Little Ray's Nature Centre

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Ottawa, ON
Little Ray's Nature Centre

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We're here to teach you about fascinating animals and conservation! Follow us on:

YouTube @ https:/ We are the first carbon neutral zoo in North America.
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Little Ray's Nature Centre is home to the most rescued, abandoned, and confiscated reptiles in Canada. Little Ray's Nature Centre uses hands on interaction with a large variety of animals to engage and educate visitor's to the zoo. Learn about reptiles, mammals, birds, amphibians, and even fish from around the world! Our brand new outdoor and indoor enclosures will change how you see the animals that we see every day in our own backyards. Open year round our zoo is the best kept secret in Ottawa! Can't come to the Zoo? Have us come to you! with our special birthday packages you can have some incredible guests to your next birthday party, corporate event, or even wedding!

10/27/2026

Update from the field! The critically endangered wood turtle headstarts raised and released from Little Rays this year were checked up on! They are not only thriving but also appear to be acting like wild wood turtles are supposed to. Researchers will continue keeping an eye on them to see how they do finding safe spots to overwinter! We have high hopes for these resourceful (not-so little-anymore) babies!

09/18/2026

We were super excited to launch Hidden Habitats, Life in Caves at the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix for the Association of Science and Technology Center’s annual conference.
Visitors get to learn about bat-eating snakes, crevice squeezing lizards, rodent parkour, and other surprising cave dwellers - all featuring our incredible Phoebe project which provides a life-sized life-like model of each animal to interact with.
If you are in Phoenix this fall be sure to stop in and check it out - or keep an eye on your local museums or science centers for when it might be touring near you!

09/16/2026

What happens when a 6ft long 45lbs lizard gets abandoned in New Brunswick, Canada? It takes a village! A local Good Samaritan (Dragon Mire Farm) supplied short term rent in their bathroom, but to thrive this lizard would need a large habitat, a spacious pool of water, branches to climb and specialized lighting. The Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, Zoo de Magnetic Hill Zoo and Little Ray's worked together to safely and comfortably transfer this big guy to our rescue facility in Ottawa, Ontario. He is just one of thousands of animals that Little Ray's Foundation for Animal Rescue and Education has provided care, shelter, and permanet placement for when they had no other options.

08/14/2026

Happy ! What a great opportunity to highlight another conservation project we are proud to be a part of, that of the endangered Massasauga Rattlesnake. Along with other partners in the AZA SAFE program, we care for an assurance population of this threatened species, which includes breeding and reintroduction into the wild.

Wait a second though - didn't we say it's world LIZARD day? Absolutely! In fact all snakes are lizards!

08/05/2026

“Happy World Tomistoma Day! We are excited to be partnering with Konklusi to protect Tomistoma in Indonesia!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DbpsmK2k4KW/?igsh=b3dvbGk2ZWhiMW40”

06/18/2026

📣 We are excited to share an update from the field! This is what our hard work is all about, getting to give back to projects and people that are out there saving species and habitats!

“I am writing to check in following my return from the Siamese crocodile conservation trip in Cambodia and Laos, where we also worked with Cambodian Royal Terrapin (Batagur) and Asian Giant Softshell turtles. During the trip, we successfully released 20 Batagur in Cambodia and 10 Siamese crocodiles in Laos.
In Cambodia, four members of the Mandai Wildlife Group team from Singapore joined us for the first week. They assisted in obtaining morphometrics for all hatchlings and two-year-old Asian Giant Softshell turtles, as well as the 20 Batagur prior to their release. We also collected weights and measurements from 29 adult breeding Batagur to assess post-nesting body condition. This is a labor-intensive task that Chris performs annually to evaluate the health of the breeding colony. Having the extra support transformed this from an all-day project into a morning exercise.

👏 Thank you all for your support, it helps us to make this happen!"

05/26/2026

Join us June 20th at the Lake & Trails Festival !

03/12/2026

Nature Ninjas - Presented by Little Ray's
Monday, March 16th at 5:30 PM
Succursale Greenboro (363 Lorry Greenberg)
For ages 13 to 17
Come with a friend and meet extraordinary creatures!

Découvrez les mécanismes uniques qu’ont développés les reptiles, mammifères et invertébrés pour se défendre. Pourquoi les furets sont-ils si flexibles ? Comment font les tarentules pour se protéger des prédateurs ? Vous obtiendrez toutes les réponses à ces questions, et plus encore, en...

10/27/2025

It's that time of year again and our 'Not-so Creepy Crawlies' are back to say Happy Halloween!!!

Photo credit: Naomi Leclerc

09/16/2025

Little Ray’s support of the critically endangered wood turtle is still going strong in our third year of the program, with a record 55 neonates born this year. These turtles will be raised for two years in our care before being released, a process called headstarting, to give them a huge advantage against one of their major threats in the wild, predators like raccoons and foxes that easily eat eggs and hatchling turtles.

Address

2781 Colonial Road
Ottawa, ON
K0A3E0

Telephone

+16138228924

Website

http://www.littlerays.org/

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