Take a trip across the Ocean

The Calgary Zoo is a wonderful place to spend a couple of hours or the whole day — the choice is yours! Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming to know where to start. So, to help you plan your visit, the Calgary Zoo has created a series of mini self-guided walking tours — just for Calgary’s Child readers — to get you started.

Take a trip across the ocean when you step into the Eurasia section of the Calgary Zoo. Our Eurasia section includes animals that are located throughout the continents of Europe and Asia.

The first zoo residents that you will meet are the Snow Leopards. These shy, secretive and solitary felines are well camouflaged in their enclosure, so put on your detective glasses and see if you are able to spot our two snow leopards, Peter and Katerina. Peter and Katerina share the same enclosure, but they both have their own distinct areas. Katerina is located on the half that is closest to the elephants, while Peter occupies the other half.

If these animals were in your gym class at school, you would see that they are excellent athletes. They are expert climbers and would be very good at the high jump, since they are able to leap up to 15 m (about the same height as a giraffe). Your next stop is one of the world's smallest bears, the Sloth Bear. By taking a look at this amazing creature, you may not think that it is a relative to the bears we have here in Canada. Their hair is long, black and shaggy and they have a white marking on their chests.

Do you help your mom or dad vacuum the house? Well, the sloth bear has a built-in vacuum inside its nose! This built-in vacuum allows the bear to suck termites (their favorite food) into its mouth. Another favorite food of this species is the Mohwa flower, which is used as an alcoholic beverage for humans. The citizens of India believe that the bear also becomes intoxicated after eating the flower and this ‘dancing’ behavior may also have started the trend of capturing them for entertainment purposes. This bear also has long curved claws that can be up to eight cm long — about the size of your hand from pinkie finger to thumb. The bear uses these long claws to climb trees. They can sometimes be seen hanging from trees like a two-toed sloth, an animal that resides in the Australia/Nocturnal building at the zoo.

Further down Discovery Trail you will find an animal that looks very similar to animals that are found on farms and ranches throughout Southern Alberta. Do not be fooled! These animals are called Asian Wild Horses, and are native to Mongolia. These horses are smaller and have a short mane that sticks right up in the air. They shed their mane and tail each year, and then grow it all back. Just imagine what your cat or dog would look like without hair!

These horses have been extinct in the wild since the early 1900s - even before the First World War. They became extinct in the wild as a result of humans moving into their natural environment and because wild stallions were breaking into domestic barns and stealing domesticated females.

If a bathroom break is in order, the washrooms are located at the side of the Tiger's Den gift shop and concession, facing the horses.

Next to the gift shop is the Alpine Ibex that is a close cousin to our mountain goats. These goat like animals live in the mountain ranges within Europe. Like their North American cousins, the ibex is an expert climber and jumper. Imagine being able to jump four meters high and having horns the same length as your arms when spread out as wide as they can be.

The largest cat in the world is featured on your next stop. The Calgary Zoo's six Siberian Tigers: Mom - Kita, Dad - Khasam, and four cubs born in April of 2000 (Marilei, Tsamara, Fedor Eh, and Katja) occupy the two courtyards and larger main enclosure. Can you count all six tigers? Like the snow leopards, you must look very carefully as they blend in with their surroundings very well. Can you determine which tiger is which Similar to our fingerprints, every tiger has a different pattern of stripes. Domestic cats, which you may have at home, do not like water very much, in fact, most hate it. But, what do you see in the tiger enclosure? Siberian tigers love the water and are able to swim very long distances. Even though tigers are ferocious, the only enemy they have are humans. These great cats are severely endangered due to loss of habitat, lack of prey, fur hunting and poaching. The tigers are part of a program called the Species Survival Program (SSP). This high quality mating program is designed to ensure that endangered species genes are distributed throughout captive populations.

Last, but definitely not least, are the Red Pandas. These animals have a fiery red-colored coat and a white face. Our two red pandas, Kachin and Tarok were both born here at the Calgary Zoo. These brothers get along well with each other, but spend most of their time in different areas of the enclosure. By just observing these animals, try to guess what their closest relatives would be. The closest living relative to the red panda is thought to be the raccoon, since it looks similar to this animal.

If there is still wind in your sails, we encourage you to take a stroll through the Eurasian Marsh. While on the boardwalk that winds through this enclosure, you will see many different species of waterfowl that are native to Europe and Asia.

For more information on these and other Zoo activities, call 232-9300.