Assiniboine park Zoo is open 364 consecutive days each year. Our hours are reduced on the following:

November 11: Open between 1:00 and 4:00pm

December 25: CLOSED

NO OFFICE OPEN on any other holiday, including Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Assiniboine park Zoo proudly participates in Canadian Forces Appreciation Program. Program members must present their CFOne Card at the Zoo entrance to receive 10% off regular Zoo admission. Only cardholders with CFOne cards are eligible to receive a 10% discount. Discount can also be applied to the purchase of an Assiniboine Park & Zoo individual, duel, or family membership. All members covered by a membership are required to show CFOne Cards at time of purchase. Other promotions and discounts cannot be combined.

The

“>Assiniboine Park Zoo officially became the zoo in 1959.

The gibbon/monkey home was constructed in the 1960s. A second orphaned polar bear cub was brought to the Zoo, and the snow leopard was also added. In 1967 the polar bear enclosure received an addition to its upper level. Two more cubs were also added. In 1968 and 1969, the Tropical House and Native Animal Exhibit were built. A new south gate was also added.

After being inactive for some time, the Zoological Society of Manitoba began funding new signage, exhibits and infrastructure. A new Zoological Society gift store was opened in the main entrance. The Carousel Restaurant was also renovated.

There are new enclosures to house the zebras (yaks, camels) and the interpretive playground “Camel Oasis”, which opened in the northwest part of the zoo’s zoo in 1995. It was the debut year of Lights of the Wild, which featured animal light sculptures from the Zoo and the Society. The program ran for three weeks.

In 1997 the “Saturn Playground”, was completed, with the major restaurant facilities being renovated. The Zoo also received an update to its electrical infrastructure in 1998. This included the creation of the Saturn Shuttle project and Kiosk info booths. By 1998, the Zoo’s animal collection had increased to include 77 different mammal species (390 animals), 151 different birds (700 specimens), and 14 reptiles (34 specimens), with the total collection including about 1,193 individuals of 271 species; the zoo budget was $2,497,173 ($161,800 for food and supplies, and $1,952,707 for labour).

In 2000, the Zoo was still open between 9 and 9 p.m. But, the Zoo is now open later [when?].

The Zoo had significantly reduced its hours.

As a test, the Zoo increased its opening hours from Wednesday to Thursday in July 2015. This was because many people working during the day requested it.

The Zoo began working with the Zoological Society of Manitoba in 2000 to develop a Master Plan Development Proposal. It was the Zoo’s first Master Plan Development Proposal since 1960. Although initial plans were to redesign the Polar Bear enclosures, this project grew to include a Master Plan Development Project. Assiniboine Park Conservancy, created in 2008, was formed to govern and manage Assiniboine Park including the Zoo. Assiniboine Park Conservancy revealed a plan that would transform Assiniboine Park, Zoo and surrounding areas. The project was estimated to cost $200 million.

De. The Fehr Foundation provided funding for the rehabilitation of the Bison Restaurant Kiosk, which was then used as the Palliser Interpretive Center. This is the headquarters of ICE Camp. The “Mini U Zoo” alliance was formed with University of Manitoba Summer Camps. Campers can spend one week at University and one at Zoo.

In 2004, as part of venture with the University of Manitoba Architecture Department, substantial improvements were made to the Education Centre. [ Citation needed] A redevelopment plan was announced by the Assiniboine Zoo Conservation in 2009 for the Assiniboine Zoo. The plans will be executed over several phases. Revitalization of the Zoo was involved in the plan’s second phase, with its flagship being the opening of the Journey to Churchill exhibit.

Boo at the Zoo is BACK! The reimagined Boo at the Zoo is larger, more exciting, scarier, and magical than ever. Now on Sale!

Summer Entertainment Series at Winnipeg Casinos

For 2021, the Casinos of Winnipeg Summer Entertainment Series will be back! Events including the Summer Music Series at the Lyric Theatre and Movies in the Park will take place from August 1 – September 9. All events are FREE to attend. Click the button below to learn more and see the full schedule.

Programs & workshops

Your health and well-being are important investments. Get creative and crafty. Enjoy some fun with your family! The Park and Zoo offer workshops and programs.

Dinosaurs Uncovered

Assiniboine Park Zoo hosts something huge! Dinosaurs Uncovered features 17 life-size, animatronic dinosaurs along an outdoor forested trail, and museum-quality skeletons, fossils, and artifacts indoors in the rotating exhibit gallery.

Chris Enright DVM, Director of Veterinarian Services at Assiniboine National Polar Bear Conservation Centre (LIPBCC), inspects a Polar Bear.

Chris Enright, DVM knows for a while that he was meant to be in wildlife management.

Since his high school days, Dr. Enright has felt an intense attraction to helping animals. This passion led him into a Canadian project that focuses on the northern ecosystems and wildlife.

Just two years after he started working at the Assiniboine Park Conservancy in Winnipeg, Man., he found himself involved in helping create a new vision for the facility, a process which included the development of the Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre (LIPBCC).

Built with financial support from the province of Manitoba, the centre is a polar bear rescue and transition space, and hub of the zoo’s research and conservation initiatives. This is the home for at-risk and orphaned polar bears. They are cared for as they adapt to new environments.

Enright hopes the centre will offer cubs an opportunity to live a fulfilled life as humans and to inspire millions of people over their lifetime to understand about climate change.

High school was the beginning of my interest in conservation and being a vet. In university I was able to further explore these interests.

I was fortunate to receive some incredible mentorship and fantastic opportunities to experience the practice of veterinary medicine on free-ranging wildlife, as well as wildlife in human care. While I enjoyed working with great clients and colleagues, my passion for wildlife was not lost after graduating. I was hired at Assiniboine National Park Zoo in 2007 and have continued there since. I first encountered polar bears in the clinic when Debbie, an old female polar bear, was my patient. Because she was special, she was cared for by a dedicated group. Since then, I have had the pleasure of caring for a variety of species and many more polar bears, including the 10 rescued bears who currently reside at the zoo. The veterinary staff and animals care staff at the zoo are amazing and passionate.

Blizzard died at Assiniboine Park Zoo on Monday. (Supplied in Assiniboine Conservancy) Blizzard is a five-year old polar bear, who lived at Assiniboine National Zoo as an orphan cub, and has now died.

It is the second time that polar bears have died at the Zoo in as many years.

“Blizzard, a wonderful bear, will be missed greatly by all zoo visitors and volunteers.” Chris Enright is the director at the zoo of veterinary care. “It’s not often that a bear loses this young.”

Blizzard became lethargic after losing his appetite thirteen days earlier.

Enright stated that “our veterinary team decided to anesthetize Blizzard to perform a complete assessment of his condition.”

Blizzard underwent treatment with antibiotics. His behavior and health improved until this weekend.

On Monday morning we decided to anesthetize him once more to evaluate his health and determine the best course of action. Although the procedure went smoothly, Blizzard suffered respiratory distress during the process of recovering from the anesthesia. Enright explained that although veterinary staff and animal care staff tried to save him, unfortunately he succumbed.”

“Biodiversity In Jeopardy-Where do we Fit?” This year’s Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums Conference theme exemplifies the intersection where aquariums and zoos find themselves when faced with dire predictions in environmental conservation and wildlife health. Researching and conserving biodiversity is a daunting task. Managers of aquariums and biologists in zoos as well as animal-care staff need to make thoughtful decisions about how they can best help. These decisions will be affected by many factors, including institutional priorities, staff expertise, personal interests, travel budgets and field logistics.

The Assiniboine Zoo Zoo (APZ), aside from occasional grants to conservation funds (e.g. Snow Leopard Trust), and participation by our staff in the American Association of Zoo Keepers’ “Rummaging For Rhinos” fund-raising program for animals, hasn’t been able to undertake major conservation projects abroad. We have therefore stayed within Manitoba and participated in official breeding programs, including Species Survival Plans, Canadian Collection Plans, CCPs, European Endangered Species Programs (EEPs), which are hosted by international zoos. This paper will highlight the diversity-related programs of our Zoo as well as partnerships with many other local conservation groups. Through my more than four decades of experience in conservation, ecology, and interpretation I am able to share some of these experiences. These examples should encourage new staff at zoos and aquariums to find innovative ways to be involved in conservation of wild and wildlife lands.

Editor’s note:

Modern zoos have come along way from their early origins as the private menageries of the wealthy. For more information on the history of zoos see this Wikipedia article on Zoos. Although zoos make every effort to educate the public about wildlife conservation and ethical animal care, there is still a section of society who see zoos and call it cruel and unnatural. Sadly, the real tragedy is that in the very near future many of these animals may only exist in zoos. As a life-long Winnipegger I’ve been to the Assiniboine Park Zoo many times. But I didn’t know how important our Zoo was in conservation until recent years. To share the wonderful work done by the CAZA and Dr. Wrigley’s article, I requested that Dr. Wrigley allow me to publish it.

Doug Collicutt is a Naturalist. North.com