I've noticed that when people traveling with kids, are looking for advice on sites to see in Toronto, the Toronto Zoo is rarely mentioned. On a recent posting people listed tons of great things to do. One poster reminded everyone not to forget about the zoo? Why do we? What is it lacking? What would make it an "A" list attraction?

If it was closer to downtown, cost less, and the animals were closer to the people loking at them, I'd recommend it. <BR>But it's too far away, costs too much (but I don;t know how much; just have unhappy memories) and it is too spread out. <BR>If visitors come from places with no zoos, it is worth a visit, but if you have access to other zoos, you mighthave a better time. My family and I like the Grandby zoo in Quebec province, and African Lion Safari, much more. <BR>BAK

The Toronto zoo is 15 minutes from my house. When my kids were younger we had memberships. It is beautiful, well-kept and no more pricey than other world class attractions. It may be that it gets forgotten because it is not as centrally located as other attractions. I would easily compare Toronto's zoo to San Diego's. <BR> <BR>Granby zoo must have improved in the last few years - the last time I was there they actually had a half-blind St. Bernard in a cage! <BR>African Lion Safari is more theme-park oriented. And how can you see the animals up close - don't you view them from your car?

The Toronto zoo is a great place. It is far from the center of the city but you can drive there from downtown in about 40 min. and you can also get there on public transportation(although a long trip). The animals are not in cages. They have a lot of room to roam and you can get pretty close to them in any case. The zoo is really built forthe animals and I would recommend it highly. I think it gets overlooked because there are so many family things in Toronto to do. You should plan the most part of a day to the zoo because of the distance and because it is big. But my kids always enjoyed the zoo although they were tired when they got home.

The Toronto Zoo is the last place I would take my kids. That place was in the paper last summer and the article exposed their dirty secrets of how they sold a lot of their animals to gaming farms in the US where they allow these rich *sses to shoot them for $10,000. It's disgusting and I will have no part of it.

Deborah, <BR>What paper and when? I just did a search and I can find nothing on this story. I get the Toronto Star daily and have never heard anything about this. It is possible that the story was about some other zoo as there are a few, some private, in the area. Please post any info you have as I'm very curious about this. <BR>Thanks

I suggest Deborah get her facts straight before she slanders the Toronto Zoo (which has a very good and justly deserved reputation) I am familiar with the story she is referring to and what REALLY happened was that the zoo had sold some animals to what they assummed was a reputable party and some of these animals had indeed turned up at that disgusting facility she is referring to. Zoo officials were rightly horrified at what had happened and now carefully investigate purchasers of their excess animals.

In response to JMM, ok JMM, the facts speak for themselves. The zoo officials even admited to just how blantly careless they are and I quote,"we just don't have the resources to follow up on the thousands of animals that come and go from the zoo every year. The best check we have is word of mouth." - John Carnio,curator of mammals at MTZ. <BR>What a pathetic and irresponsible way to run a zoo. They just turn a blind eye and hope it just fades away. Why the bloody hell did it take them 14 years to figure this out eh? So you know JJM you better get YOUR facts straight and stop reading only the parts you want to hear about. <BR>Oh by the way, Jackie, the article came from the Toronto Sun last summer. If your still interested.

Deborah: The Toronto SUN???? The Enquirer of the North? Puhleese. <BR> <BR>Asy for anybody else, espcially Brian Kilgore - you may want a zoo where animals are crowded into cages just so YOU can look at them but most of us prefer a spot where the animals we as humans have put into jeopardy in the wild, can live out their lives as close to :"wild" conditions as is humanly possible. Have you ever been to the San Diego Zoo?? And what's wrong with a little walking.???

While I agree The toronto sun is trash, I applaud them at bringing attention to the problem of keeping animals in a ZOO. Personally, I like to view animals in their natural habitats, WHERE THEY BELONG! Not in some cage, whether it's a box size or a few hundred acres. They are still miserable! San Diego is just as guilty if not worse than the Toronto Zoo of handling their animals irresponsibly.