The Toronto Zoo Zookeeper Instagram posted a photo and had the caption "come check out and purchase some of the (AAZK) pop up sale items at the (AAZK Conference 2016) this upcoming Thursday! Support some of the many different conservation initiatives the keepers are working towards" -would be pretty cool if they are having this at the zoo! I would definitely attempt to make it to purchase and talk to zookeepers about upcoming initiatives and projects.
The Zoo just sent out an email to memebers inviting them to say farewell to Inukshuk. Guess that's a wrap on polar bear cubs for a while!
The zoo posted this on facebook in regards to Inukshuk. Looks like there won't be breeding for a couple years. Below is the facebook post. "The Toronto Zoo has been an active participant in Polar Bear Conservation initiatives including nutritional research, reproductive studies and the polar bear breeding program. Inukshuk, our male polar bear has been integral to the breeding program and has fathered five cubs: Ganuk, Taiga, Hudson, Humphrey and Juno. For the last several years, Inukshuk has made the trek to Cochrane to the Polar Bear Research Centre in the fall and returned each spring to breed with our females, Nikita and Aurora. Inukshuk will be making that trip again September 28 but will be staying in Cochrane for a much longer period of time. Given his breeding success, his genetics are well represented in the population so we will be looking into new breeding opportunities moving forward to optimize the genetic fitness of the conservation breeding program. If you would like to see Inukshuk before he leaves, we encourage visitors to see visit before the Zoo closes at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday September 27th. Inukshuk will be particularly missed by the polar bear keepers as well as by other staff, volunteers and members. We wish him all the best on his journey to Cochrane where he will continue to be an Arctic Ambassador."
Board Of Management is up for the next meeting on September 29. Haven't really gone through it in detail, but one topic which most of us were waiting for, is not listed. The new Master Plan, which is scheduled for completion in October. Links below for those that want to have a look: Decision Body Profile
I read through the board meeting material... FYI... nothing interesting or that we don't already know. With regards to Inukshuk's departure... there are several fine candidates for replacements becoming mature in the next little while. Now I would rule out St. Felicien's Eddy as he has two mates and Aquarium Du Quebec's fully mature Yelle who has Taiga. I would assume Ganuk who is now mature is out because he is Inukshuk's and there would be little genetic benefit from him. Assiniboine has Storm who should be mature shortly but he is with three females who will still be several years off from breeding. He is wild born so breeding him with Aurora at least once wouldn't do much harm even if its just to check his ability to breed. If the plan is to wait on Juno to mature there are several more options at Assiniboine. Hudson and Humphrey are clearly out of the running but Blizzard is two years older than her and York and Eli are just a year older. They would be fine wild born matches. Cochrane is also housing three year old Henry who could come as well... but he is a mix of Canadian and Russian blood lines so he might not be top choice. Advantage with him is he is in Cochrane and Toronto has a long history with that facility... plus they own the two other bears there. My gut says they will wait on Juno and try again with her and one of the Assiniboine boys... I feel York or Eli because they are twins so they can keep one and not lose genetic diversity. Blizzard would be almost as good since his sister Star is there too but they can do more mixing and matching with a brother sister pair than two brothers. Another part of me is wondering if the zoo is hoping for an orphaned male this fall. Assiniboine has had orphans the last 3 years and if there was a similar aged male to Juno Toronto would probably want that male and any siblings. Juno really could use some other bears to interact with who are the same age. That's why Hudson and Humphrey left for Winnipeg. I thought they would send Juno there too so she could interact with Eli and York in time.
Nice cool day, so I decided to check out the zoo. Sadiki and Nassir are still together in the outdoor exhibit. Pygmy Hippos are still in separate exhibits. I can confirm that the Radiated Tortoises are now in the newly refurbished Hingeback Tortoise exhibit. Got a rare chance to see the Giraffes in the second yard, as they were being fed by Keepers, near the backend of the exhibit. Once they finished feeding, they walked straight to the main yard. White Rhino Tony is still with the females. White Lions are now altogether, as Hank recently had surgery to remove a large hair ball from over grooming Fintan’s mane. Harrison is also took part in the grooming of Fintan’s mane, but he managed to pass the fur ball.
Couple things I forgot to mention from my visit yesterday. At the Lion Keeper talk someone asked the Keeper how Jerroh was doing after Lindy's passing. Keeper said that for the first week Jerroh had a noticeable change in behaviour. He seemed a little lost and at times looked for his missing brother. However, after the first week he really bounced back, almost into a new cat. For those that visited often, you've probably heard Lindy roaring from the house when the White Lions were on exhibit, or you've heard Lindy roar after being fed during the Keeper talk. Jerroh has now picked up that behaviour. He's doing a lot of the things Lindy use to do, as he's now technically to dominate one of his solo 'pride'. He even picked up on doing the smaller behavioural things, that only Keepers would notice from working with them everyday. The Keeper described it as Jerroh seemingly finding his voice now that Lindy is no longer around, which the Keeper's say is a good thing, as these changes are a positive rather than a negative. Lindy is still greatly missed, but it's nice to hear Jerroh is doing well, despite being alone. Also, Lemon has also been infatuated with Lindy and Jerroh since arriving at the zoo. Whenever Lindy or Jerroh called out, Lemon for the most part, was the only one to respond. Even in the house Lemon seemed more interested in Lindy and Jerroh than the other White Lions. So Keepers are looking in rigging the indoor housing, so Lemon and Jerroh can be next to each other, if only just to see how they would interact. They will most likely never be put in directly with each other, especially since Jerroh is over double Lemon's size with Jerroh being 575lbs and Lemon around 215lbs, but having them in holding next to each other may be good for both lions. Keeper would still need to get permission in doing this from the higher-ups. Lastly, another interesting tidbit about Lemon. Keepers believe she may have been a poor first time mother, being skiddish of the cubs or possibly even abandoning them. When she was first introduced to Makali's cubs, she was pretty scared of them, before calming down and eventually playing with them under Makali's guide. Food for thought.
No Lemon will not breed. She was spayed shortly after arrival. I believe she has some sort of genetic condition they didn't want effecting cubs. Ah the effects of inbreeding.
Decided to go to the zoo today, since it was an overcast day. Perfect conditions to get some really good pictures. I think it may have been one of my best days in a long time. Below are some of my observations. The male Camel calf was on exhibit at the Camel Palace. I’ll post pictures later. Not sure if this has been mentioned, but in the Australasia Pavilion the Brush-Tailed Bettong has been moved into the exhibit with the Kookaburra, I think. I haven’t been able to spot it in the exhibit, but the signage has been moved to that section. A pair of Crested Pigeons look to be making a nest in the tree right in front of the Kookaburra exhibit. At times, I’ve seen them act a little defensive of the area. Saw 2 Solomon Island Leaf Frogs in the young Emerald Tree Boa exhibit. Talked to the Keeper at the Polar Bear talk, and despite being fairly new to the Tundra Trek, only being there for 6 months (he was in the Domain prior to that) he seemed knowledgeable. He doesn’t believe Inukshuk will be back for at least 2 years. As we all now, he’s well represented genetically. Currently there are no talks in future breeding, but he doesn’t count it out, as the Polar Bear facility is designed for breeding Polar Bears. And it looks like there are no signs of sending Juno away anytime soon. In fact, Hudson and Humphrey are coming back October 11. Found that out in the middle of writing this post. Also asked about the replacement animal of the Arctic Foxes, as I really want to see something in there aside from lousy Snow Geese. There is still no definite plan in place yet, but a few animals that have been spoken about are, more Arctic Foxes, possibly bringing up Canadian Lynx Ryan from the Domain, especially if Ember is with the Kittens, and although only spoken of briefly, Wolverines were mentioned. Either way the exhibit will most likely need refurbishment/upgrading, especially if the animal is not foxes. As for what exactly happen to the foxes we had, Venus and Jupiter, the culprit of their death was a brain parasite that either one or both of them came to the zoo with. It’s not believed to have been contracted at the zoo, however, if one fox had it, she could have passed it to the other, which explains them dying at different times. The Keeper doesn’t think a final decision will be made until next spring, due to budgets and whatnot. New Black Widow Spider for anyone that cares. Still hard as ever to get a decent shot though. Finally managed to see the Moose walking around the exhibit. It’s been over a year since I’ve seen that. Managed to get some great shots. What are the names of the 3 moose we have?
The remaining moose are mother Ashley and her twin girls Lilly and Trilly. I highly doubt lynx or wolverines are serious considerations for the arctic fox replacements. Either species will require absolutely massive renos. The wolverines could be a total rip down and rebuild as they are notoriously hard on their exhibit. Successful breeding of wolverines would also require far more privacy that that location could ever provide. The lynx are more likely than wolverines because while it would be a substantial reno its not a total rip down and start over type of job. Money spent there now would free up money and space later for the Canadian Wilderness. Plus we already have lynx so there would be no acquisition cost. Both species would make excellent additions to Tundra Trek, I just don't see it happening. Just as much as I don't see them being smart and doing a remodel of the reindeer exhibit to hold moose. Long term it would make the most sense... therefore in the mind of whoever make the Tundra Trek decisions it makes no sense at all. Are the bettongs and kookaburra exhibit mates? Or rotating? Or.. and this is my real fear.. is Karee gone?
He (Gerald) has been in there with Karee for some time now. Tobi (was in with the wombats) is his brother.
Thanks for the names TZFan. As for the Foxes exhibit, as much as I'd love to see Wolverines, I don't want them to pack them in that same exhibit space. They need a much larger area. The Lynx would definitely be a temporary replacement, which leads me to believe it won't happen. Both Kookaburra and Bettong are on exhibit with each other.
Good to hear we didn't loose the kookaburra. They are my favourite bird at the zoo and I remember at one point they were looking to remove them from the collection. I still do not understand how Karee who is the most genetically valuable bird in North America has not been given a mate. Interesting they named the last of the bettong joeys Gerald. The older joeys had names that started with the first letter of mom or dad's name based on gender. Thus we had Tobi and Jemma. You know the keepers and their love sticking to naming patterns. Unless... maybe Gerald isn't Tobi's brother. Breeding male Tucker was over represented so he was shipped out. Breeding female Julie is genetically valuable and they wanted a fitting mate for her so they were waiting on the birth of a good match. Bettongs breed a lot like bunnies... often... so a new male could already be here. Although it's equally likely the keepers just chose to break with their little pattern. As for the fox exhibit. The lynx moving in there would not be that unreasonable. They are a great geographic fit. Then take a look at google earth and the size of both the fox and lynx exhibits. They are roughly the same. The things that would have to change are the barn... pitifully undersized and another brilliant move on the zoos part like the ostrich barn... and the fencing because its ultimately too low. Add vertical height and get a new bigger prefab barn and you are set. In fact if the exhibit is undersized there is a a clump of trees behind and to the left of the exhibit that could be utilized to nearly double the space. Not a terrible idea when you are already working on fencing. It would be an expensive little project but would bring a worthy animal into Tundra Trek and like I said make room in space and budget for the Canadian Wilderness. It works on a lot of levels. Wolverines would need a lot more in terms of space and facilities but if you move the lynx from the Wilderness plan now you have some space and money. Plus if they would listen to me and move the moose to Tundra Trek too I just found even more space and funds. With their being a parasite that is killing off the reindeer, caribou while preferable to reindeer in terms of theme don't appear to be the correct choice. Although you want to give me muskox in there and I would be a happy camper too. A choice about the reindeer exhibit must have been made because there are plans already for their barn which is not that old to be replaced. One can only hope that means a change over to muskox or moose... but I will take caribou too if they think it's safe.
I have to say, right after the Mayan Ruins I've been finding the Trek to be more and more of a disappointment. My issue with the Polar Bears may be resolved with Hudson and Humphrey returning. I just wonder if they'll be on exhibit with each other, or on a rotation with each other. I don't know what their current situation is now at Assiniboine Park Zoo. My problem with the Polar Bear area was the lack of bears of exhibit, despite having 2 yards, 3 if you count the maternity yard.the grass yard was usually empty whenever I was around. My problem with the Wolf exhibit is the obnoxious fencing making it overly difficult taking pictures of them. I've heard and seen regular visitors complain about the fencing when trying to take pictures with their phone. Although, to be perfectly honest, I don't know what the zoo can do about that. To change that would be a major, expensive, overhaul of the exhibit. Also the problem does seem to go away, when there are more Wolves spread out in the exhibit, or if they happen to be in key spots of the exhibit. Let's hope for cubs soon. I hate the Reindeer exhibit. The vantage point to view them from is a joke. If we were able to view them from the side along the Mayan Ruins, it may be better. Right now it's a huge waste of space, even when it was filled with animals. And the Fox exhibit, right now, just needs something other than Snow Geese.
It really is quite sad for such a new space that Tundra Trek is so pathetic. The polar bears and wolves (if you can see them and I haven't in 3 visits even with the new pack) are the only reason to go over there. One snowy owl who is always asleep and often in a place were you can't really see him. One reindeer in a massive exhibit so good luck there. Boring snow geese. No one says, "Oh I went to the zoo and saw snow geese. It was the highlight of my day." I want and need some changes there. Hudson and Humphrey will likely be on display together. They are well socialized. Winnipeg allowed the seven older bears to be together in various groupings which changed all the time. A fission fusion style management to them. They may even introduce the boys to the girls and just keep them apart during breeding season. I just don't know if the plan is for Hudson and Humphrey to be Juno's playmates. They are much larger adult males so I have my doubts. However both are very well socialized bears so who knows. I still do not know why returning our boys was preferable to giving Toronto Eli and York who could have socialized with Juno being that they are only a year older than her. Winnipeg successfully mixes in yearlings with two year olds. Socially I see that as more beneficial. But maybe it wasn't a social decision from Toronto's end. Maybe Winnipeg said take your bears back we need space for more orphans we can breed down the line. May not have even been Toronto's choice.
Oh, I forgot about the Snowy Owl. That exhibit needs another Owl and more height, with multiple perches to hang out on. As for having a hard time finding the Wolves, I've noticed that they absolutely hate the heat compared to the older Wolves that were in the exhibit. During those hot days of the summer they hide under that platform in the exhibit, and anywhere there was shade, which is usually out of sight. Good to know Hudson and Humphrey will be with each other. Looking forward to see any future plans with them and the 3 girls. I'll try asking what the though process was in bring them back. Also, I noticed that the old crawl through area for children, behind the owl exhibit was torn out. No more tunnel. It was closed off for a while now anyways.
