Greater Vancouver Zoo

The Greater Vancouver Zoo is the largest zoo in British Columbia. It is located in the community of Aldergrove and features over 800 animals including giraffes, grizzly bears, camels, arctic wolves, and hippos.

Hours

Winter Hours October 1^st – April 30^th 9:00am – 4:00pm
Summer Hours May 1^st – September 30^th 9:00am – 7:00pm

Address

5048 264 Street
Aldergrove, BC V4W 1N7
Phone: 604-856-6825

Admission

Children (under 3) – Free
Child (4-15) – $15.00
Students - $18.00
Adult (16-64) – $20.00
Seniors (65+) – $15.00
Family (2 adult & 2 children) – $65.00

History

The zoo began its life in the 1960s when businessman Pat Hines purchased the 120 acres of land that would eventually become the Greater Vancouver Zoo. His original dream was to turn the site into a game farm.

The first animal to arrive at the zoo was named Dennis, a male Llama from Mount Vernon in Washington State – from there, the zoo continued to grow and expand it’s collection of animals. The zoo changed ownership in 1999 and made many improvements to the facilities and direction for the future. At this time there was a focus toward educational programs and conservational initiatives.

Incidents at the Zoo

There have been a number of accusations of cruelty and incidents at the zoo since 1997 including a few that caught the headlines of newspapers:

In May 2008, someone broke into the zoo and killed a male spider monkey (Jocko) and kidnapped his female partner (Mia).
Later that year a lioness killed a female golden eagle after the bird landed in the lion enclosure.
In April 2009, it was reported that four zebras had died – It was said that it may have had something to do with an African Buffalo being introduced into the zebra enclosure.