Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo: Entry Ticket

This review is intended give information to anyone with accessibility issues wanting to visit the Calgary Zoo. Accessible parking is limited. Three lots within the North parking lot. A, B and C. Very limited spaces in lots A and B (less than 10 each). Lot C has approximately 20 accessible spaces, but if going on the weekend it is is difficult to find an accessible spot available. Lot C is usually the best option. From the accessible parking lots, it is just under 1 km walk to the gift shop past the admission booths. Unfortunately you must pay admission first before finding out if wheel chairs are available to rent. Holds on wheelchairs are not permitted. This April we were able to rent a manual wheel chair for $10.00. The wheel chair was well used and one foot rest was not adjustable. In May the price was increased to $15.00, but there were no manual wheel chairs available. I was told that only 4 manual wheelchairs were working with a number of others in need of repair since last year. We did rent a powered chair, of which there are more available. However, a powerchair is not appropriate or usable by everyone. For my person needing the chair, the power capacity was impossible to use by them and could have been very dangerous, so I pushed the powerchair which was quite heavy! I was extremely disappointed that an organization this size, charging a good amount of money for admission, is not fixing their broken manual wheelchairs or buying some new ones. Because we visit the zoo once or twice a month, we felt it necessary to purchase a wheelchair. This way, we won't have to repeat the uncomfortable experience of not being able to rent one of the very few manual wheel chairs that the Zoo has to offer. This past Monday (June 8, 2026) I did inquire as to how many working wheelchairs are available and they are now down to only 3. 3 working manual wheelchairs is unacceptable for the thousands of people who visit the Calgary Zoo on a daily basis. The staff said they would pass my concerns to their manager and Customer Relations is also aware as I saw someone else make a post about the wheelchair situation. This was 4 to 6 weeks ago and the broken wheel chairs are still waiting to be fixed. I don't like to write negative reviews, but I want to let anyone who might be in need of a manual wheelchair at the zoo to be aware of these things: 1) Between .07 to 1.5 km (if you can't find accessible parking) walk from the parking lot to wheelchair rental 2) Holds on a wheelchair are not available and admission must be paid first 3) Availability of one of the 3 working manual wheel chairs is slim 4) The wheel chair rented might not be in good working order 5) Admission and parking (extra $14.00) must be paid before you know if a wheelchair is available. 6) If you rent a powerchair make sure that the battery is fully charged as I have heard of some visitors getting stranded with a battery that runs out mid visit. To make your trip enjoyable if you need and don't own a wheel chair, consider renting one through a pharmacy or home care store. The pathways at the zoo are well maintained to push a wheel chair and it really is a nice place to visit!

Easy walk, wicked polar bear.

We payed full price for entry. We were told the Canada exhibit (bears and wolf's)was closed but will open at 12 so we carried on and payed full price. We stayed around and has lunch etc till 2pm and the exhibition was still closed also the dinosaur exhibition was closed aswell. Very disappointed hate been lied to and ripped off with entry fee when 2 huge exhibitions were closed. Plus we had to pay to park aswell. Call before you travel as it's a very huge disappointment when we go there.

One of the best zoos i have visited in a while. Layout information and knowledge of volunteers is excellent

Very expansive park with multiple areas and lots of information about the different species in each enclosure. We spoke to Eliot, Riley, Dominic, and Barbs, and all of them were clearly really excited to discuss the animals they were near to and answer our questions. For the length of time we spent there (all day), we found the ticket price to be super reasonable. Also a bonus that you can easily get to the zoo via public transport from Calgary downtown. The only downside for us was that the Prehistoric Park was closed for the season, but we did close to 11,000 steps around the zoo during our visit so I think we would have had to skip something else to make space to see Prehistoric Park had it been open.

We travelled to Calgary and 1 thing was to visit the zoo and see bears and wolf's as never seen them in the flesh. Went to the ticket desk was told the Canada wild is closed but will be open again at 12 o'clock. So we proceed and get tickets. Hung around seen all the other great animals but half the cafes was closed. The prehistoric world was closed we payed full price for this and to have the Canada wild still closed at 1oclock asked a staff member only to be told not open till Friday. WTF we told her that the ticket desk said it would be open lied . If we knew this we wouldn't have gone in. When 2 big exhibits were closed plus some of the Asia was closed aswell. Honestly they should give discount if sections are closed. So very disappointed. Thankfully what we did see was cool but we left disappointed. Half the canteens were closed aswell.

The Inland African Park is unworthy for animals. The air is unbreathable, the animals must suffer. The giraffes have no room, the hippos were lying on concrete in the middle of their excrement in a tiny enclosure. This part of the zoo should be closed to respect animal welfare. The part about animals in Canada seems to me to be much more animal-friendly with quite large outdoor parks (except for wolves which are completely stereotyped). The volunteers are adorable, positive for the visitor.

We visited on a weekday in winter so I was not sure how great it would be, it was really great. There was no crowd, the buildings were open and warm, the cafe in the gift shop was open and we had very good breakfast sandwiches. There is a daily penguin walk down a path from the penguin house and that was just plain fun. I recommend seeing it. There was a few things closed but it really didn't effect our day. The animals are in nice enclosures. The highlight was the African Hippos. They were so awesome we got to chat to a volunteer about them as well as view them up close. She told us all about them, names, ages, favorite treats and about the noises they were making. Overall the zoo was really nice and we had a great time.

Our young kids were thoroughly engaged throughout the entire day. We spent the majority of the day and still weren't able to see everything. The kids especially enjoyed observing the newborn Malayan Tapir, and the Komodo Dragons.

What a great zoo!!! We are from Winnipeg and our zoo is not well thought out, like a maze. This zoo flows so well and bathrooms and water fountains around every corner! I think I lost track of the play grounds at like 3, and they were all so fun!! They are lucky to have such great animals, the otters, penguins and gorillas were our favorite! What added as well was the volunteers, they were everywhere and had so many great facts to share.