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SLIDESHOW: Greater Vancouver Zoo celebrates 47th anniversary

Weekend event at Aldergrove location well-attended
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A giraffe overlooks the Greater Vancouver Zoo, which celebrated its 47th anniversary on the weekend. Dan Ferguson Langley Times

About 1,000 people turned out on Saturday to help the Greater Vancouver Zoo celebrate its 47th anniversary this weekend.

Attendance ebbed slightly the second day of the weekend event, likely due to the hot weather, one organizer said.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday Aug. 20 activities at the 120-acre Aldergrove site at 5048 264 St. included airbrush tattoos, Angela Brown’s Nylon Zoo, Wipe Out and the Adrenaline Obstacle.

A birthday cake was served at noon both days.

The zoo was called the Vancouver Game Farm when it first opened on Aug. 20, 1970, and operated as a family business by Pat Hines and his wife Ann, then their daughter Eleanor and husband Hugh Oakes until it was sold to new owners in 1991.

The Game Farm then became known as the Greater Vancouver Zoological Centre, adding new animal enclosures, the miniature train, picnic park and other features.

In 1999, the name changed again to the Greater Vancouver Zoo.

dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com

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A lion seeks some shade at the Greater Vancouver Zoo on Sunday. The zoo just celebrated its 47th anniversary. Dan Ferguson Langley Times
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Four-year-old Nehemia of Surrey had himself decorated as a cheetah at the Greater Vancouver Zoo 47th anniversary celebration. Dan Ferguson Langley Times
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Dilan Praat of the Greater Vancouver Zoo introduced visitors to Hagrid the owl, as the Aldergrove zoo celebrated its 47th anniversary on the weekend. The event drew crowds. Dan Ferguson Langley Times
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One of the smaller residents of the Greater Vancouver Zoo greeted visitors at the 47th anniversary celebrations on the weekend. Dan Ferguson Langley Times
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Winston Fell … didn’t. The six-year-old from Coquitlam made it look easy as he navigated the inflatable obstacle course at the Greater Vancouver Zoo’s 47th anniversary celebration in Aldergrove. Dan Ferguson Langley Times


Dan Ferguson

About the Author: Dan Ferguson

Best recognized for my resemblance to St. Nick, I’m the guy you’ll often see out at community events and happenings around town.
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