Yesterday, I visited the Greater Vancouver Zoo with my friends and that inspired me to do a blog post along with fun facts about some animals that we observed. I love animals and going to the zoo to watch their unique (and sometimes very odd) behaviours.

The Greater Vancouver Zoo is home to many rescued and orphaned animals. The mission of this zoo is to inspire appreciation of animals that may be endangered and support conservation efforts by engaging the community.

There are 140 different species to check out on 120 acres of land. That’s a big park and the best part is that you can bring your bike and you get to see so much more this way!

To reduce traffic jams, due to Covid-19 the pathways are now one-way. You really have to observe the signs so that you don’t miss an animal that you really want to see!

  • WELL HELLO THERE!!!
The Mara is a near threatened animal on the endangered list, from South America. They are herbivores and  have a body well adapted for running and can reach speeds of 45 km/hr.

Marabou Storks are not endangered and is from Africa.

Muskox are herbivores, are not endangered and live in the Arctic in North America

This Plains Zebra is a herbivore, is near threatened and lives in Africa. We got to watch a zebra dust bathe, which was very entertaining and slightly odd to me. After doing some research, it appears that the act of dust bathing, (amongst zebras)  is to remove parasites from their fur and is part of their maintenance behaviour. Also, in some mammals, dust bathing may be a way of transmitting pheromones to the ground, marking their territory. Zebras are more likely to dust bathe on a hot and dry day, like it was on the day of our visit.


Giraffes are herbivores and live in Africa. They are also vulnerable (not quite endangered).
Ring-tailed Lemurs are ENDANGERED!!! They are from Madagascar, Africa. They are also omnivorous and during the mating season, male ring-tailed lemurs rub stinky secretions from their wrists onto their tails and then battle each other with their stinky tails!
Red-necked wallabies are not endangered. They are herbivorous and are from Australia.
The Hippopotamus is  vulnerable and are herbivores from Africa. Hippopotami live up to 36 years old.

AND NOW, FOR THE STAR OF THE BLOG…

BORIS THE TORTOISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

African Spurred Tortoise are herbivores, live in Africa, are vulnerable (not quite endangered) and can live up to 50-150 years.  Boris here, is only 18 years old.

Exciting news! The Greater Vancouver Zoo rescued 3 baby grizzly bear cubs who unfortunately lost their mother (she was killed by hunters). The zoo is happy to announce they are healthy, playful, and settling into their new GVZoo home. But they don’t have names, and are hoping  you can help! If the name that you pick is chosen for the bear’s official name then you win a free zoo membership!!!

I would definitely visit this zoo again and would reccomend it to everyone. (animal lover or not). Overall I would give it a 10 ( 1= horrible & 10= awesome).