hi guys today I'm joining you from Toronto Ontario and I'm at the Toronto Zoo this is the largest
zoo in Canada with over 5 000 animals and 500 different species let's go see what we can see
the Toronto Zoo welcomes over 1.3 million visitors each year and sits on 700 acres
of land divided into seven sections which each represent a geographic region
starting the day off at Tundra track this area features the zoo's arctic animals including
the polar bears which can be viewed from several different levels polar bears are the largest land
carnivores in the world tied with the Kodiak brown bears they can weigh 1800 pounds and grow to over
11 feet long but despite their large size this guy looks relatively graceful when swimming underwater
to get away
The australasian Pavilion features animals
from the Australian Mainland as well as the surrounding Islands
like the Kookaburra who's known for its distinctive laughing sound
or the green tree python which is found at the very north of Australia as well
as New Guinea in the Solomon Islands and can grow to about seven feet in length
like the name implies the adults are bright emerald green but the
juveniles can range in color from lemon yellow to red gold or orange
similarly the emerald tree boa averages about six feet in length but are differentiated by
the white blotches found along its midline the emerald tree boa has heat sensing pits
around its mouth they give it a precise thermal imaging of its surroundings the
Komodo dragon is a fascinating species and it's only found on a few small islands in Indonesia
the Komodo dragon is one of the largest and heaviest lizards in the world weighing up to
300 pounds and averages about 11 feet in length the red clawed yabby is the
largest freshwater crayfish reaching about 10 inches long and weighing half a pound
the avier blue or blue green in color and you can tell the males from the females because the males
have red patches on the outside of their claws but the females have claws that are pure blue
the fly River turtle is named after the river where it was discovered but it's
also known as the pig nose Turtle this creature can weigh up to 65 pounds and
unlike most Turtles their shell is covered in a leathery pitted skin
next let's head to the Great Barrier Reef exhibit
which features creatures from the waters surrounding Australia
like moon jellyfish which are found in the Atlantic Pacific and Indian oceans jellies
don't have a backbone a brain or a heart and mainly drift with the currents eating
Plankton moon jellies get their name from the four Crescent Moon shapes found on top
but they're actually mostly transparent to make them less visible to predators [Music]
the Great Barrier Reef is home to a variety of colorful fish like the pennant coral fish
lionfish and Long Nose butterfly fish and pot-bellied seahorse which can be
found in the Southwest Pacific Ocean around Australia New Zealand [Music] [Applause]
gills fins and a swim bladder and they swim in an upright position they use their tail
as an anchor by wrapping it around seagrass or other objects and interestingly they don't have
teeth or a stomach instead they create a vacuum with their tube-like snow to capture their prey
despite their tiny size a seahorse can consume up to 3 000 brine shrimp each day
let's take a peek at the Eurasia Wilds
Barbary sheep known as muflon are a species of wild sheep and are thought
to be one of the original ancestors of all modern day sheep muflon can grow
three and a half feet tall and weigh up to about 110 pounds the males have
larger horns than the females and the horns themselves can be about 30 inches in length
Factory and camel can be identified by their two humps camels that have only one hump are
called dromedaries Factory and camels have two broad toes on each foot they average about seven
feet tall and weigh about 1800 pounds [Music] and these are West Caucasian tour which live in the
cacasus mountains in Georgia and Russia they like to live in rugged Mountain terrain just
below the snow line at about eight thousand to four thousand meters above sea level and
our herbivores feeding on grass and herbs in the summer and leaves in the winter [Music]
heading over to the Americas this area of the zoo houses animals from both North and South America
owl these large owls have dark heads and backs lighter colored fronts and an unmistakable
facial pattern the light circles around their eyes give them the appearance that
they're wearing spectacles Palau stands about 18 inches tall and weighs only two
pounds and as with most Raptors the females of the species are actually larger than the males
[Music]
oh boa constrictors live between northern Mexico down through
Central and South America the largest boa constrictor ever recorded was 18 feet long
these freshwater stingrays can be found at almost every
major river in South America they can usually be found on the river bottoms
hiding from potential predators and waiting to Ambush their prey
the red-breasted piranha also live in the rivers of South America they're usually about 10 inches
long but some have grown up to about a foot and a half their highly predacious carnivores that Feast
on small animals fish frogs or birds and they also scavenge for food and consume insects snails worms
and plants heading to North America let's stop to watch the playful river otter these otter
are found throughout North America and prefer to spend their time close to Rivers creeks and lakes
otters have webbed feet and a strong tail to push their streamlined body through the water
but they use their short strong legs to navigate the land and can grasp prey with their sharp claws
snapping turtle are about 16 inches long and can weigh up to about 35 pounds they have a rough
shell which is usually covered with algae and can easily be mistaken for a rock while underwater
they have large heads and a short snout which sits just above their powerful hook-shaped jaws
these American eel are found mostly on the eastern coast to North America living mostly
in fresh water but they return to the ocean to spawn American eels prey mostly on small
fish and invertebrates and can grow four feet long and weigh up to about 17 pounds
[Music]
let's head over to explore Africa
all of baboons are found in Africa close to the equator living in Northern Zaire Ethiopia Kenya
Uganda and Northern Tanzania they have a large and heavy build with
sturdy Limbs and powerful jaws and have long pointed canine teeth these baboons
have cheek pouches where they're able to store food as they move about foraging
Olive baboons can grow as tall as 34 inches and weigh up to 80 pounds
other than the elephant and they weigh up to 8 000 pounds and stand six feet tall they have massive
bodies short necks and two horns on their snout in the mid 20th century white rhinos were almost
extinct but thankfully after years of protection they've made a substantial comeback today sizable
White Rhino populations can be found in various national parks State protected areas and private
Reserves [Music] the river hippo is the third heaviest land mammal with a bulky barrel-shaped
body a massive head a thick short neck and heavy folds of skin their skin can be up to
three inches thick and they have an impressive set of lower canine teeth that can be two feet long to
those teeth the hippo's Jaws can open up to 180 degrees wide hippos live south of the Sahara
Desert to nambia and in South Africa and spend most of their days in the water but at night
they emerge to feed on land dining on mainly tough short grasses they usually feed within
a mile of their watery home but have been known to travel up to 20 miles to find food [Music]
muscle giraffe for the tallest animals in the world standing up to 18 feet tall and weighing
2 600 pounds their necks alone are five feet long and are supported by seven vertebrae that's the
same number as humans the giraffes are just a lot larger giraffe's hearts are also massive
weighing 25 pounds which is needed to circulate the blood to its lofty extremities these giraffes
have an incredibly flexible blue black tongue which measures 18 inches in length and they
can use it to pry leaves and branches from the Treetops for food heading inside to the African
rainforest Pavilion the pygmy hippo may look like River hippo but there are some differences other
than size pygmy hippos have a rounder head than the river hippo with large circular nostrils and
their eyes are set to the size of their heads and don't protrude as much they proportionately
have smaller heads than a river hippo and longer legs pygmy hippos can grow up to about three feet
tall and weigh 600 pounds and they live in fresh water and the tropical rainforest of night Algeria
the Ivory Coast Liberia and Sierra Leone they spend most of the day resting in pools swamps
and rivers and soaking in water to keep their skin healthy but at night they emerge and wander
through the forest feeding on the Lush Waterside vegetation surprisingly these slender-tailed
meerkat are actually a type of mongoose these cuddly looking creatures are about a foot tall
and weigh up to two pounds but they also have tails that can reach 10 inches in length [Music]
the rainforests are known to be filled with colorful creatures
let's take a minute to admire the cyclits which live in Lake Malawi
[Music]
and over here is a lungfish these creatures are living fossils which have remained practically
unchanged for nearly 400 million years they have a body like an eel but they can either
swim through the water or crawl along the bottom using their pectoral and pelvic fins they live
in freshwater swamps in the back Waters and small rivers in West and South Africa
and feed on Crustaceans aquatic insects frogs fish mollusks as well as tree roots and seeds
the Indo Malaya Pavilion is home to the Sumatran orangutan which is covered in a
coarse reddish brown shaggy hair except for their face there are six Orangutans at the
zoo but you'll only see one or two of them at a time since they are typically solitary
creatures in the wild they're managed separately in four groups and rotated twice a day between
the public exhibit and their three-story playrooms which sit behind the scenes they
typically live about 30 to 45 years but can survive up to 50 years in captivity [Music]
false scarial which is the only one in Canada and one of only 23 in all of North America
unfortunately false Aerials are endangered and are found in parts
of Indonesia and Malaysia where they live in freshwater lakes rivers and swamps
the indo-malaysia region also has its own collection of exotic fish
like the tin foil Barb the gold tin foil Barb
the black carp and the jumbo gourami today
finally let's check out the Discovery Zone
which has exhibits aimed at younger children including Goat world [Music]
and over here are the guinea pigs these cute and cuddly rodents have big noses and can smell
danger they love to eat grass pellets greens and even fruit guinea pigs aren't nocturnal but they
love to take naps throughout the night and day we also found a striped skunk which is found
throughout Canada the United States and Northern Mexico skunks are omnivores and eat rodents and
other small animals as well as insects grasses leaves buds greens nuts and mollusks and we were
also lucky enough to see feeding time for the abyssian groundhorn Bell these hornbills stand
about three and a half feet tall but they can have a wingspan which reaches seven feet wide
there's so much to do with the Toronto Zoo that you can easily spend the day there
tell we got to see an incredible range of animals but we probably only got to
experience about half of what the park has to offer I think the cool thing about Zeus is
you never know what type of experience you're going to get depending on the time of day and
the mood of the animals you might see different things hope you enjoyed touring the zoo with me
today remember to keep exploring and until next time it's time to exit through the gift shop