The City of Peterborough’s Riverview Park and Zoo in Peterborough will close Monday in response to new Ontario restrictions to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zoo manager and curator Jim Moloney on Monday morning said in response to the surge in COVID-19 cases and Ontario’s return to modified Stage 2 restrictions, the free outdoor zoo will be closed.
The zoo reopened in late November 2021 after being closed for nearly two years since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. The zoo did offer limited public tours in July 2021.
“We’re disappointed to have to close again and hope to welcome our visitors back soon,” he said in a Facebook post.
When the zoo reopened in November, COVID-19 protocols were in place, including self-assessments, physical distancing, mask wearing and some barriers to protect some of the animals susceptible to COVID-19.
“We need to protect them as well, so we are just asking people not to cross those barriers and keep that extra distance,” Moloney said at the time.