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The Bug Zoo

A Canadian menagerie lets visitors get up close and personal with insects to help make crawlies less creepy.

Written byHayley Dunning
| 2 min read

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Shaking leaf insectHAYLEY DUNNING

The Victoria Bug Zoo is extremely small. It consists of just one room partially divided by a wall that holds a row of tanks on one side and Canada’s largest ant farm on the other. In 1997, the Zoo's founder, Carol Maier, started the collection, which now includes more than 50 insect species, after completing her entomology degree from the University of Guelph. Since then, the Zoo, tucked away in an old red brick building in the heart of Victoria, British Columbia, has grown into a unique experience for thousands of squealing guests, who often get to handle giant walking sticks, shaking leaf insects, and other exotic insects from around the globe.

Learning about and getting closer to tropical insects and arachnids such as cockroaches ...

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