The Toronto Zoo

“We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

How about you, you, you?

You can come too, too, too!

We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

moderate heat, most of the animals were out and about when we first arrived in the morning.

Although, by mid-afternoon, the increasingly warmer weather became a bit of a bother to some of the animals and so we ended up peering at some of them sleeping rather than meandering about their enclosures.  To be honest, I don’t blame them!  Besides, even a sleeping lion is an extraordinarily beautiful and majestic lion!

I expected the zoo to be jam-packed with people on such a nice Saturday—in fact, the zoo had a ton of visitors it seemed, from the looks of the parking lots, but we found that the layout of the zoo enabled us to roam about without being dominated by crowds.  The zoo spans a whopping 710 acres (287 hectares) and will take you many hours to explore in its entirety—we’re talking over 10 km of walking trails here! If you plan on visiting the incredible splash pad (aka Splash Island) and the Kids Zone, then you’ll definitely need to consider coming back a second day.  Realistically, in order to enjoy a leisurely visit to the zoo and hope to see all of the habitats and exhibits, then you’ll want to plan a series of visits, especially if you have young children.  Of course, given the sheer joy and fascination you’ll get from watching cougars at play or a mother chimpanzee nursing her offspring or laughing at the camels’ antics, it is not such a bad plan to come back on several occasions.

The Toronto Zoo is home to over 5000 animals that live in six exhibits that represent geographic regions: Indo-Malaya, Africa , the Americas , Australasia , Eurasia , and the Canadian Domain.  Unfortunately, until Fall 2009, the Americas exhibit is closed.  This means that during construction and renovation to the enclosures, the animals are being housed at another facility.  This also means that you’ll have to wait until the Fall to see the new Polar Bear habitat and its occupants! Though, there are plenty of other fish in the sea, elephants taking showers, and unique and amazing animals to visit in the meantime!

Even as an adult, I must admit that I was amazed by the interaction between the animals. We took our time and read about each animal, many of which we had never even heard of before our visit! We highly recommend that you stop and take in all of the information that is posted throughout the zoo.  It is very tempting to just zip through the exhibits in an attempt to cover as much of the zoo as possible.  We recommend taking in one exhibit at a time and getting as much out of it as you can before moving on to the next. 

The big hype at the zoo this season are the stingrays and sharks at Stingray Bay .  For an additional $3, in accordance with a visiting schedule, you can actually touch the rays in a very shallow pool area. 

The Toronto Zoo website

http://www.torontozoo.com/?pg=home

4) Don't be afraid of higher ISO's. When I first started shooting, I would always keep it at 100 or 200 iso for best quality... but so many of my pictures were blurry when I got home I could kick myself. Bump it up to 800 ISO if you can, and remove the grain later.

5) If you can, pick an overcast day to go. This will allow you to shoot in more locations, without having to worry about the contrast range.

6) If you are going for the pictures, and not just to have fun with the family or friends, pick a day you can go alone. I had to go a lot faster through the park faster than I wanted, as people were impatient to see the next animal