The expansion of the Nature Park Trails officially opened in 1978, with a new lake (Lac Montagnais) having been dug and Mount Keewatinook erected.

There were now 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) of roadway in the Nature Park Trails, as well as reproductions of historic sites including the Colonist Farm, the Lumberjack Camp, the Trading Post, the Indian Campground, the Grand Trestle, and the Western Ranch.

The zoo also constructed new homes for giraffes, elephants, and hippopotamuses with walls and ditches replacing cages to separate visitors from the large animals.

A re-launching committee was formed by Benoit Laprise, the mayor of St-Félicien, and in early 1987 was able to raise $1,300,000 to save the zoo from closure.

In the following years, major renovations began that included the Île-aux-Bernard (1995), the Valley Sector (1996), and the new polar bear habitat (1997), while new constructions such as the Great Aviary, the Kids Garden, the Ghislan Gagnon Interpretation Centre were being added.

Buildings that were no longer needed were turned into veterinary clinics in order to meet Quebec government and Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA) standards.

The new CCBB wanted to increase the benefits of its organization on a local, regional and international level by following the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity that was adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Through this change and model, the Wild Zoo shifted its efforts from Nordic towards protecting the biodiversity of the boreal forests through preservation, education, and research.

[1] Shortly, Phase I of the plan commenced with the construction of the Borealium, which is a Visitors' Centre, in addition, to being a research, documentation, and education facility.

In recent years, the Wild Zoo built new exhibits and eventually re-introduced exotic animal species to its collection that lived in the boreal environments of Asia.

In 2010, the Wild Zoo introduced exotic species that live in the boreal environments of Mongolia through the remodeling of an island and opened the Mongolian habitat.