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Those visiting Killman Zoo this season can expect to see some improvements including upgrades to the exhibits as well as children’s programming.
For the zoo’s 25th anniversary, residents are invited to the celebration on March 9 at the Binbrook Agricultural Hall.
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Mark Killman, owner and operator of Killman Zoo, opened the zoo with his brother in 1988 with their father Murray Killman providing the original animals.
The zoo started off as the Killman Wildlife Sanctuary with Killman giving tours of the sanctuary filled with mostly exotic cats. Since then, it has evolved to a 33-acre zoo with 25 to 30 different species and about 150 animals including monkeys, black bears, foxes, pigs and goats.
And that's the Killman Zoo for you: a rustic, family-run operation whose time has passed in more ways than one.
The No. 1 reason the Killmans plan to close this fall after 12 years of operation has nothing to do with new provincial regulations.
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There is nothing deliberately callous about the Killman Zoo. It's been run on hard work, pride and love. But it's a victim of its own limited resources, which makes it a throwback to a time when the purpose of zoos was to collect and display animals merely for people's amusement.
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By contrast, the Killman Zoo's shady, woodland setting is not only pleasant for people, it permits the kind of eyeball to eyeball contact with the big cats that gives a real appreciation for the term man-eater.
As an artist, Murray was known for his realist technique while specialized in portraying wild animals — specifically the different breeds of North American cats. Acquiring the first big cat in 1979 allowed Murray to paint with accuracy of the subject. It kind of snowballed from there, soon after the Killman’s Wildlife Sanctuary was born. Over time the sanctuary would grow and evolve, eventually becoming The Killman Zoo, opening its door to the public in 1988. “I call it the zoo that art built” Murray would say often.
The Killman Zoo may continue to roar. The 200-animal zoo, known for its lion and tiger displays, may re-open sometime next year in another location with fewer animals.
Mark Killman, the son of zoo founder Murray Killman, announced yesterday he has filed papers with the town of Haldimand to convert his 2.5 hectares of farmland at Haldibrook and McClung roads into a menagerie for 50 animals.
Murray Killman, 71, announced last month he is closing the zoo this fall because of fears over provincial legislation passed to govern Ontario wildlife in zoos. The popular attraction is located on about 3.5 hectares on Unity Side Road, around the corner from the proposed new site.
The operator of a Caledonia zoo is aiming to take on the animal rights movement, which he blasts as being 'anti-human' and threatening the future of his family-owned operation.
Mark Killman, co-owner of the Killman Zoo, has formed a lobby group called Partners with Animals to combat what he sees as a movement pushing the province into passing legislation he believes will regulate private zoos out of existence.
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The Killman Zoo, in 1989, was criticized as being ramshackle and decrepit by Zoocheck Canada, a Toronto-based group whose aim is to protect wild animals in captivity. The Killmans denied the group's charges.
The Killmans also sell animals to other zoos or wildlife users. They recently sold a seven-week-old lion cub, called Double, to the Tiger Paw Zoo in Limehouse, near Georgetown, and are in the process of selling another one, called Trouble, to a magician.
Operators of the Killman Zoo are trumpeting the arrival of seven cygnets born to a pair of rare trumpeter swans.
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The Killman Zoo's baby swans were hatched on Sunday, a month after the eggs were laid. Their parents are a pair of unnamed trumpeters the zoo has had since 1986.
In fact, the pair also produced seven cygnets last year, but in their first breeding year, in 1991, they had only one baby swan survive. The zoo is believed to be about one of 50 places across Ontario with trumpeters in captivity.
Complaints about the conditions at the Killman Zoo have been filed with the province by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).
The animal rights group said the animals are in cages the size of a single-car garage, which provides little room for exercise. The group also said the cages are littered with feces and that animals, who are social and usually live with others, are being housed alone. The WSPA did an audit in 2005 and gave the Caledonia zoo a failing grade. A recent investigation by the group has found little has changed since that audit.
Dr. John Gripper, a retired veterinary surgeon and licensed zoo inspector in southern England, concluded 16 of the parks he studied, including the Killman Zoo in Caledonia and the African Lion Safari near Rockton, would not be allowed to operate in Britain.
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Dr. Gripper said Killman failed to meet the standard because its fencing is rusting and insecure, the wooden cages are weathered and in some cases too small, and a tunnel which takes the lions from their cages to an open area is insecure.
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In a telephone interview yesterday, Dr. Gripper said Zoocheck staff warned him he would find problems at the Killman park, which they have been trying to close since 1989.
Murray Killman's 200 lions, tigers, bears and other animals need a new home.
Killman announced yesterday that provincial legislation is forcing him to shut the gates of his Unity Road business this fall after about 12 years.
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Haldimand Mayor Marie Trainer said she was shocked. The zoo, which is operated by Killman's sons Mark and Steve, attracts about 30,000 annual visitors, including many school tours.
She's not sure there's much she or the town can do to change Killman's mind or to convince the government to make changes to Bill 139 -- the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act -- which has incensed the zoo owner.
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The Killman Zoo has been attacked by animal rights activists as being ramshackle and unsuitable for wild animals. Toronto-based Zoocheck Canada Inc. has been trying to close it down since 1989. Killman always denied Zoocheck's allegations.
The Killman zoo is on track to a new home. Haldimand's planning committee is recommending approval of an application to relocate the zoo locally, despite opposition from area residents and the town's planning staff.
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The fate of the popular local attraction has been up in the air since the start of the summer, when Murray Killman said provincial legislation was forcing him to shut the gates after 12 years.
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The zoo, which opened in the mid-1980s and has been the target of animal rights activists in the past, attracts about 40,000 visitors annually.
