Roaring to get going
Excitement building as Oaklawn Farm Zoo prepares to welcome visitors back for 40th year
Sterk the lion yawns while soaking up the mid-afternoon sunshine on April 2 as opening day approaches for the stars of the Oaklawn Farm Zoo in Aylesford. Sterk’s name means strong in Dutch. He was born in 2012. For more photos, visit
Spring is in the air and the animals know it. The countdown to opening day at Oaklawn Farm Zoo is down to one. The Aylesford attraction will welcome visitors for the first time in 2023 on Good Friday, April 7.
“The animals, I think, appreciate the people as much as the people appreciate the animals,” said manager Mike Brobbel. “They grow up in this environment. In the wintertime, it’s just us and we kind of get boring after a while.”
When people arrive for a visit this spring, they will see baby goats, a baby llama and a baby alpaca.
“It’s always nice to see things being born and life beginning again. It gives us a little boost of energy,” Brobbel said. “It’s a fun time of year for us.”
And the perennial favourites, like the lions and the tiger, will be patrolling their
SPRING TRADITION
The zoo has been opening on the Easter long weekend for years. It is a rite of spring.
“The crocuses are coming up and the grass is starting to turn green, it’s the time of year people want to get out and start enjoying the outdoors,” Brobbel said.
“A lot of families look forward to their trip to the zoo
every Easter weekend,” he added.
“It is now multi-generational. There are people who came here as kids now bringing their grandchildren. … It’s a tradition for a lot of families.”
On April 2, employees were working to get things ready for opening day. Brobbel said it will be a “hectic” week as the late winter weather had pushed some items back.
“We have a lot of … animals to move around and getting
the outdoor enclosures ready for the animals.”
Some animals, including the reptiles, were recently moved from the zoo’s heated barns into their normal locations for the spring. Officials on April 2 were waiting for a few more warm nights before moving the birds to their outdoor enclosures.
ANNIVERSARY
The zoo, which is located on
20 acres of land, will celebrate its 40th year this season.
Ron and Gail Rogerson started it with a mixed farm of cattle, geese, sheep and goats in the early 1970s with some exotic animals. Gail, a schoolteacher, started bringing classes to the farm in the mid-1970s and in 1980, the learning to live program started at the farm, which provided school children with work experience involved with the care of animals.
The farm continued to grow with the addition of animals like lions and monkeys and the Rogersons decided to open as a zoo in 1984.
“It’s a special year because that’s a long time,” said Brobbel, who has been at the zoo for 33 years.
Boo-Boo, one of the zoo’s gibbons, has been there since Year 1 and remains an attraction for regular zoo visitors.
The zoo had a good year in 2022 following two years of reduced traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic and officials are looking for another strong season in 2023.