Reptilia is a collection of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's largest indoor

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

zoos A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

, with a combined area of over of indoor exhibits featuring over 250

reptiles Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

and

arachnids Arachnids are arthropods in the class Arachnida () of the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroons. Adult arachnids ...

."Communities in Bloom", City of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, 2010, PDF webpage:
-->CIB%20Conference%20Preliminary%20Programme.pdf Vau-PDF
. Currently there are three

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

locations, one in

Vaughan Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

, one in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

, and one in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Locations

The original Reptilia zoo was established in

and is housed in a facility. In 2018, it opened a second location in

in a former Rona store. In late 2018, it announced plans to create similar zoos in

and

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

London City Council London City Council is the governing body of the city of London, Ontario, Canada. Composition London is divided into 14 wards, with residents in each ward electing one councillor. The mayor is elected citywide, who along with the councillors fo ...

rejected the proposal for a reptile zoo in

Westmount Mall Westmount Commons, also referred to as Westmount Mall, and formerly known as Westmount Shopping Centre, is a shopping centre located in London, Ontario. It is located at 785 Wonderland Road South at the northwest corner of Wonderland Road and Vis ...

. However, the council later reversed course in 2022 and allowed the company to open at

Attractions

Crocodylus niloticus Induna at Reptilia Vaughan

Croc in aquarium with reflection in water imgp4489cr

Reptilia audience members handling burmese python dsc 0083

About 250 species of reptiles are in the zoo's collection. Among them is Canada's largest

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

, a , male

Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the eastern, southern, and ce ...

named Induna. The zoo also contains

python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (prog ...

anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large boas of the genus ''Eunectes''. They are a semiaquatic group of snakes found in tropical South America. Three to five extant and one extinct species are currently recognized, including one of the l ...

poison dart frog Poison dart frog (also known as dart-poison frog, poison frog or formerly known as poison arrow frog) is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to tropical Central and South America. These species are ...

rattlesnake Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genus, genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting sm ...

s, and more. About 75% of animals are rescues, with the remainder either born on location or acquired from other accredited facilities. Of the rescues, many are obtained from previous owners who cannot cope with animals that have achieved their adult size, for which the zoo receives "constant calls". The zoo takes in about 75 such animals every year, many of which are later sent to other facilities. Each location has a theatre area in which the zoo exhibits interactive reptile shows.

Educational curriculum

Reptilia provides curriculum compliant educational programs from kindergarten to grade 12 along with specialized post secondary programs for first responders, educators, animal control officers and veterinarians. Educational programs are provided at Reptilia, as well as through the transportation of reptiles to various schools to provide lessons in school classrooms. Lessons are typically of 1 hour duration. Reptilia interacts closely with other educational organizations, supplying reptiles and other supplies to the

Ontario Science Centre The Ontario Science Centre (OSC; originally the Centennial Museum of Science and Technology) is a science museum and organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its original location opened to the public in 1969 and was located near the D ...

, helping the

Toronto Zoo The Toronto Zoo is a zoo located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Encompassing , the Toronto Zoo is the largest zoo in Canada averaging around 1.2 million visitors a year. The zoo is divided into seven zoogeographic regions: Indo-Malaya, Africa, A ...

with their educational programs, and working with many of the schools in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

. Reptilia also has a number of classrooms and party rooms that can be rented out for activities such as birthday parties. Each room is named after a different reptile.

Film industry

Reptilia provides reptiles along with skilled handlers for

film production Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

s, photo shoots, and television. Reptilia has provided reptiles for Guinness,

Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick ...

, Canada's Greatest Know-It-All, YTV,

Daily Planet The ''Daily Planet'' is a fictional newspaper appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The newspaper was first mentioned in ''Action Comics'' #9 (November 13, 1939) – Underworld Politics ...

, and other shows and productions.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Zoos in Ontario Buildings and structures in Vaughan Reptiles and humans