Prairie Exotics owner Steven Rempel cares for about 160 animals at his parents’ house in Lorette, everything from iguanas to crocodiles to big snakes.
Most of his income comes from doing private events like birthday parties, but now he's opening a new space in Winnipeg.
"We want to display all the animals that we have that are legal to have in Winnipeg. So ball pythons, corn snakes, the tortoises, dragons, frogs, stuff like that.”
He hopes the new space will be a stepping stone to opening a proper zoo in Winnipeg, with all his creatures on display.
Some of the reptiles he keeps at home come from as far away as Africa, and some of them are prohibited in Winnipeg's exotic pet ban.
Rempel said Winnipeg needs a reptile zoo so he can rescue more animals and educate more people about exotic wildlife.
The City of Winnipeg said it’s confident Rempel will only bring legal animals to the city.
It says it will work with him on his ideas for a reptile zoo, but opening it will be difficult.
"You can't own an alligator or a crocodile. You can't have these…which are obviously dangers to the public,” said Leland Gordon with Winnipeg’s Animal Services.
Zoocheck Canada is a national animal protection charity. Executive director Rob Laidlaw said the organization is seeing more reptile companies convince Canadian cities they need to expand, which is worrisome.
“The next thing you know they are bringing in giant constricting snakes, and venomous anima and bears because they need those animals to stay solvent, so you are opening a whole can of worms,” said Laidlaw.
Rempel said he's working on being accredited as a zoo with CAZA, the Canadian Association for Zoos and Aquariums, and adds Winnipeg needs more place people can learn and see reptiles up close.
