Early Closures

Early Zoo Closure: Last entry to the Wilder Institute’s Calgary Zoo will be at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, September 11, to accommodate set up for our ZooBrew (18+) event. Last entry to buildings will be at 4 p.m. and the zoo will be cleared by 5 p.m. Thank you for your understanding.

Early Wild Canada Closure: Last entry to Wild Canada will be at 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 13, to accommodate set up for our FOCUSED (16+) event. Thank you for your understanding.

Early Penguin Plunge Closure: Last entry to Penguin Plunge on Thursday, September 17, will be at 4:15 p.m., with the building closed by 4:30 p.m, to accommodate a private event. Thank you for your understanding.

Early Asian Highlands Closure: Last entry to Asian Highlands will be at 4 p.m. on Sunday, September 20, and Sunday, September 27, to accommodate set up for Wild After Hours: Snow Leopards (18+). The area will be cleared by 5 p.m. Thank you for understanding.

Animal Viewing Impacts:

Polar Bear Viewing: Our polar bears will be temporarily off view in the main habitat from Tuesday, September 8, through Wednesday, September 16, while planned habitat maintenance is underway. The polar bears may still be visible in the courtyard through the amphitheatre window. Thank you for your understanding.

Grizzly Bear Viewing: Our grizzly bears are off-view from Tuesday, September 8 through Friday, September 18, to accommodate planned habitat work. Thank you for your understanding.

Giraffe Viewing: Our giraffes will not be viewable from Tuesday, September 15 through Thursday, September 17, to accommodate maintenance of the Savannah Building’s fabric doors. Thank you for your understanding.

PETRONAS Gateway to Asia Malayan Tapir Viewing: ‘Sempurna’ and her female calf ‘Nyawa’ have daily access to either the main indoor habitat or the outdoor habitat from 9:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. They’ll also have access to their behind-the-scenes space and may choose to spend time there, so viewing isn’t always guaranteed. Thank you for your understanding.

West Gate Closure

Due to significant construction activities in and around Imagine Asia, the zoo’s West Gate will remain closed for the 2025 season and is expected to remain closed until at least 2028/2029. This necessary step supports the safe movement of visitors while we undertake exciting improvements to animal habitats and visitor experiences.

Bite-Sized

Introducing ‘Rafael’

August 09, 2023 | 1 minute read

There’s exciting news in Penguin Plunge! Our Humboldt chick now officially has a name!

We are thrilled to announce that our newest addition has been named ‘Rafael’. This name is a nod to the Laguna San Rafael National Park, which is located on the Pacific coast of Southern Chile. Humboldt penguins are endemic to the warmer climates of Peru and Chile and swim in the chilly Humboldt Current.

At two months old, Rafael weighs 3.5 kilograms and is already losing some of his downy feathers in a juvenile molt, which is called a “fledge”. For Gentoo and Humboldt penguins, this typically happens around three months of age – much sooner than king penguins, which are between eight and eleven months old when they first molt!

Rafael won’t look grown-up quite yet, and for now, he can be identified by his greyish feathers before he takes on his adult ‘tuxedo’ of black and white feathers.

Waddle on over to Penguin Plunge to greet Rafael by name!

Humboldt chick ‘Rafael’

Introducing ‘Rafael’

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