One of the two expectant Przewalski's horse mares gave birth on July 4th. The foal had no sucking reflex and despite all the staff's efforts the foal didn't survive. Truly a sad day. It's been so long since the zoo had animals that were able to breed or at least compatible enough genetically to breed. At least there is still the second possible foal. Good on the zoo for announcing the failure. Most zoo guests would have had no clue two foals were on the way and would have just assumed if the next one survived that's all that was expected. I like that the zoo is being more transparent even if the news isn't good.
Bactrian camel Suria has given birth to a healthy female calf. Mom and baby are not officially on display yet but you could get lucky. Black footed ferret breeding has been successful this spring. Oma and Curious George welcomed 6 kits. Frances and Oban had 5 kits. Both litters come from new pairings. And fun fact Toronto has 17 females, (kits excluded). The Vancouver Island Marmots were successful as well. Laura Beth and Mayne had 3 pups. This one is a big success as they are both first time breeders and Laura Beth is 8 years old. Sadly Covid really has hampered Eastern Loggerhead Shrike breeding. While the zoo has 18 birds it could pair due to staffing limitations and inablity to ship young only 4 pairs were allowed to breed a single clutch instead of as many pairs as possible double clutching. Cohen and Jane produced 6 hatchlings. Kermit and June had 5 hatch on Canada Day. John and Kayleigh hatched an additional 6. A clutch of 3 was laid by the last pair but the eggs weren't viable. Of the 20 eggs total laid this year 17 chicks is pretty good. Most of those who fledged will be released. Just imagine how many more might have been possible if not for Covid causing problems.
Red Panda Ila gave birth to twins on the 14th. Dad is Suva. There is a short video on the TZ Facebook page. Sound up to hear the squealing cubs. Security Check Required
I'm actually shocked the zoo has announced the cubs birth so soon on. Red panda cubs have roughly a 45% mortality rate in the first year. I assumed the zoo would keep quiet about their birth for a few weeks to really know if the cubs stand a chance. But this just goes to show what the zoo has been increasingly trying to do which is be transparent and share the ups as well as the downs. They are taking a big risk with announcing the cubs birth but by doing so they help to show the realities their animals and staff face. I'm still surprised by the openness but I love it too.
The zoo announced today that one of the two Red Pandas born 7/14 did not survive. The other so far seems fine. Looking at cub mortality last week I found this excerpt from a 2010 paper: This chapter investigates the status of the current zoo populations in detail with a view to establishing their long-term viability. However, in order to appreciate how the current captive populations are likely to behave, it is an advantage to have an understanding of their history and development. One of the major factors preventing population growth in the captive populations of both subspecies is infant mortality. This has always been a problem in both red panda populations. The rate of 30-day infant mortality has actually risen in both global and regional populations in the most recent analyses; it currently ranges between 14 and 42%. It is lowest for A. f. fulgens in Australia, highest for A. f. fulgens pandas in North America and similar for both subspecies in the other regions at about 25-28%. In both global master plans, regional coordinators were asked to address the problem of infant mortality. One needs to discover why the 30-day mortality of A. f. fulgens in North America is 42% while that of A. f. styani in the same region is only 28% and why Australian zoos have a 30-day mortality of around 14% when the global average is twice that level. These questions would seem to be fairly easy to answer yet one consistently fails to do so.
Nepalese red panda update: One of the Nepalese red panda cubs has sadly died; however the surviving cub (a female) is healthy and progressing well: Newborn red panda dies at Toronto Zoo after first birth in 24 years As @TZFan noted, mortality rate is high - from personal experience of what I’ve seen in New Zealand Zoos, the 99% of the deaths that have occurred in the first year have been in the first few weeks. Survival after three/four months has been pretty decent. I too admire Toronto Zoo’s transparency and wish them (and their panda family) all the best with the remaining cub.
Bummer but not surprising we lost one of the red panda cubs. Absolute shame it was a female too. However her death means the zoo will be far more vigilant now with her sister. Not that they weren't closely watching the cubs but sounds like now with assisted feedings they are hands on and will catch the slightest of changes much quicker then they would just watching a camera. She will stand a far better chance with feedings, weight checks and inspections probably every few hours to start. Hopefully she makes it. The zoo is having a rough baby year with the loss of the red panda cub, the Przewalski's horse foal and wolf Vera (because having pups with both females lead to the fight that killed her). These kinds of years happen but hopefully it stops. Let's just blame it on 2020 the year everything is horrible.
The zoo announced that a Przewalski's horse foal was born on July 20th. It's the 25th foal born at the zoo! Mother is Winnie, sire is Dudley.
The colt is just what the Eurasia keepers need to boost their spirits after the red panda cub and the other foal. Not that her sister and the camel calf aren't doing their part. They have had great joys this year and tremendous sadness. The north east part of the zoo is the place to be this summer if you want to see babies. Eurasia has the colt, the camel calf, 3 mouflon lambs, and come fall the red panda cub. Tundra Trek has the wolf pups. Australiasia has the kangaroo joey. But we all know giraffe calf, Amani, is the biggest draw.
@Quartz92 if I remember right they did choose a construction crew which would just mean they could begin the renos. Have they? I have my doubts because no one has mentioned seeing anything. When might they? Hopefully soon so we could get the walruses for next summer. The zoo will desperately need next year to be a big year to help rebound from this year. But with covid will that even be possible? Who knows.
Two kudu calves were born to Ruby and Rosalita on July 17. Both calves were rejected by their mothers and unfortunately Ruby's calf, a male, did not survive. Rosalita's calf, a female, is currently being bottle-fed, but is doing well and has been introduced to the other females (sire Maynard is separated for the time being).
It's sad we lost the male kudu calf but if we had to lose one at least it was the male. By the time she's old enough to breed we might be keeping her. Maynard didn't come as a spring chicken and male kudu have pretty short lives (about 8 years and he came here at 6). So she could be future breeding stock. Her brother/cousin wouldn't have been. He may have taken space needed for a new breeding male.
Wolf pup, Valentina, has broken her leg. She has been in the health unit being crated and bandaged while the bone heals. Because of the nature of the break they were able to take the non invasive approach. The hope is they can reintroduce her to the pack within the next few days. Dad Imiq broke his leg awhile back and he's just fine. Guess like father like daughter.
Red panda cub update, she's struggling but improving. She's underweight, still receiving antibiotics and extra fluids along with tube feedings but she's making gains. Mom, Ila, is still caring for her between feedings. The first five weeks will be critical for her. Hopefully Ila is producing just enough milk that she was able to kick start the babies immune system.
Correction about the new Cuvier's caiman, they have been at the zoo for five years. They came as basically hatchlings and they have been too small to be on display until now so they were living off display. And it seems their temporary names Rick and Desmond have stuck. Once they are fully settled in the old caiman, Gavin, will be brought back in so they can live together, so he didn't die and wasn't transferred out.
Elderly cougar Felicia was euthanized recently due to organ failure - she was 18. That leaves Bailey (M) who is 14. Cougar - ZooChat For just a few weeks TZ had three generations of Greater Kudu, but last week Grandma Ramosita had a bad fall and was euthanized due to her injuries. She was 12.
