Animal Viewing Impacts & Building Closures

African Savannah: Last entry to the African Savannah Building and the Savannah Loop pathway will be at 4:00 p.m. on March 22nd & March 29th to accommodate setup for Wild After Hours: Giraffes and Zebras (18+). Thank you for understanding. 

Land of Lemurs Walkthrough & Outdoor Gorilla Amphitheatre: The two outdoor animal viewing areas are closed for the season. Lemurs and gorillas will be viewable in their indoor habitats.

African Savannah Yard: Our Hartmann’s mountain zebras and ostriches are off-view  while we complete exciting upgrades in the African Savannah Yard, including the construction of a new Savannah Barn for the animals. Our giraffe tower will continue to be viewable throughout the project.

Exploration Asia: The Exploration Asia Redevelopment project is officially underway! The first phase of this transformation has begun, and our Japanese Serow and Japanese Macaques have left the zoo. Thank you for your understanding.

Public Notice

Pesticide application to control the invasive species Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus) will occur within the property boundary of the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo under approval from Alberta Environment and Protected Areas. For full details or information on appeals, click here.
Black-and-white colobus monkey

Bite-Sized

Celebrating ‘Kito’

March 18, 2023 | 1 minute read

Happy birthday to ‘Kito’! Our eastern black-and-white colobus monkey is 4 years old today!

The name “colobus” comes from a Greek word that means “mutilated”, because colobus monkeys have very unusual thumbs. Where other monkey species have thumbs, colobus monkeys only have a small bump and the remaining nail. This adaptation gives colobus monkeys an amazing advantage in using their long fingers like hooks to swing through the forest canopy in which they live! While their forest home has plenty of food, it’s low in nutrition, so colobus monkeys have multi-chambered stomachs that allow food to ferment and extract as many nutrients and calories as possible. Isn’t nature amazing?

Swing on over to the African Rainforest building to wish Kito a happy birthday!

Black-and-white colobus monkey

Eastern black-and-white colobus monkey ‘Kito’

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