A spectacled owl hatched on Jan 25 to parents Spencer and Jemima. It has been named Owl-bert and will be used as an outreach animal. https://www.facebook.com/TheTorontoZoo
I managed to get to the zoo today! I enjoyed the wilds. The snow leopard exhibit is far nicer than the old one. Tiga was far up on the top rock basking in the sun and it just seemed so right to see her all the way up there. It was also nice seeing all of the other animals again. The sea eagles are so impressive looking. I'm just thrilled I got to finally see them. I have been dying to do so since they were first announced. Looking at the Bactrian camels I think at least one of the females was looking rather large in the body. Little Jozy might be getting a little half brother or sister this summer. Her belly was a lot larger than the other three females laying right by her. Now it could have been the angle she was at but the zoo was hoping for more camel calves last summer than just Jozy so I wouldn't be surprised if they tried for more this summer. I got to see wombats Arthur and Hamlet together, or so a volunteer said. I could clearly pick out Hamlet but I couldnt tell Arthur from Matilba if my life depended on it. The second wombat was bigger than Hamlet so it would make sense if it was Arthur. Both were very active. Arthur was all over the place and Hamlet was happily digging. I'm so glad I got to see Hamlet again. It's been awhile for me and I have always adored him. The lionfish tank is empty again... well I don't know if the new lionfish that arrived ever made it on display. I think I remember someone saying it was on display. Over in Tundra Trek, Inukshuk was pacing back and forth waiting for whichever female was in the pool to get out. She didn't care and was having a blast trying to fit through a tire. I did see two spectacled owls out on display. Are Spencer and Jemima raising Owl-bert? Or is he or she being hand reared? There is at least two tamarin babies at the zoo. They are pretty new. Not sure but there may be a third. It was really hard getting a good view of them. I definitely saw at least two heads but it looked like there may have been a third. Not sure. While not part of my visit I have heard a male otter should be coming to the zoo. He is very young and from Buffalo. Fingers crossed the AZA situation doesn't screw it up. I love the new lighting (well at least new to me) in the beaver lodge. It makes a world of difference when it comes to seeing them. I was a little disappointed I didn't get to see the watusi, just the endangered African llamas. Guess I will have to come back another time to see them. But I would like to try again later in the spring to see the wildebeest and maybe even the eland. Again not part of my visit but I have also heard that there will be a switch up with the hyenas. Pinduli who had to be spayed last spring due to an infection will be leaving while a new female will be brought in to mate with Echo. Moja will be staying with Echo. Got a brief glimpse of the giraffe indoor exhibit and I really like it. Everyone's pictures did a great job of showing how nice it really is. Unfortunately the girls weren't inside at the time... well unfortunate for me... They probably loved today. I didn't see a keeper so I couldn't check to see if Kiko was the incoming male. I missed out on seeing keepers pretty much all day. I sadly didn't get a good look at Nneka today. Unfortunately I arrived during the keeper talk. Rotten luck. It was packed. Only could see Johari's head from where I was able to see anything. As it was starting to get late into the day I also didn't have time to wait around for people to just leave. Guess I will just have to come back this spring. The keeper did mention that Sadiki has begun to mature and is starting to try and assert himself. It's now just a matter of time before Charles puts his foot down and kicks Sadiki out of the group. They did mention that he would just rotate with the group. Though not said he would probably get plenty of time with Nassir who the SSP said would be maintained with Sadiki. But on the upside I got to see Mingma or Pavarti, the clouded leopard, for the first time. And I finally got to see Bucky, the male babirusa. I was hoping for both of those things. Sadly my camera decided to completely malfunction on me so I have no pictures from my day which sucks because the animals were so active today and there were so many great opportunities. I will be in the market for a new camera tomorrow.
It sounds like you had a really nice day at the zoo TZFan. I'm glad you also liked the Eurasia Wilds. The new snow leopard exhibit and sea eagles are my favourite parts of it too. You're also lucky to have gotten a good look at the clouded leopards. I've visited their exhibit many times since they went on display and I still haven't had a good look at them yet. The news about all of the new animals is great! I hope we will soon be able to see Owl-bert being walked around the zoo. I'm also excited about the new otter, hyena and giraffe.
I'm also very excited about the new arrivals. I just hope with the incoming animals that the lack of accreditation doesn't mess things up for any of those very exciting additions. I wish the zoo was in a position where they had at least applied for accreditation again. At that point it I think the other zoos would be more inclined to trade.
I'm at the zoo right now, and I saw Tanuck this morning. There is a crate in the indoor viewing area for him. Glad I was able to see him one last time. Living in Ottawa, I don't get down here as much as I'd like to.
Kind of a random question, but does anyone know if the penguins go off display at any point in the year ? And if they do, when do they go back on display ?
For the most part, the penguins are never off-display (exhibit maintenance is probably one of the only reasons they would be off-display). The exhibit is made up of 2 different areas, an outdoor exhibit + an indoor pool. In the colder months (usually mid-October to sometime in April), the penguins are inside and can be seen through two large windows (which may have glare or be fogged up), although they may have access to the outdoor exhibit on warm days during this period. As soon as it is warm enough, they are outdoors.
There was a death at the zoo yesterday. A Canadian goose made some poor choices and polar bear, Aurora, was quick to put an end to it. Well at least Aurora had some enrichment in her day. The tree kangaroos were together for breeding yesterday and Nokopo allowed Harrington to breed with her. Hopefully it will work this time. Speaking of tree kangaroos Harrington and former mate Chrissie are the grandparents to 5 grandsons despite only producing their single son Noru. Noru has sons Kuna (twin who died young), Yopno (twin), Karau, Gru, and an unnamed joey. Harrington's grandmother is still alive which I found shocking. She is now a great great grandmother.
Went to the zoo day. It was shocking to see how much people were there today. I guess that's what happens when warm weather falls on a holiday, especially considering the freezing weather that we've been having lately. The parking lot was just about filled when I was leaving around 2:00 Anyways, a couple things stuck out with my visit. The first was that the Bleeding-Heart Dove had a chick in the Pavilion about a week ago. It's on exhibit in a nest in one of the trees. Also noticed that today the Mother Warthog was on display with her 4 piglets. One of the piglets looked to have an open wound on its lip. Nothing serious though. My brother also noticed a sign before going down the hill to the Canadian Domain that lists Musk Ox as and animal on exhibit in the large yard across from the Cougar. The sign looks fairly new, so I'm wondering how long ago has it been since there was a Musk Ox in that exhibit?
I was also at the zoo today volunteering for its Easter event. When I finished my shift I had some free time to walk around. I also saw the bleeding heart dove chick. It was kind of surprising since this species has been at the zoo for such a short amount of time. I wish I could have seen the baby warthogs but they weren't out when I passed their exhibit. One of the major things that I noticed is that the spectacled cobra is gone and red tailed green ratsnakes are in its exhibit. The cobra's sign has also been removed. This really disappointed me since I love venomous snakes and the cobra was one of my favourite reptiles at the zoo. Another thing I saw was that there is a new lionfish on exhibit. It was much smaller than the old one, but very beautiful. As for the musk ox, it's been probably around 5 years since one was at the zoo. I don't remember seeing a sign for it the last time I went to the Canadian Domain, but I could be wrong. I would love for this species to come back to the zoo, but I know it's on the phase out list.
Tanuck has indeed left and arrived safely at his new home, Parc Safari. Forgot to mention that yesterday... oopsy. He is with Bowmanville's female Talia so perhaps once they clear quarantine he will get his first chance to breed. They are unrelated despite both being born at Mountainview Breeding and Conservation Center. And if he's breeding Toronto will own some of the young so there is always a chance they can get tapirs back in the future if renos allow it down the line. Big if but it gives all tapir fans hope.
Snow leopard, Kota, has finally joined Tiga in the new exhibit. I don't know if the zoo will try to pair he and Tiga up again as exhibit mates or if they will be kept separate but I'm really hoping the space needed to be freed up in the old exhibit for a very special arrival from Japan, otherwise known as the female we are expecting.
Tanuck will be missed. If I'm remembering correctly, Bowmanville's tapir is only at Parc Safari temporarily while her exhibit is being renovated. Does this mean Tanuck will also be going back to Bowmanville? I'm glad that Kota is finally on exhibit. Hopefully I'll be able to see him soon.
OMG can't wait to see Kota on the exhibit Yes Tanuck sure will be missed ,hope he will be happy in his new home
I honestly dont know what will happen with Tanuck in the future. Seems odd to me that he would be sent away to Parc Safari now only to go to Bowmanville in several months. Toronto could easily have kept him over the summer since everyone can go outside and not stress him with two moves. They could easily have housed Talia for Bowmanville somewhere else on zoo grounds out of sight. Talia is supposed to return to Bowmanville when her exhibit is done but who knows when it comes to them. They could easily breed Talia and Tanuck and then send her back to Bowmanville pregnant or with a calf. Parc Safari could try to get a female to pair with Tanuck after that. They could work with African Lion Safari which also has Malayan Tapirs. Perhaps he was sent there as part of a swap. Maybe Tanuck going there will allow the eland to come, or it was part of the deal to get the wildebeest. The only other reason I could see a big need to get rid of Tanuck would be a possible pregnancy with either the babirusa (which is being recommended by the AZA) or Indian Rhino (that birth would still be quite a ways off, very late in 2015 or early 2016 if she even got pregnant last summer). But who knows. I will keep an eye out for more info on Tanuck and the transfer. Once he clears quarantine Parc Safari might share more details.
Funny as the other day I was watching the lynx oddly climb a tree and to my surprise a startled chipmunk jumped out from it and out to the woods. I was glad it made it out. Once I saw a chickadee land on a sleeping tiger giving it quite the fright. That gave me a good laugh.
It's really all part of life at the zoo, especially one like Toronto where its surrounded by forest, and including forest. Wildlife will be part of the landscape and the predators will be predators and try to eat anything that comes into their exhibit. It's an unfortunate thing for the wild animals but very interesting enrichment for the predators. My favourite picture that has been posted in the last year was the picture of Tony, the white rhino, being stared down by a groundhog who wants to eat Tony's hay.
I know many of us know it already but Budi has officially been selected to be the orangs new breeding male. Shame another male isn't being added. I would prefer to see both boys go and Jingga stay on to give birth to the first 5th generation orang to be born at the zoo. But Budi has been chosen as the best genetic match for Ramai and Sekali. There are no plans to move Kembali or Jingga. Kembali would have no chance to breed in Toronto because he is related to Ramai, Sekali and Jingga so they are likely waiting for him to mature. Jingga has another 6 years before they will even consider breeding her so its wisest to leave her with Ramai so she can watch her mother rear a baby brother or sister. Puppe is the 7th oldest Sumatran in North America at 48 years old.
