Toronto Zoo

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Toronto Zoo
The main entrance to the Toronto Zoo in 2006
43°49′13.00″N 79°10′58.00″W / 43.8202778°N 79.1827778°W / 43.8202778; -79.1827778
Date opened	August 15, 1974
Location	361A Old Finch Avenue Toronto, Ontario M1B 5K7
Land area	287 hectares (710 acres)[1]
No. of animals	5,000+[2]
No. of species	300+[2]
Annual visitors	1.2 million (2022)[2]
Memberships	WAZA,[3] AZA
Owner	City of Toronto
Public transit access	85B   86A   200
Website	www.torontozoo.com

The Toronto Zoo is a zoo located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Encompassing 287 hectares (710 acres),^[1] the Toronto Zoo is the largest zoo in Canada averaging around 1.2 million visitors a year.^[2][4] The zoo is divided into seven zoogeographic regions: Indo-Malaya, Africa, Americas, Tundra Trek, Australasia, Eurasia, and the Canadian Domain. Some animals are displayed indoors in pavilions and outdoors in what would be their naturalistic environments, with viewing at many levels. The zoo also has areas such as the Kids Zoo, Waterside Theatre, and Splash Island. The zoo has one of the most taxonomically diverse collection of animals on display of any zoo worldwide^{[citation needed]} and is currently home to over 3,000 animals (including invertebrates and fish) representing over 300 species. The zoo is open to the public every day of the year.

The zoo is a corporation owned by the municipal government of Toronto.^[5] Founded by Hugh A. Crothers and business partner, John Cameron Egan, who became the first Chairman of the Metro Toronto Zoological Society in 1966, the zoo opened on August 15, 1974, as the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo. The word "Metropolitan" was dropped from its name when the individual municipalities that made up the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto were amalgamated into the current city in 1998. The zoo is located near the Rouge River on the western border of Rouge Park in the city's east end district of Scarborough.