Toronto Zoo
From Freepedia
The Toronto Zoo is a zoo located in the northeastern part of Toronto, Ontario. It opened in 1974 as the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo and is owned by the City of Toronto; the word 'Metropolitan' was dropped from its name when the cities of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto were merged to form the present-day City of Toronto. The zoo is located near the Rouge Valley Park and Rouge River. It is one of the day use areas of Rouge Park, Canada's largest urban natural environment park.
Encompassing 3 km² (710 acres), the Toronto Zoo is one of the largest in the world. It is divided into four zoogeographic regions with numerous indoor pavilions and outdoor exhibits. The zoo is home to over 5,200 animals representing over 450 distinct species. The zoo's 'Splash Island' waterpark opened in 2002. This was followed by a open air theater in 2003 and the 'Kid's Zoo' in 2004 featuring exhibits geared to guests 10 and under.
The zoo is accessible from Highway 401 located two km to the south, or by TTC buses from Scarborough Centre station. There was at one point a proposed extension to the TTC's Scarborough Rapid Transit line which might have stopped at the zoo, but the plan was dropped because of the low demand and the high cost of running the Scarborough RT's linear induction motor-driven vehicles.
Canadian Domain Ride
The Zoo once operated a 'monorail' line into the Canadian Domain area. Built in 1976, it ceased operations in July 1994 after an accident. The monorail has since been dismantled and replaced by the Zoomobile, a tractor-pulled ride. (See Toronto Zoo Domain Ride.)
