Breakfast with the penguins, anyone? Share a sleepover with a hippopotamus? Meet Fred, a 600 pound alligator. Get your picture taken with a trained bear or a boa constrictor. Tell your friends you saw a blue poison dart frog that was so bright it made you blink. Let a great horned owl perch on your forearm. Find out how to tell the age of a fish. Drink with a dinosaur and crawl through a beaver lodge.
Alberta’s zoos, sanctuaries and wildlife parks will happily put the wild back in your life. See you in awhile, crocodile.
Here’s your wild Alberta checklist.
Calgary & Area
- Calgary Zoo
Western Canada’s largest zoo has delighted millions of visitors since 1929. Every trip is an adventure with over 1,000 animals to visit, 6 acres of botanical gardens, a prehistoric park, playgrounds, and the newest addition – the Penguin Plunge.
- Bow Habitat Station
Welcome to the world of water and wetlands and denizens of the deep. Watch the fish in massive aquariums. Learn about water and aquatic habitat and visit the fish hatchery. Observe conservation in action at the wetlands.
Edmonton & Area
- Edmonton Valley Zoo
Small and intimate, this a special place that inspires love and learning of animals and nature. See the new Arctic Shores exhibit which recreates an Arctic shoreline, habitat for seals, sea lions, Arctic foxes, and ground squirrels. The zoo is currently undergoing a major upgrade – keep your eye out for new exhibits coming soon.
- John Janzen Nature Centre
Take a walk on the wild side at their newly renovated facilities where you’ll discover even more ways to discover nature in an urban setting. In the new Tegler Centre you can explore natural habitats from the point of view of the animals that live in them.
Central Alberta
- Ellis Bird Farm
Located 16 km (~10 mi) southeast of Lacombe in the heart of central Alberta, the Ellis Bird Farm is both a working farm and a sanctuary for mountain bluebirds, tree swallows and other cavity-nesting birds. Follow a network of trails that flow through gardens made to attract butterflies and hummingbirds, native wildflower gardens and orchards.. Come for the Bluebird Festival in July.
- Discovery Wildlife Park
Southwest of Red Deer in the town of Innisfail is a place where animals are film stars. Many of the inhabitants come to this sanctuary as orphans from the wild or from zoos that have closed. Quite a few of the trained animals have appeared in the movies. Jack Hanna shot an episode here of his show, Into the Wild.
Southern Alberta
- Alberta Birds of Prey Centre
Located near the town of Coaldale is sanctuary for the hawks, falcons, eagles and owls of Alberta. Canada’s largest birds of prey facility features flying demonstrations where falcons swoop by at 60 mph. Injured birds are cared for here until they are ready to be returned to the wild .Others that don’t heal well enough make the centre their permanent home. Reptile World. Next time you visit the Canadian Badlands, be sure to visit Reptile World in Drumheller. The sanctuary is home to the largest collection – over 200 – of reptiles and amphibians in western Canada. Afraid of snakes? You won’t be, after you meet up with Brittany, the tame boa constrictor.