Hello Everyone, I'm new to this so you gotta stick with me! 1) Now that the giraffe is moving to the old elephant exhibit, what do you think will be going in the giraffe exhibit? New Animal? Both lion groups out? 2) Does anyone know anything about the young pack of wolves (Canadian Domain)? Pregnant? 3) Does anyone know when/if new clouded leopards are coming?
First off Welcome SeanKinger6. I'll try answering your questions. 1) After the Giraffes move to the old elephant exhibit, the plan is to bring in a new hoof stock species in. What species hasn't been decided or revealed yet, but that's what we know. 2) All I know about the young pack in the Canadian Domain is that there are 3 of them and they are much younger than the pack in the Tundra Trek. 3) Rumors are that we are indeed getting new Clouded Leopards, a pair in fact. We are not sure when they're getting here just yet.
1) I think the species has been decided, just not revealed. They already have the plans to ready for the new hoofstock barn and yards. I would think they would need to know what they are going to bring in to make those plans. I cant wait for the giraffes to make the move because construction is supposed to start pretty soon there after with it being completed by the end of the year... I hold little faith in it being done then but at least it might be ready for spring 2015 with our new friends. But if you want guesses as to what will be arriving I would think wildebeests, addax, impala, elands, various gazelles and gerenuks are all good guesses. I would love to see some sort of mixed exhibit. 2) The domain pack has a male and two females. Chinook is the male and the females are Dora and Vera. I dont know which female is the alpha. They arrived sometime last year and are young. Right now the zoo is preventing breeding but I think the goal is breeding once they move to Tundra Trek. When will that happen? It will depend on the passing of the three remaining Tundra Trek wolves, who are roughly 12-14 years old. Some recently passed bringing the group down to three. I would guess once that pack is down to two or even just one they will swap them giving the older guys a quiet retirement while moving the youngsters into the limelight just in time for future pups. 3) The clouded leopards will come eventually. We have to wait for a breeding pair to become available and for us to be next in line to get them. Might need to wait for that pair to be born since pairings are made when Clouded Leopards are quite young to avoid male aggression. Then theres all the paperwork and red tape to get them across the border. Transport needs to be arranged. And at any step that can all fall apart if one of the leopards zoos says no or either government says no, or whatever. Even when we get them it will be 30 days quarantine and possibly a couple weeks adjustment to the new environment and if the pair havent been introduced yet private introductions. Since they havent arrived yet that May date is gone and paperwork relating to it is expired. We might be lucky and see them this summer but it might be longer.
Welcome to Zoochat SeanKinger6! Since your questions have already been answered, I just thought of another one relating to the clouded leopards. If we do get a breeding pair, is there enough room for babies? Their exhibit isn't very big, but I don't know how much off-exhibit space they have.
I've heard from several people the holding is bigger than it appears. There is lots of space indoors off exhibit (hence the 2 Lion Tailed Macaques living back there), and there is a reasonably large (for a clouded leopard) outdoor yard that is off exhibit. I wish the outdoor was visible to guests. That would be much more interesting in the summer. That being said if the zoo chooses to manage the leopards the way most others do space wont be a big issue. They will try to keep the male and female together as much as possible so he stays farmilar with her and it reduces male aggression. When cubs arrive they will be pulled rather soon after birth for hand rearing. This is done so that the young males can be placed with their future mate as soon as possible to create that the bond between the pair so the male is less likely to kill the female. If they maintain them this way only two holdings are necessary. One for the adults and one for the cubs once they are old enough to leave the nursery and until the zoo receives the cubs placement at other zoos which would happen likely before they turn one. That all is if the pair even breeds because clouded leopards arent always good breeders or that we get a breeding pair. The zoo wants a breeding pair but they might be given a surplus male sibling group. It all depends on what is available and what the zoo is willing to accept in order to have clouded leopards again.
Instead of reopening an entirely new thread I'll ask my question here: Does anyone know approximately size of Toronto's indoor gorilla exhibit?
I dont know the exact size I know when it opened it was billed as the largest indoor gorilla habitat. You could try asking the keepers on their twitter feed. They are very good about trying to find answers for people and get back to them fast. https://twitter.com/tozookeepers
I was just wondering if someone had the answer on hand. Not nearly important enough for me to bother making a twitter account. Regardless, thank you for the reply.
