I thought today was going to be a short journey through the heart of the province of Quebec: a straight line between the big cities of Montreal and Quebec. But surprise, surprise! Not only did my humans treat me to the hilly roads of the Eastern Townships, but they let me live a child’s dream: a visit to the greenest zoo in Canada… even before its official spring opening.
Yes, if you want something green, the Granby Zoo is one of a kind. More than 75% of the zoo’s buildings, including the homes of the elephants and the giraffes, are heated and cooled by a geothermal system comprised of 60 wells that go about 150 metres deep underground.
In addition, the zoo has storage heaters made with boxes filled of special bricks that collect the heat in peak hours, and then release it when demand is at its highest.
Catherine Page, Zoo Granby
Of course, the Zoo is also a model of recycling for its own operations. Everything in the hands of the employees is recyclable. The Zoo uses phosphate-free soap and is styrofoam-free, too.
But enough about all this Green stuff. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty… the animals! How green are the animals?
Even the hippopotamus pond is filtered by an ozonization system, similar to the ones used in municipalities. All these environmental concerns wouldn’t be possible without the deep conviction of the employees though. Our tour guide, Catherine Page, a strong believer in protecting the environment, drove me around the parking lot, just to check my ecological bloodlines. My two drivers? Well they seemed like kids for most of the day, applauding every time they saw a tiger or a jaguar.
Sadly we had to leave the Zoo and hit the road to Quebec City.
What a great day! We did 413.6 kilometers with a fuel average of 5.3 liters/100 km. Not a record like yesterday, but a darn good average considering my drivers were on the hop!
