Calgary Zoo Reviews

This was our first time returning to the zoo since it has reopened. I was a little nervous wondering if it was going to be crowded or not or how well people would follow the public health guidelines. To be honest, I was absolutely amazed with how well The Calgary Zoo has adapted to the pandemic. I've always loved each experience and this one had to top it off. It was kind of like a VIP experience because you weren't fighting people to look at the animals, everyone was keeping there distance and... NO LINES!! The staff was so friendly and very informative of the new rules. There are plenty of signs around to help with following guidelines, and many arrows and paws on the ground showing you where to go. I'm very impressed. Not to mention, the new Bugtopia playground was very impressive! The kids loved it! Thank you to The Calgary Zoo for their hard work and dedication to the animals!!!

A very clean zoo with animals from all over the world.

Over priced but overall fun place to hang out with the kids.

The Safari brunch was very delicious and with a lot of different foods. The Panda passage lovely and you can see the special treatment and care given to all the species they have..!!

Absolutely amazing. The whole family loved the experience. we bought tickets online and bypassed the lines. we brought our own drinks and snacks to save on their prices for water and food. The staff are very friendly and each exhibit was clean and well maintained.

Most amazing zoo I have ever been too! They have everything there! Also very clean, very well organized and the workers there are so energetic and always giving information. The penguins and the pandas are a must see! Don t forget the hippos and giraffes!!!

Loved every minute! Just sucks they didn't accept the tickets we purchased with Air Miles cause they were not supposed to expire.

Very, very pricey. The experience it's self is good though. They try to be very educational, which is great for kids. The Penguins are really cool to see. They unfortunately no longer have the bats. The nocturnal house was taken down, it is sad because it was so unique and was also very educational.

Always a great place to go. Animals where out and active. Walking path was clean. Penguins were very active. Overall a really fun place to go.

Just went yesterday and it was pretty awesome! It's clean, the staff is nice, there are many things for kids to do, but most importantly the animals are in great enclosures and from what I can tell are in very good care! I love seeing animals and this zoo allows you to get close and see the animals from a good distance. I have been going to this zoo since I was very young and it always meets my expectations and keeps me entertained! The new pandas are very cute and thankfully you get a very good view of them! I definitely recommend this zoo for any person or family looking to have a fun day in Calgary!! :)

We saw the zoo lights. Great experience lots of fun little educational activitys for kids and creative displays to photo bomb. :)

Loved the Penguins. They have worked hard to create a great zoo.

That was our first time in Calgary august 2019. We visited and we planned to make visit to the Calgary Zoo. And I was surprised by the maintenance of the zoo and also to all of the animals. It is one of the most busiest zoo in North America. And it is a worth visit to see the Zoo. Here I am attaching some of the images that I have taken. Hope this will be helpful to others. Have a great day ahead.

Amazing place. Love the Lemur area now as you get to walk in with them. Such a neat experience!

Definitely one of my favourite places to go to in Calgary! Extremely satisfied with what they have done in response to the pandemic, and we were able to do and see pretty much everything we re used to! Overall, amazing place, always super fun and interesting! :)

Loved the penquins. They will splash you for the fun of it

Zoo Lights were great, adult and kids alike. Free public skating with free rentals (no extra cost)!

Love it enough to get a membership! In the winter they have a penguin walk. It can get a little cold. They have tons of animals.

They have lions and tigers and bears...oh my. Pandas and lemurs now also. No elephants sadly. Most animals you would think of they have now.

There are indoor buildings to heat up or cool down in while you walk around.

It's a great place to take kids or as a place to go on a date. Their food is also pretty good.

It was an amazing experience especially with pinguens and pandas....love it!

It's the zoo. If you don't love it there is something wrong.

It is a great place to see wild Animals of the world.

Been 6 years since last visit. Paid 30% more to see 30% less animals. No elephant, polar bear, kangaroo, emu, nocturnals to name some missing. Less hippo, types of reptiles and monkeys. Panda display was great, as all of the enclosures are for the animals that are there.

Super impressed with the zoo , as a person who hates zoos,this one I liked alot!!

World class zoo with focus on education and conservation. Immersive exhibits, inclusion of renewable energy and enthusiastic volunteers and staff combine to rank this zoo as top 2 or three in the world that I've visited.

Awesome zoo. Earlier mornings and cooler days usually make for more active animals. No animals are taken from the wild for the zoo either so it's good.

I haven't been to many zoos but this one is well-placed, surprisingly big, and welcoming.

It's a nice zoo. I like the close range of a lot of their exhibits - the lemurs and penguins especially.

The dinosaur part is stupid. While dinosaurs are animals, they are long dead animals. And it's not even dinosaur bones. They're all concrete covered in paint. They built a giant ugly concrete dinosaur themed park alongside the zoo.

Loved it wish I could have seen more animals and would love to be there working with all those amazing creatures.

Going late September was the best! Hardly any crowds. All exhibits were running, a few outdoor enclosures weren't open but you still got to see all the animals! Highly recommend going during slow season.

First time in Calgary! Was told to stop by the zoo. So I did. Had a great time

Awesome place. Great atmosphere fantastic animals and lots to see. If your bringing little ones you can rent a wagon or best to bring one with you. There's kiosks here to buy food from but you can also pack your own lunch. Great place for all ages.

A wonderful place to see animals even in the winter.

Really amazing. There is a whole section for just butterfly's at their various stages. Panda feeding is interesting, though I recommend on arriving early, the crowd gets big. The hot chocolate is really good.

The Calgary Zoo is an excellent afternoon for the family, regardless of age. Their care and love of the animals makes it a wonderful experience. Oh, and, pandas!

Is a decent conservation effort , penguins are the major attraction. Possibly would suggest a weekday trip to avoid the rush.

My wife and I have always been torn on whether or not we should be supporting wild animals being held captive. We ve decided that there are enough benefits to what the Calgary Zoo offers and have bringing our toddler here over the last year. This particular zoo seems to do a much better job at providing a comfortable environment for the animals while educating the public on a number of issues such as preservation.

I got a seasons pass after visiting the first time so I can come and walk around with my infant whenever we would like. Lots to see each time and we both enjoy the feeding times. Good signage around the park and very knowledgeable staff.

The Calgary zoo is good for all ages. The Panda experience is great. I still remember when they were at the zoo in 1988. The only thing to me is that they should remove dinosaurs park and put something else there. My 11 year old niece and newfew got us to skip it as they say its boring. From what I have been told it looks the same way it did the last time i went 20 plus years ago.

Love the zoo! Miss the primates that were there before the flood. I am a yearly pass holder and put it to very good use by myself and when people from out of town come to visit.

This is always a great place to come animals are a great experience to see and my favorite

Great zoo. Not too big and not too small. It can be accessed immediately from the Ctrain station and pricing is on par with other big city zoos. It has a butterfly exhibit in addition to a conservatory, panda display, and nice kids playgrounds inside. Nicely done!

Really fun. The new panda exhibit is so cute. Admission prices have gone up a lot in the last 10 years but thats just how it goes, it's still very popular. Nice to go once a year or so and for zoo lights.

My (1.5 yrs) son and I thoroughly enjoyed this zoo. The animals looked generally happy and my son really enjoyed all the attractions. I appreciate the open areas where he can run around as well. The shows were great and I love their approach when treating animals such as not forcing them to do anything if the animals don't feel like doing it. I feel the zoo's landscaping was also very well done. I have been to zoo's where everything are just simple enclosures or even cages. I would recommend coming to this zoo.

You will get five stars when you get some polar bears....#biased

Place is still great, even with out polar bear, my son loves it and we go at least once a year every summer and every year he is static to see all the animals, even though I'm sure he would love it better with polar bears there.
We also enjoy the little shows and educational programs you offer to help teach people how to be more responsible and eco friendly, when you get polar bears back I can send you tons of information on them if you want some help.
Did I mention I think you guys should get polar bears?

Always seeing something new. Great place for walking around and staying in shape.

We have yearly memberships and go so often. Much more to see than you can do in a day. If it s busy we just stick to the Canadian Wilds and the Dinosaur park. Awesome Lemur enclosure where you go in with the lemurs.

A good zoo, clean and well laid out. Felt very safe

Amazing and very beautiful place. Alot of great staff very helpful.

Love love love.... need more deals for single mothers who want to hangout with there child. But great place

A blast as always. Great staff. The gates by St Patrick island are a great way to park close and skip the lineups.

I have four children that absolutely loved the zoo. It was a cold day and we didn't hear no complaints. Had a blast

Visiting during covid seemed iffy but it turned out to be a enjoyable time to go as it wasn't crowded and the exhibits were easier to view. It is a one way only set up, which appeared to be mostly followed by the crowd.
With the coronovirus you buy a timed ticket and have to enter during a half hour window. Then you have the entire day, if you want, before you have to go. So if you are expecting only a certain amount of people in the zoo at once, I don't think that's the case. Therefore I would recommend the morning if you are looking for less people. Although many were practicing social distancing it is practically impossible to always do, as although it's less crowded than normal it's still fairly busy.
We enjoyed the butterfly house and wild cats the best!

My Fiancee and our Daughter had a good time here. There is lots and lots of animals to see.

A beautiful Zoo that is very well laid out. It is very hard to believe that it's actually in the middle of the city. I almost missed the turn off. When I visited here they had the Panda exhibit. I highly recommend a visit to the zoo.

Probably the best zoo we have visited. It is huge, you will definitely spend the whole day here. You get right up close to so many animals.
Loved the pandas and the butterfly area
The dinosaur part was a nice end to the day

The setup they have for social distancing is incredible. It flows so well, lots of animals were out, it was a great time!

Calgary zoo is very accessable & well organized, great for kids. Lots of trees & large enclosures for animals. This zoo is very involved in animal research projects & rehabilitation measures.Too bad the pandas are heading back to China.

In the past few years I have only been to the Zoo with either day camps or school groups and they do a good job of managing a high volume of people through the gates. The price for large groups is still affordable for us to visit as a school. The Panda Passage wasn t super busy either which we were worried about, and the kids loved seeing them!

Amazing zoo with a lot of cool animals and exhibits and it's very well kept. Can be a bit pricey later in the summer though.

Knowledgable courteous staff, a clean park, and cool animals! Definitely visiting again!

Great variety of animals. I liked the environment for the animals, although space was limited for some of the range animals.

We are members here and the member pricing is great value, you are able to have a full year membership for $60 or you can upgrade to the $80 one and have your parking free as well for the entire year ! I do wish that there could be a option for members to pay a little more to be able to get free zoo lights but with all of them you do have to pay for Zoo lights regardless but you don't have to pay full price.

It's a great place to go on sunny days with no set plans to can spend as long as you would like here. I do wish that their canteens were opened a little more throughout the year due to its always great to get a little snack while you're walking. their prices for food are definitely ridiculous I highly recommend that you bring your own food or snacks but it is also nice that if the canteens are open that if someone is in need of a drink right away that it could be available to them anytime of the day wherever they are in the zoo.

I like that the zoo has now offered to go into one of the exhibits which are the lemurs it makes it much more fulfilling when able to do more interacting with the animals.

I wish you were still able to feed the animals I remember doing it about 10 years back and it was amazing but unfortunately they do not offer that anymore.

Membership has great value, a variety of wildlife to see, nice pathways, interesting educational events. Chelsey at the gift shop cafe really lacks friendly customer service (acts like she really doesn't want to be there).

Great variety of animals, some enclosure bit small.

Love the attractions that they have. So worth season passes! As you get a great value for your money. The animals are very well kept. And the place is clean and well maintained. Highly educational to learn about animals in the wild and their habitat's.
Recommend

Open design with excellent exhibits. An awesome zoo.

Loves the Calgary Zoo... get there before 11a.m. to see the penguin walk. We came on a Friday, we took an Uber but could have taken the train, it literally drops you off right at the entrance. The food stands are seasonal so they were not open but we got to see a lot of animals, if it's a cold day, there are plenty of areas to duck into and defrost.

Favourite zoo in Canada! Lots to see and do - budget a minimum of 4 to 6 hours, depending on your walking pace. Newer exhibits (penguins, lemurs) attract the most attention, but the Africa and gorilla exhibits are also noteworthy. The best photography shots can be had in the large bird enclosure of the Canadian Wildlife exhibit!

I always enjoy my visits here. Clean place and they treat their animals well.

The zoo is always amazing, and the Panda exhibit is a welcome addition. The enclosure has been beautifully renovated, and they are doing a great job of managing the crowds at the entrance. Always one of our favourite day trips in Calgary.

It's a nice zoo, but it's better to go off peak season because there is alot less people roaming around

Love going but 12$ parking fee is pretty steep. Plus if you do zoolights it's a regular admission price

Great zoo with lots of interesting animals and exhibits. We got really lucky with our last visit as the animals were extremely active (first really warm week in spring). Easy to spend a whole day here.

The Calgary zoo is a fair bit more expensive than other zoo's we have been too. Best to make a full day out of it to get your money's worth. Really great exhibits and helpful staff and volunteers that will offer really interesting info about the animals.

Signage is lacking. Variety of animals is lacking. This Zoo used to be awesome. One other thing I didn't like was no water fountains that I saw; they just sell water in plastic bottles.

Very nice place, lots to see with family and kids. Great place to picnic. Pandas are a great addition!

Zoo lights was amazing, but it should be better advertised that you wont get to see the animals, almost at all, unless your there during daytime hours.

We did the Locked Zoo adventure last night. So fun, well executed. Wish they would've had other food options available for purchase and maybe an ice cream stand open! Would definitely do this again!

We are zoo members as it is a great way to have an entertaining walk year round! Love how the are world renown for their nature conservatory work!

Amazing zoo! Love the pandas. All beautiful nice big enclosures. Only issue I have was most of the vending machines were jammed up or didn't work