Nature's Wild Backyard
"Building Canada's cold climate zoo with a Tropical Heart"
The Valley Zoo Development Society (VZDS) is a registered charity and non-for-profit organization committed to raising funds and awareness for the Valley Zoo. Since 1988, the VZDS has acted in partnership with the City of Edmonton to ensure the continued development of this treasured local facility. The VZDS is committed to raising $8 million in support of Nature's Wild Backyard.
From the 2005 Master Plan:
The first of the many exhibit precinct is Nature's Wild Backyard. Kids and older visitors are invited to enter through the small-ish front door of a welcoming, but slightly quirky-looking small frame house. The house is full of the collections and inventions of someone excited about the natural world, and the animals and the hones that they inhabit.
Exploring the house, kids discover Natures Wild Hospital, where each can play the role of veterinarian, as they care for wild-patients. The examination tables and surgery are lined with stethoscopes for routine check-ups as well as spare hearts and lungs for transplants! The next room is full of outfits and masks. Kids dress-up and play the parts of both wild animal and care-giving keeper.
Opening the back door reveals a large garden, grassy and open in the centre, and ringed by wild places. Forest Homes, Farm Homes, and Grassland Homes have each been created by the nature-lover as she has experimented with providing better and better homes for her wild friends. A walkthrough Squirrel Monkey exhibit is the highlight of the Forest Homes area. The Farm Homes features Nigerian dwarf goats, ducks, and Dexter cows that visitors can groom and learn to care for.
The Grassland Homes are reached by a tunnel that passes under the Round-Up Ride and then pops up for a series of nose-to nose encounters with prairie dogs and meerkats. The lemurs stare intently at the miniature 4 x 4 vehicles as they circle the grassland sized for age three-to six plus an occasional mum or granddad.
The heart of the backyard is all about water. The Wetlands are home to turtles and frogs, and are frequently visited by small groups with a dip-net and bucket. This living pond-soup is then carried back to the House for examination under one of the nature-lovers many microscopes and hand lenses.
At the far end of the backyard, between grassy mounds, a small spring gushes from the ground and erupts and trickles from various pieces of animal sculpture that the nature-lover has collected. Nearby, an Asian small-clawed otter observes intently as kids mimic her aquatic cavorting. The Parents Place Café provides a spot for mum or granddad to sit with a coffee and watch the play. From a comfortable chair here each of the gateways within the Backyard can be easily monitored.
