ZOOZ (NOW CALLED SAFARI NIAGARA)

ZOOZ recently changed its name to Safari Niagara, but it still has the same owners and, more importantly, the same animals you’ve always loved.

It’s a zoo. It’s a playground. It’s an outdoor sculpture museum. The owners of ZOOZ (recently renamed as Safari Niagara) seem to have thought of everything when they created this place.

Sculpture in the park

Why else would their animal park in Stevensville, about a 10-minute drive from Niagara Falls Ontario, feature more than 200 steel statues sprinkled through its grounds, even in the animal pens, making this one of the most unusual zoos in Ontario?

Who knows? Maybe they do. We can’t really say for sure, can we? (Have you ever tried to interview a baboon or a lemur?)

The statues were created by local artist Rod Dowling and include abstract renditions of animal forms, human forms and plant forms as well. Although the art is certainly a curiosity and added interest, the real star attractions here remain the amazing animals.

If I Could Talk to the Animals …

ZOOZ is an animal park with a population of more than 400 creatures. Here you’ll find “lions and tigers and bears – oh my!” as well as elk, buffalo, zebra, baboons, lemurs, Canadian lynx, giraffes, wolves, a fox, a pair of wart hogs, a miniature horse, and all kinds of exotic birds including peacocks, African crowned cranes, ostriches, owls, eagles and swans. It’s easy to get so enthralled watching one pair that you might just run out of time before you get to visit the rest.
On our visit my sister and I happened to stop by the baboon cage just as a family fight was breaking out. Mom and dad seemed to be disagreeing over the actions of Junior who was reaching his arm out of the cage to tear up and eat grass blades. Dad didn’t like it one bit, and decided to tell Junior about it. Mom then jumped in to defend her little darling. Mom and dad suddenly began tearing around the cage at each other in a vicious fight that looked (and sounded) like it was going to end in bloodshed. But in a matter of minutes, the pair settled, mom even went back to grooming dad, and it was then that I noticed the tiny baby baboon (much younger than Junior) clinging to the mother’s stomach. How he managed to hang on during this violent fracas I’ll never understand!

Luckily not all the animal behaviour at ZOOZ is this violent. You can learn more about how animals act at animal demonstration shows run throughout the day. At one presentation, your kids get a chance to feed leaves to the giraffes from the top of a tall feeding platform. At another you can learn all about birds and “the wonders of flight”. If you want to see a show, I’d recommend going early in the day so you won’t run out of time.

In fact, it’s best to go in mornings for another reason too. We found that by late afternoon the animals were dozing in the shade if they had trees in their pens, or in their shelters/houses if they didn’t. (Each pen seems to have an enclosure so the animal can get some privacy and protection from the weather).

Which brings me to that one burning question about zoos and about this one in particular: Are the animals at Safari Niagara well-cared for? What would they say if they could speak to us and we could understand?

I’m no expert, but to me most of the animals looked fairly healthy (with the exception of a grey wolf who seemed rather scrawny and upset as he paced about). The grounds of the cages were clean (although many were barren of grass) and the water bowls and food dishes in the cages appeared fresh, at least the ones I could see. I thought many of the cages looked cramped, though, although some had quite a bit of space for the animals to roam around in.

Some of the birds’ cages weren’t terribly big either. I think the birds at Bird Kingdom in Niagara Falls have a much better environment. But maybe with the proposed expansions the animals’ homes will improve.

Playground & other family fun facilities

ZOOZ has a well-equipped playground with slides, swings, climbers, tunnels, bridges and tree huts. In the sandbox we saw kids playing with toy trucks and other items that seem to come with the property. The playground is a really nice addition since the whole place seems geared to younger children, and the playground gives them a place to relax after what could be a tiring though enjoyable stroll around the animals’ pens.

The splash pad looks like great fun and it made me wish I was a kid again. The teeter-totters in the pool have built-in splashers that send water squirting out at your partner as you go up in the air! How cool is that?

Among the other free activities are paddleboats and kites. No need to pay extra to borrow these items.

If you like fishing, you’ll find ponds stocked and ready. You can borrow the park’s equipment but you pay a small fee for bait.

The zoo also runs a series of evening concerts at their ampitheatre every summer (separately priced).

NEXT PAGE: Zooz - Practicalities, Visitor Info

return from ZOOZ to Zoos in Ontario

return to Ontario Travel Secrets home page