Just putting it out there, Valley Zoo has a breeding age female, Indira, as well. However I agree, receiving Kita is the much more likely option.
Oh! I didn't know she existed. My apologies for not considering you Indira. She is not part of the SSP so wasn't on my radar. Let's see what I can find about her... ok born in Granby to Makulu and Snowflake. Full sister to Elsa. Yeah ok so that would make her an ok mate for Pemba. Kita is superior by a long shot but Jita would be much worse so agreed, Indira or Kita it is. Now who informs the SSP?
21 black footed ferrets have been sent to National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Centre (and pre-release training site) in Colorado. Most are for release. A handful are transfers aren't for release they are animals going out for breeding loans. The rest will be trained for eventual release. The zoo had problems finding someone to fly them down there and they faced a long 2 day road trip. Thankfully a group called LightHawk connected the zoo with pilots who volunteered their time and plane to get the job done with as little stress on the ferrets as possible. Another successful year of ferret breeding has come to an end. Here's to 2022's batch. Hopefully even bigger and better than this years.
Female spotted-necked otter, Lila, has moved to Oregon Zoo. That leaves the zoo with just Fred, who should be over 20 years old.
Well I guess that’s good since Fred and Lila weren’t hitting it off I do hope her new mate Lemmy does. Plus I believe the spotted neck otters were on phase out soit’s just one step closer.
Due to his age, Fred was not a good breeding candidate. Lila’s chance of breeding with Lemmy is low since she’s 13. Once Fred passes I doubt the zoo will replace him.
You're right @Kevin2342, the zoo won't replace Fred, as the Spotted Neck Otters are to be phased out. It's only a matter of time at this point.
Looks like they had some observed breeding with Cheetahs, Emarah and Clark. They are not sure if there is a pregnancy, they will know more come January. Although the observed breeding is a good start!
Pity to see otter Lila moved. She has no hope of breeding now. She never should have been brought up here with Fred who was already approaching that special time in an otters life where they will likely never reproduce. Her potential was wasted. Now that she has not shot she should have just stayed on until Fred passed and then moved on to a retirement home. Not Lemmy's potential will be wasted if he has any still. The African otter program is one doomed to fail unfortunately because they are kinda hard to get to breed and pup survival isn't good. Nice to hear Emarah and Clark hit it off. While pregnancy is no guarantee at least Clark wanted to do his job and Emarah let him. From previous cheetah keeper reports Laini didn't seem to hit it off with David, Clark or Bakari. Getting the choosy cats to like each other enough to breed is a big enough hurdle all on its own. It's a pity it wasn't Laini because this fall is her last hope before she's retired from breeding and she is a founder. Guess we need to be thankful she produced 5 healthy cubs and in particular the boys are down at the Smithsonian's Breeding Center where they will have lots of opportunities to carry on Laini's genetics. Emarah could produce up here. Queenie being at Vancouver probably has zero shot of breeding.
Let's be honest, they probably should've never attempted breeding the Spotted Neck Otters with that exhibit. It looks too small for the 2 they had. It would've been worse with even 1 pup added to the mix. As much as like to see them get a new nice sized exhibit, I don't know where in the Pavilion it could be placed without getting rid of 1 or more other species. I'm with you on that @Jefferson, any observations of breeding is a good sign.
@cypher we likely would only have got one pup from African otters. Twins is on the rarer side with them unlike other otter species who have twins or more. 100% agree the exhibit is massively undersized when you compare their size to the river otters and consider they are nearly the same size and the vast difference in space available to them. I don't think the zoo ever had an exhibit that would foster breeding. In the 34 years we have kept the species only a single female pup was born and she didn't make it past a month old. Probably didnt help that parents were uncle and niece and grandparents siblings. But survival rates on pups are abysmally low to begin with. That pup was born less than a year after the exhibit opened. And nothing since despite being home to 7 different adult otters in 7 different pairings. Can you believe we housed 4 otters at once in that exhibit while we had Matthew, Winnie, Fred and Ginger? If I was to redo their habitat I can see several choices. First is take a wrecking ball the the aviary dig down and create a pool and land area below the current path level throughout the aviary. The otters could have a good sized pool with depth and lots of land area to play. You can even create hills and waterfalls to bring them up to guest level but guests would cross the exhibit over a bridge. Super expensive I know. Secondly you ship out the dwarf crocs. I think there is more land and water there. Not as big as I would like. Third ship out the Nile softshell and use that space and take over the aviary to the rear to give more land space. Again not ideal because we can get bigger spots for pools. Fourth the abandoned stairs area. The stairs if converted could make a good pool. There is space for the land part of the exhibit. Problem is I cant think of where you place the holding and its expensive. Most logical and probably cheapest is a little rotation. Ibis and spoonbill moved into the otter aviary as planned. Great. Now you want to give the pygmys access to outside using the crane and warthog exhibits cool. Move them into the ibis exhibit with raised terrain and a larger pool. Could be subdivided if needed to have both on display at once. Ok now you stick the otters in the pygmy exhibit with bigger pools and lots of land. They could probably exhibit share with the Red River hogs and if not they can rotate. Add a pool to the hogs outside yard and the otters could go out in the summer. I think that sort of swapping around could work. Will they do it? Heck no... although It is possible the ibis and hippo moves are coming down the line. The otters are phase outs so there is no reason to rotate things around to make their lives better. They should have done this when they renovated the pavilion.
That’s great news and it’s a she! Great to hear that Simon can produce girls this time, after 3 straight boys it’s about time a female came along.
@TheGerenuk, the mother is Sydney and Akula is correct the joey is our first female since Sydney herself was born (shes the last of Robbo's joeys). The joey is the one they announced had been ejected from the pouch because Sydney was having a hard time adjusting to the return of guests. Thankfully Sydney didnt do it again and the little one is thriving.
Don't know if this is common knowledge but Theo the White Rhino actually left for Vancouver late October/early November, according to the zoo's podcast. I feel like I remember the zoo's post about him "leaving soon" and hearing nothing after that on social media. Additionally, a Tawny Frogmouth is supposed to come in this year from Rhode Island along with a Timber Rattlesnake from Pennsylvania. I'd believe they're sticking with that timeline since the other transfers that were mentioned (SN otter, snow leopard, red panda (well, 1/2) and black-footed ferrets). Only one I'm unsure of on details is two arctic wolves to Magnetic Hill zoo.
@Kalvin, you are right the zoo said leaving soon with Theo and nothing. Kinda denies people the chance to go for one last goodbye if you dont say their last guaranteed day on display. They usually do better than that with the big animals we have watched grow up. Probably a mistake. But his leaving means there is space in the rhino house for a new arrival. I do wonder if the zoo has been misleading us about a potential calf over the winter otherwise why the push on now to get rid of Theo. Might just be to free space for winter but I would prefer to think they are hiding something. I do remember reports of breeding last in fall 2020 between Zohari and Tom which would have meant a February or March 2022 calf. But then the zoo clearly said this summer there was no breeding going on because they were at capacity... which we also know isn't true because they did house Tom, Tony, Theo, Zohari and Sabi together for I think roughly 6 months. Adding a calf sure didnt put them over on capacity then but you can breed and get about 2 years to move the spare rhino. I have a sneaking suspicion something is afoot but no hard proof. Oh I am so glad to hear a new frogmouth is on its way. We have had the species so long it seems like while not super dynamic it would be a shame not to have them. If Roger Williams can take our tree kangaroo the least they can do is give us a frogmouth. Any chance you know the name or gender of our new friend? Also since you said one, do you know if there are plans for a mate? Less interested in the snake but any moves after so long with nothing to report its great. I think we will be seeing a flurry of moves come late winter and spring as well so long as the border stays open. The two arctic wolves to Magnetic Hill are probably most likely to be Nuna and Inneq. I remember there was a Facebook Live or a post around the time all the girls were spayed except 1 of the female pups who was put on birth control. Nuna and Inneq were specifically talked about being spayed at the request of their new home but they didn't say where that was and the pack seems to have remained the same size. They would be the top guesses for me. While not a birth, death or transfer the zoo has announced a wild great blue heron has decided to call Tundra Trek home. He or she is unafraid of the wolves and steals their food. Apparently the wolves are afraid of it though so the zoo doesnt want people to worry about the heron. Oh but they should be... I remember several years ago a heron thought it was a good idea to be in the wolf exhibit and the wolves had a lovely meal. Probably will be that heron's fate if it continues to be so bold. That or the polar bears will get it. So I guess likely future death to report.
@TZFan I'm inclined to think the zoo just took an opportunity to move Theo while they had the chance and that's it. Vancouver had an opening and transfers had been off the table for a year and a half so they jumped at the chance. I think it's definitely in preparation for breeding but I've seen Zohari plenty over the summer and I really doubt she is pregnant. She was about the same size as Sabi and I don't know much about rhino pregnancy but I would think she'd be a lot bigger almost a year in if breeding was successful in fall of 2020. I don't know anything more about the imminent transfers, all they mentioned in the podcast is species and locations. The timestamp is about 24:45 and the episode is about a month old. Most of those transfers have gone through since then so I'm hopeful in the last few happening soon as well. In other news we finally got our female Fiji Iguana in. I believe her name is Vera and they have renamed Iggy to Norm but someone is going to have to double check that for me. Or if it can wait two weeks I can check for myself .
Even though this death did not take place this year... It has officially been one year without Josephine who passed on this day, but with her loss today came great news for the Canadian gorilla population as Dossi in Calgary was announced pregnant. Not only did Josephine contribute so much to Toronto but also to the overall North American Gorilla Population, Rest in Peace Jo.
