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| - A decade ago, I went to the San Diego Zoo. I remember being hot and miserable. I don't remember seeing many animals despite all the walking, and some of the few I did see were miserable in small concrete "homes" lacking shade and enrichment. In fact, I have very few pictures.
I do remember standing in line for an hour to see a panda cub in an exhibit that's pitiful compared to the one I saw today in Toronto. Hopefully they've improved theirs in the last ten years. I anticipated a similar experience here so we arrived first thing in the morning and walked right in. There's an indoor and outdoor exhibit, as well as another outdoor exhibit.
This zoo is similarly large and hard to navigate, but since it's not as expensive as I remember the San Diego Zoo being, we splurged on tickets for the tram. Personally, I could have walked to all the exhibits I wanted to see but I can't say the same for everyone else in my family.
I think some people exaggerate distances. I was under the mistaken impression that even if you take a tram to the Canadian Domain, it's still a mile to the exhibits so we almost skipped my beloved cougar. Instead you see the raccoon, lynx and cougar on the way down to the grizzly, and while the hill is a bit of a hike, it's a 5 minute hike.
I was impressed with the size and scope of many exhibits. The polar bears have multiple areas. The orangutans and gorillas have plenty of vertical and horizontal space with lots of engaging features. I wish the cougar and lynx had more room. I don't see any reason why those exhibits can't be expanded.
The splash pad is massive. Also, while some parts aren't as shady as I would like, there is some shade and plenty of indoor pavilions to escape the heat.
Food and drinks are predictably overpriced but you can bring in your own.
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