49 baby Blanding's turtles have been released by the zoo into the Rouge Valley in their continued effort to bolster the endangered population. Good luck little turtles!
It's been a great year for the zoo's Vancouver Island marmot breeding program. A total of 13 have been born this spring, the 3rd best year! Oban and Georgia had 4. Humphrey and Curie added another 4. While Hendo and Audrey had five pups.
Adding to an already fantastic baby year with the two rhinos, 6 wolves, 3 tur, 1 tamarin and 1 gorilla, is another wonderful addition. Sometime in early fall pygmy hippo Kindia is due. She and Harvey are very fast breeders. Great pair if we can get the calf to survive this time.
The zoo has announced clouded leopard Charlotte has died. They did what they could but she was too far gone and the condition was likely terminal so she was put down. Sister Levy will be examined to make sure she is fine.
Hi I'm new to posting in the forum, however, have been following for ages! The pygmy hippos have been my favourite animal since I was a child and I would be beside myself if there was a baby pygmy hippo!! Followed by a baby tree kangaroo and the presence of Okapi in the zoo's collection! Cheers everyone!
Welcome RNg0905! You would not be alone in the delight a pygmy hippo calf will bring! It's been far too long. So many close tries too. Well two. Both highly anticipated. Both didn't make it long. Hopefully Kindia's first calf was a one off. I do not believe there is any hope in a tree kangaroo joey so long as the zoo keeps Nokopo. She is far too skittish in the exhibit. She's not taken to Collins any more than his grandfather Harrington. All is not lost. Rumor has it Nokopo might be replaced. I think the exhibit an the closeness of guest has never let her be comfortable enough to breed. Hopefully the replacement is more social. Collins is one of the most valuable males. As for okapi's while great the odds are slim to none they will ever be a possibility. But I have my dreams too... African Wild Dogs and Aardvarks.
Updates... Red river hogs, Philip and Tisa, have finally been breeding and it is highly possible Tisa is now pregnant. It's not confirmed but there is high hopes. 2 male mouflon, Peter and Julius, have died. Wolf, Imiq, is being monitored for a possitricble broken leg. Let's hope he's alright. He has 6 rambunctious pups to keep up with. A bleeding heart dove has hatched. A new young male kudu is due in from North Carolina. He will be allowed to breed with all three females. Ostrich, Orville, has passed as well. A male plush crested jay has arrived his name is Silent Bob. The Artful Dodger has been resexed as female and the name has been changed to Jamie. A new male kangaroo has arrived from Gladys Porter to breed with the younger females. Speaking of roos. A tree kangaroo shake up is on the way. Collins will stay on with a new female coming up from... geez I don't remember where now. Nokopo will swap places with the new female who I do remember was born in Miami and is about 5 years old. I think this will be good for Nokopo. She was never comfortable in the exhibit. Maybe we are too close. Who knows but that lack of ease meant she wasn't out as often and wouldn't relax enough to breed either with Collins or his grandpa Harrington (who FYI is still alive and kicking). Maybe she will be happier in another exhibit. Here is hoping for the swap by fall. Then hopefully we might see a joey emerging from the pouch late in 2019 or early 2020.
Imiq had surgery on his broken leg about three weeks ago. He was to recover in the Health Centre but is probably back in the holdings by now, although not outdoors yet.
2 male scarlet ibises are due in from Rochester to breed with our females. A very important move for the population because the girls are the most genetically valuable females. Tiger cubs are now out of the picture. Kemala has been deemed a non breeder due to her inability to cycle. Not a huge shock. The zoo will probably still work to try to reverse the effects of the birth control because she is only 10 and what they learn from her may help other big cats down the line. Thanks to Hari's low genetic demand we probably will never see Sumatran tiger cubs again at the zoo before they are phased out. Our one hope will have to rest with the SSP decided Amurs Kira or Vasili are in enough genetic demand to bring in a valuable mate from the US. I can't remember if I mentioned this already but we are about to get a breeding pair of pygmy marmosets while Masala leaves for Moncton.
Hi - I'm newly registered but have been thoroughly enjoying your updates for a while now. I was wondering if you have any more information about ostrich Orville's passing? I saw him just a few weeks ago, and wondered where he'd gone when I didn't see him the past weekend. Very sad.
Welcome Judache! I do not have any more information on Orville's passing. All I was told was he died. When Miss Ellie died earlier this year that made sense she was an older bird. She'd been around as long as I can remember. I think Orville has been around for a fair bit of time too but I don't think he was anywhere near as old. I'm not sure age was a factor. He could have just died. Just because they can live til 40 doesn't mean that's the average. He could have gotten sick or hurt himself. Anything is possible. Eunice is rather young so I would suspect they are looking for a new companion for her. Shouldn't be too hard to find a new bird. Ostriches are not an SSP species so they could get them from any source. Off the top of my head African Lion Safari, Parc Safari and Granby could probably supply a spare bird. If that's not an option ostriches are farmed so they could just purchase from a farm like they did with the watusi.
They may become one if and when AZA decide to go into North African red necked or Somali blue ostrich.
Yeah the AZA had been looking at the Red Necked Ostriches several years back but the idea seems to have been dropped. I'm guessing they couldn't secure the eggs they wanted to start out with.
Thanks for the info, yes, I hope they are able to obtain another ostritch sooner rather than later (although I suppose with the colder weather coming back soon perhaps they will wait until next season - or get one while they're off exhibit) .
Orville was about 15, and Eunice is about 6. When I heard about Orville from another member it was that he had been behaving strangely for a few days and was examined by the vets. He appeared to have some brain damage and was euthanized. Do not know how accurate that is.
Thanks Mr Wrinkly for the ostriches ages. I would have guessed Orville was 15-20 just based on his time at the zoo. Seems like he's been around while. Eunice being 6 or so makes sense too. She was one or two when she arrived and shes been here for a number of years. Any idea how old Miss Ellie was? I think I remember her and Jock being around at the time of the savanna opening but that's going a ways back and my memory is fuzzy about that.
