Toronto Zoo educational programs are designed to emphasize the importance of collaborating with other youth and connecting with nature to enhance social-emotional well-being.

By working with Toronto Zoo scientists and educators in the new TZC3, youth will develop critical thinking skills and improve their self-confidence, which ties into long-term skills for life and for the workplace.

Partnerships with colleges and universities will enhance impact and we are working closely with University of Toronto Scarborough and Centennial as this unfolds.

Our most significant project at present is the head-starting and release of Blanding’s turtles, a threatened species in Ontario. This project builds on Toronto Zoo’s work to restore a healthy population of Blanding’s turtles in our neighbouring Rouge River Watershed. Two decades ago, only 7 Blanding’s turtles were recorded in the Rouge Valley; today their numbers have increased into the hundreds due to the Toronto Zoo’s head-start program.

Blanding’s turtle hatchlings are reared at Toronto Zoo, giving them a ‘head-start’ at life by ensuring that their eggs and juveniles survive their most vulnerable life stages. Juveniles are released annually into the Rouge River Watershed and monitored post-release. This work is complemented by educational initiatives, including public outreach, workshops for professionals, and the development and distribution of species guides which are broadly distributed.

The Blanding’s turtle headstart program will be relocated to the Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre, with public viewing galleries and interactive displays allowing for community engagement while highlighting the Zoo’s commitment to conservation.

The rooftop atrium and Indigenous medicine and welcome garden will be a visual display of our vision and mission.

Designed strategically as a stunning demonstration of the Zoo’s mission—connecting people, animals, conservation science and traditional knowledge to fight extinction, this front building will also include the river otters and endangered turtle programs.

Located outside the admission gates, anyone who wants to visit to enjoy the garden, turtles, otters and other displays can do so free of charge.

We anticipate families and friends gathering within the pavilion, throughout the garden,
or on the atrium, enjoying an immediate connection with nature as they begin or end their day with us.

The Indigenous medicine and welcome garden, and in fact the whole Community Conservation Centre, will be located outside the admission gates, meaning that anyone who wants to visit to enjoy the garden, turtles and otters and other displays can do so free of charge.

We anticipate families and friends to gather within the pavilion, throughout the garden, or on the atrium, enjoying immediate connection with nature as they begin or end their day with us.

Flexible and appealing, we will activate the space to promote education and engagement.