Edmonton Valley Zoo plans facility upgrades with new animals, attractions

The Edmonton Valley Zoo has released a plan that includes a lot of updates and upgrades, with new exhibits and wildlife to the facility.

It’s all part of the Zoo’s 15-year master plan to improve conservation efforts, elevate visitor experience, and improve animal well-being.

“It really is focused on creating animal habitats that are immersive, natural and mimic how they would experience in the wild,” zoo executive director Gary Dewar told Global News.

The facility will be divided into seven zones where it plans to keep most of the animals already in-house.

But the roadmap includes bringing in new animals such as an Amur bear, Siberian musk deer, wolverine, wood bison, and the Executive Director’s favourite — polar bears.

“Practically, could we actually house polar bears in our facility? Could we care for them? Could we acquire them? That feasibility study was unanimous in the folks that we connected with and were excited in the prospect,” Dewar explained.

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There are also plans to build new infrastructure such as a Conservation Education Centre for kids and a treetop trail to catch animals such as the red panda and lemurs hanging up high in the trees.

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“You can see them eye-to-eye in that environment,” he said.

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The Valley Zoo Development Society is hoping to avoid the City of Edmonton’s next budget cycle to get the project off the ground and instead, use its own donor funding.

“This gives the city time to address the issues that are in front of them right now that are urgent,” said Valley Zoo Development Society executive director Tammy Wiebe.

“It allows the donors and the community to continue to invest in the zoo.”

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Timelines and total costs are still to be determined.

Watch the video at the top of this page to see some of the renderings and how Zoo officials believe the work will benefit the organization.