They have announce the panda cub's genders on the zoo's facebook: a boy and a girl! According to the post, the first born and larger cub is male while the other is female.
That's great! I'm just so happy that both cubs are still alive and healthy. The more news that I hear about them, the more excited I am to finally see them.
Odd thing is from the facebook posts the zoo says its not been given permission to determine the panda cubs paternity. It wont be done until they go back to China. How on Earth is it that US zoos have been able to but we Canadians cannot? San Diego has had 6, Atlanta 4, the Smithsonian 6 (only 3 survived). Each and every time the father was determined by the time gender was revealed. Seems really weird the Chinese will allow US zoos but not Toronto. Really?
Well, it's great that we have genders for the twins. Weird that we're not allowed to check the paternity of the them though. Must be something in the contract that determines this. Here's the zoo's press release: Toronto Zoo | Press Releases
Female hyena, Kanzi, has finally arrived from Buffalo. She has cleared quarantine and from what I have heard can now been seen on display. She has not integrated with the clan yet though. Hopefully she and Echo will breed with each other producing Toronto's first hyena cubs. The cubs will be incredibly genetically valuable since Echo is a potential founder and Kanzi is the first offspring of a founder. Just hope the existence of Pinduli and Moja don't ruin things. If all four are together Pinduli could remain dominant curbing Kanzi's breeding and I thought I heard Moja is more dominant than Echo which could prove problematic in getting the right male with her. Honestly I would prefer they be kept in two groups so breeding isn't compromised in any way.
That's great news. And I agree in that they should keep the Hyena groups separate to promote breeding.
OMG Kanzi is here at Toronto Zoo... Awesome can't wait to see her (*come on March Break arrive faster...MUST see Kanzi lol)
Pinduli was selected to go to Rio Grande to be with a non breeding male. She was supposed to leave some time over the summer but it appears those plans have been shelved. It probably had nothing to do with her being a non breeder. There are tons of them in the hyena population because they are so interrelated not all can be allowed to breed. Might have had something to do with the zoo's non AZA status but Pinduli and Moja do not belong to Toronto so its unlikely. The most likely scenario was that the swaps needed to free up space for Pinduli didn't happen for whatever reason and they just didn't have the space or group necessary to take her in. SSPs are complicated and one little thing not going according to plan (a birth, a death, an illness, one zoo just saying no) can foul things up. Moja was always supposed to stay on with Echo and Kanzi. Considering his age and total lack of success breeding they probably aren't too worried about him. Perhaps at this point Echo has asserted dominance. They also may have tried separating Moja when Kanzi was in heat. Doesn't really matter what the plan was at this point because we have 4 hyenas. Moja and Pinduli are not supposed to breed and Pinduli cannot. Echo and Kanzi are to breed and will probably get the green light to do lots of it if successful given their combined genetic value.
I must say I'm a little shocked that the zoo chose not to go with African names for the foursome. Fintan and Makali have African names (don't get me started on Lemon). Many of the African species have African names... wait now that I'm doing a mental map of the savanna that's not the case. Guess I shouldn't be so surprised. Off to update my master list.
I think the cub names are good. They're pretty average, but I don't think that's a problem. While it might have been cool for them to have African names, at least I'll have an easier time remembering these ones. I still have to find time to go to the zoo and see them before they grow up.
I'm just waiting for the panda and polar bear cubs to come out, rhino calf to arrive and be on display and the craziness of the first couple of pandamonium weeks to be over with. Then I will go. I was hoping to get an orang infant into the mix but that doesn't appear likely so I will take what I can get while its still too cold for most visitors.
It's finally here, Indian Rhino Calf was born: Baby rhino born at Toronto Zoo | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
Well done to GTZ Rhino Team and Cincinnati for providing expert vet / medical guidance (it might assist other rhinos in similar straits to conceive successfully too)!
They mention that the first 30 days of the birth are the most critical. Let's hope nothing happen to the cute little guy.
Congrats to all of the keepers and staff who have worked so hard to produce this little guy. I'm so excited for the zoo with this one more so then all of the rest born late last year. Not only is a baby rhino awesome we all know how much effort went into this one and the heartbreak of the 2011 stillborn. Now the question is which baby is next... Zebra? Camel? Something else unexpected? Gotta say I would be thrilled with red river hogs but I will be happy with what we have now.
Great news about the baby rhino! I'm so glad that he's healthy and hopefully he will remain that way.
