.

This work is part of our Strategic Plan, which focuses on taking action to fight extinction by connecting people, animals, conservation science, and traditional knowledge, ensuring species like the African penguin have a future in the wild.

During your next visit, make sure to waddle over to the African Savanna Penguin habitat and say hi to these incredible birds 🐧

06/24/2026

Ready to raise some paws for Canada!

We're cheering loud and proud as takes the field today! 🍁⚽️

From all of us here at your Toronto Zoo, let's keep the World Cup spirit going! 🔥

GO CANADA GO! 🇨🇦

06/23/2026

⏰ LAST CHANCE TO ENTER ⏰

Our giveaway, in celebration of last Sunday, closes tonight (Tuesday) at 11:59 PM ⚠️

Learn more below and get your entry in by commenting on the previous post ⬇️🦒

🦒 GIVEAWAY CLOSED 🦒

On this , we are giving away an Africa Savanna Wild Encounter for two (2) people. Go behind-the-scenes and be one of the first guests to meet Masai giraffe calf Imara and her mom Mstari 🍼🦒

TO ENTER:
🦒 Like this photo
🦒 Tag a friend (one comment=one entry)

Good luck and don’t forget to share with your friends and family too ✨

What is a Wild Encounter? 🦒
Step into the enchanting world of the Toronto Zoo's Masai giraffe herd with this exclusive Wild Encounter! Join us on a guided tour into the heart of the giraffe house, where you'll delve into the secrets of enrichment, explore indoor habitats, and even peek into their at-home vet office for fascinating insights into medical training. Get up close and personal with these majestic creatures as you spend time out on the patio, or in the indoor exclusive moat, to watch Wildlife Care give the giraffes a feeding session!

Good luck 🦒 Contest closes Tuesday, June 23, 2026 at 11:59pm and winner will be randomly selected and announced in the comments the next day. Prize cannot be transferred and are non-refundable. Wild Encounter prize must be redeemed by December 31, 2026. Tour options change seasonally. This is the Toronto Zoo's ONLY account, please ignore any follows or messages that appear suspicious. Open to Canadian Residents only. The promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Facebook.

06/23/2026

Summer’s tallest sunbathers ☀️🦒

Miss seeing Masai giraffe calf Imara and mom Mstari during your last Zoo visit? Subscribe to zoolife, where you can view them in their outside Africa Savanna habitat during the summer season.

50% of subscription proceeds support continued wildlife and conservation science efforts at your Toronto Zoo: zoolife.tv/torontozoo 🌿

06/22/2026

POV: It’s shedding season and your winter coat is officially cancelled. 🐪✂️

Today is World Camel Day, a day dedicated to celebrating one of the most iconic and resilient animal families on Earth.

The Bactrian camels here at your Toronto Zoo are trading in their fluffy winter look for a lighter summer wardrobe, and sometimes they appreciate a little help from their Wildlife Care team!

These incredible animals grow a thick winter coat to help them withstand temperatures as low as -40°C, then shed it as temperatures climb, allowing them to stay comfortable in heat reaching +40°C. This seasonal coat change is one of the many adaptations that helps them thrive in extreme environments, and makes them perfectly suited to life in a Canadian zoo.

Camel shedding season doesn't happen overnight. It can take several weeks for their Wildlife Care team to groom all of the camels, as each animal begins shedding at a different time. The team uses a variety of grooming tools to help remove loose fur, including a rake that is safe to use for this purpose, especially for lifting out thick clumps of shedding hair from harder-to-reach areas. Brushes and electric shears are also used during positive reinforcement training sessions, allowing the camels to voluntarily participate in their own care.

While many Bactrian camels are domesticated, their wild relatives face a much tougher reality. Wild Bactrian camels are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, with fewer than 950 individuals remaining in remote regions of Mongolia and China.

A little extra fluff on the ground today is a reminder of an incredible species worth protecting. 💛

06/21/2026

With today also being , do you remember that in the spring of 2024, your Toronto Zoo commissioned a reimagining of our logo to reflect our ongoing commitment to advancing truth and reconciliation? 🪶

This new Indigenous logo honours the Indigenous lands on which the Zoo operates, celebrates the animals in our care, and recognizes the vital role that Indigenous worldviews, knowledge systems, and stewardship practices play in conservation.

Careful observation reveals that the Indigenous logo draws inspiration from the Toronto Zoo’s original logo while illustrating the interconnectedness of all living things. It reflects our shared responsibility to bridge traditional knowledge and conservation science in support of wildlife and biodiversity. The species featured in the logo - Eastern Loggerhead Shrike, Blanding’s Turtle, Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, Wood bison, and polar bear - represent several of your Toronto Zoo’s Canadian conservation programs and our commitment to protecting species at risk.

Indigenous Relations is an important part of the work we do here at your Zoo. Through meaningful partnerships and collaboration with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, we continue to learn from and support Indigenous-led approaches to conservation. These relationships guide our work not only within our local region, but also throughout northern Ontario and across Canada, where Indigenous Peoples have cared for lands, waters, and wildlife since time immemorial. By working together, we strengthen conservation outcomes while supporting truth, reconciliation, and shared stewardship.

Our current Strategic Plan also reaffirms our commitment to integrating traditional knowledge into all aspects of our work. We are proud to be a community-funded conservation science organization operating a world-class zoo, which connects people, animals, conservation science, and traditional knowledge to fight extinction and inspire action for wildlife.

As we continue our annual efforts to release Blanding’s Turtles back into the wild, we are proud to recognize and celebrate the rich histories, cultures, resilience, and contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples across Canada. Through our Turtle Island Conservation (TIC) program, we respectfully share the goals and aspirations of our Indigenous partners in preserving biodiversity and protecting culturally and ecologically significant landscapes.

Turtle Island Conservation works alongside First Nation communities to support species recovery, preserve community knowledge, and foster long-term stewardship of natural and cultural heritage.

Together, we are proudly building pathways that honour both traditional knowledge and western science in support of future generations.

Learn more about Turtle Island Conservation and our Indigenous partnerships at: https://www.torontozoo.com/tz/tic 🐢

06/21/2026

We’re from the Masai Giraffe habitat at your Toronto Zoo as we recognize both World Giraffe Day and Indigenous Peoples Day. We’re learning about the giraffes in our care, their conservation status in the wild, and about the connection between Indigeneity and the lands that support giraffes.

We acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit and the Williams Treaty signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.

06/21/2026

Happy Father’s Day from your Zoo! 💙

When it comes to parenting in the animal world, some dads go above and beyond. From carrying babies and guarding nests to teaching life skills and helping raise young, fatherhood takes many forms across the animal kingdom.

Today, we're highlighting a few of the amazing animal dads you can find right here at your Toronto Zoo ⬇️

Golden lion tamarin: Dad carries the babies and brings them to Mom for nursing.

Grey-necked crowned crane: Dad helps build the nest, incubate eggs, defend the nest, and care for chicks.

White-handed gibbon: Dad takes the lead during the juvenile stage, teaching, grooming, and foraging with offspring.

Poison dart frog: Dad transports newly hatched tadpoles on his back to water.

African spoonbill: Both parents share incubation and chick-rearing duties.

Hornbill: Dad provides all the food while Mom remains sealed inside the nest with the eggs and young chicks.

Seahorse: Dads carry the developing young.

Jumbo gourami: Dad helps build and guard the nest.

Wishing all the dads in our community a wonderful Father's Day! 💙

06/21/2026

🦒 GIVEAWAY CLOSED 🦒

On this , we are giving away an Africa Savanna Wild Encounter for two (2) people. Go behind-the-scenes and be one of the first guests to meet Masai giraffe calf Imara and her mom Mstari 🍼🦒

TO ENTER:
🦒 Like this photo
🦒 Tag a friend (one comment=one entry)

Good luck and don’t forget to share with your friends and family too ✨

What is a Wild Encounter? 🦒
Step into the enchanting world of the Toronto Zoo's Masai giraffe herd with this exclusive Wild Encounter! Join us on a guided tour into the heart of the giraffe house, where you'll delve into the secrets of enrichment, explore indoor habitats, and even peek into their at-home vet office for fascinating insights into medical training. Get up close and personal with these majestic creatures as you spend time out on the patio, or in the indoor exclusive moat, to watch Wildlife Care give the giraffes a feeding session!

Good luck 🦒 Contest closes Tuesday, June 23, 2026 at 11:59pm and winner will be randomly selected and announced in the comments the next day. Prize cannot be transferred and are non-refundable. Wild Encounter prize must be redeemed by December 31, 2026. Tour options change seasonally. This is the Toronto Zoo's ONLY account, please ignore any follows or messages that appear suspicious. Open to Canadian Residents only. The promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Facebook.