What’s old is new again at Aunt Sally’s Farm

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/04/2021 (1704 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of my favourite places to go as a kid was Aunt Sally’s Farm at Assiniboine Park Zoo.
What I liked best was that it had lots of cute animals to interact with – not like the big scary cows that lived on our farm, which I mostly stayed away from. As an animal-lover, it was always a thrill to go to Aunt Sally’s Farm.  

When I heard that a ‘new’ Aunt Sally’s Farm was opening at the zoo, I gathered some littles from within my ‘bubble’ and set off on an Easter Sunday adventure to see what we would see. I ashamedly admit that the last time I visited Assiniboine Park Zoo was 10 years ago – and it had been much longer since I last visited Aunt Sally’s Farm, which closed in the late 1980s.

The name commemorates Sally Warnock, who came to Canada from Northern Island in 1911.

She began working at the Winnipeg Humane Society in 1920 and became a passionate and influential animal advocate over the 33 years she was with the organization. After her passing in 1957, donations were made in her honour to build a new wing at the animal shelter on Logan Avenue. The City of Winnipeg named Warnock Street after her, and Aunt Sally’s Farm opened at the zoo in 1959, paying tribute to her lifelong dedication to animals.

The brand new, reimagined version opened on March 25, maintaining the spirit of exploration and discovery while reflecting a commitment to contemporary standards of animal care and welfare.

Aunt Sally’s Farm is no longer a ‘petting zoo’ but rather a family-friendly farm at which young and old alike can see adorable, domesticated animals up close, and play alongside them on smaller and parallel versions of the goats’ playgrounds.

Speaking of playgrounds and goats… the 17 lively goats are definitely the rock stars of Aunt Sally’s Farm. Coming from three different species (Nubian, Kiko, Pygmy) they spend their days frolicking in an amusement-park-like setting, lapping up the adoration of adoring goat-fans. I consider myself a fan of goats and enjoyed watching them scamper about playthings, across platforms, and upon overhead rainbow bridges.

Not to be outdone, though, are the lanky llamas who sidle up to take their turn in the spotlight, along with their totally cute barnyard neighbours, three little pot-bellied pigs. While our farm sometimes had pigs, they were big and scary like the cows. I didn’t like our farm animals much, but I love the ones at Aunt Sally’s.

We wrapped up our day by ascending to the top of Kids’ Tower for a bird’s-eye view (goat’s-eye view, too) of  the bright and colourful spaces sprawling below. Maintained in the reimagining of Aunt Sally’s Farm is the original primary colour scheme. Also maintained was the ‘old wishing well’. I don’t remember that from my childhood days, and forgot to look for it during our visit.

So now my wish is to get back to Aunt Sally’s Farm one again, and make a real wish at the old wishing well. New memories, for old times’ sake.