Who owns the Toronto Zoo?

The Toronto Zoo is owned by the City of Toronto, and operated on behalf of the Municipality by a Board of Management. The Board consists of four members of the Zoological Society of Toronto and five members appointed by Toronto City Council.



The Toronto Zoo is owned by the City of Toronto, making it a municipal asset rather than a private corporation. While the city owns the land, the facility, and the animals, it is managed by a dedicated Board of Management, which operates as a city agency. The Board is composed of several City Council members and a larger number of public citizens appointed by the city. While the municipality provides a significant portion of the annual funding, the zoo also relies heavily on admission fees, memberships, corporate sponsorships, and donations coordinated through the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy. This public-private partnership model allows the zoo to maintain its status as one of the largest in Canada while focusing on its core missions of conservation, education, and research. In 2026, the zoo continues to be a major part of the city's green infrastructure, integrating modern ecological sustainability practices into its heritage-listed grounds in the Rouge Valley area of Scarborough.

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The Toronto Zoo participates in many captive breeding and re-introduction programs, which involve breeding rare and endangered species in human-controlled settings and, if possible, releasing these animals back into their natural habitats.

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The zoo lost its status in 2012 after Toronto City Hall decided to move three African elephants to a Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in California against the recommendation of the zoo staff and management who wanted the animals to go to an accredited facility.

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Founded in 1962, Phoenix Zoo is the biggest non-profit privately owned zoo in the USA. The zoo has more than 1,400 animals and contains 2.5 miles of walking trails that stretch between four themed areas: the Africa Trail, the Arizona Trail, the Tropics Trail and the Children's Trail, which includes a petting zoo.

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Police say six exotic animals were taken from the zoo on Talbot Trail in Morpeth, Ont., on three separate occasions between October and November 2021. The missing animals are a squirrel monkey, lemur, red eclectus parrot, a lime green eclectus parrot and two umbrella cockatoos.

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The Economic Impact of Zoos The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoos drew 183 million visitors to U.S. zoos and aquariums. AZA-member zoos in the States employed 198,000 people. The report estimated the total economic output of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums in 2018 to be $22.5 billion.

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Toronto Zoo Modern Toronto Zoo opened in 1966 and is the largest zoo in Canada. It is located in Toronto, Canada, and is 710 acres large. The Toronto Zoo also has the most animals in captivity in Canada, with 491 species and over 16,000 animals to enjoy. This is the third biggest zoo in the world.

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Celebrate North America's oldest Sumatran Orangutan and the oldest resident at the Zoo! Join us in celebrating her 56th Birthday with a birthday cake this Saturday and some special enrichment fit for a queen. Puppe has been at the Toronto Zoo since opening in 1974 and has had five children and five grandchildren.

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Five years later, not only did Er Shun give birth to two cubs on Canadian soil, the four white and black-coloured bears also delighted millions of attendees at the Toronto Zoo. All four pandas will be moved to the Calgary Zoo for the next five years to end their 10-year loan.

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