I was at the zoo today and I can confirm the trailer is still in the gaur yard. It doesn't look like the girls have been in the yard for a bit though because the grass in there is pretty long. In terms of where they are going... Parc Safari which is home to one of Flower and Hercules's older sons. Nothing has been done to the exhibit. Since they were supposed to start demo by now they are definitely behind schedule. I will guess they will end up not opening for summer of 2018 and it could be pushed back as far as 2019. Other observations... Tree Kangaroo, Collins looked a little rough. His fur was kind of wild and his tail was bare on the last three or four inches. Anyone know what might be up with him? White rhino females Sabi and Zohari were out today without either male. It's the first time in years I have seen them without Tom or Tony. A lot of the exhibits where empty. I have not been on a zoo visit in a long time where there was just no one out and visible... It was a gorgeous day so I have no clue why the animals weren't out or visible. Maybe it was just bad timing on my part. The window's on the gorilla's day room were closed. At first I wondered why they were closed but as I passed by outside on my way to the outdoor exhibit to see Sadiki and Nassir, there was a window open to the day room outside. I had no clue this existed. Kind of cool to learn. In the African free flight aviary with the otters I noticed two Lady Ross's Turacos. They must be a new addition to the space. I however despite looking really hard did not see the hornbills. They might have moved or I just missed them. Over at the Sumatran tiger exhibit it looked like the keepers were working on introductions again. Hari was causally watching Kemala who seemed far more interested in him than he was with her. Hari was in the tiger house's little yard while Kemala was still in her normal exhibit. Three keepers were looking over the exhibit and talking. Sadly I couldn't get close enough to listen in on the conversation. There was no mention anywhere at the cheetah exhibit that there were new arrivals. I know they haven't been introduced to the exhibit yet but it would be nice if the zoo embraced a tv with security footage of the den to excite people about the cubs like other zoos do. I didnt see any signage at the clouded leopards either. And I didnt make it to snow leopard land. There is construction outside of the main gift shop. It looks like they are just replacing the pathway. Sadly I went a few days too early for the health center.
Sounds like you had a nice outing despite few animals being out. I find that happens every once in a while with no real explanation. Just happened to be an off day. If the White Rhino girls stay only this summer, it only confirms their pregnancy. The windows for the day room for the Gorilla's have been closed up for a while now. I believe I first noticed it later summer early fall last year. There was talks of adding am awning to help with visibility with looking in the day room from the outdoor viewing, but that never happened. During one of my recent visits, the same thing was happening with the Sumatran Tiger as you saw today. There's no mention of cubs at the Snow Leopard exhibit in case you're wondering.
It was a nice visit on a beautiful day. You are right though some days are just bad for animals. I can take it. It was just nice to be out in the sunshine and not boiling to death. I would agree with you Cypher that if both rhino girls are pregnant then there is no need for them to be with the boys. Although it would be nice to still have three on display at once. It means two or three are not shut up in the barn and holding yards more often. We will just have to wait and see. It could also be that during the strike without keepers there to monitor the boys were not with the girls for a month and they want to take reintroductions slow especially since the girls may be pregnant. The cheetah and snow leopard cubs should be going on display shortly. They will be hitting the 8 week mark soon. My hope is the clouded leopard cubs will be on display in the health center.
The zoo put out and Request for Proposal, just not the one we wanted to see. This is for a "Short-Term Special Exhibit", which will occupy the Special Events Tent, which we know as the Panda Interpretive Centre. The plan is to have this open for May 16, 2018 with an end date of December 31, 2019, with the option to extend the contract for 2 additional 1 year terms. Clearly the zoo wants this ready for when the Pandas leave. There are no details of what is to be display in this "Special Exhibit", as that is to be determined by the companies that respond to the proposal. However, the zoo is looking for something interactive that may or may not contain animals. This exhibit is not free and requires an additional charge from those wanting to partake. Below is the reasoning for the Proposal copy and pasted from the proposal itself: The proposed exhibit will support the mission, vision, goals and objectives of the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan, specifically Goal 2 which is “to enhance the guest experience to appeal to a more diverse audience and inspire conservation action.” See more here: Toronto Zoo | Business Opportunities at the Toronto Zoo
"In the African free flight aviary with the otters I noticed two Lady Ross's Turacos. They must be a new addition to the space. I however despite looking really hard did not see the hornbills. They might have moved or I just missed them" Toronto does not have Ross's Turacos. You would have seen the Violet Turacos, which have been there for years. There was an incident where the F Von der Decken's Hornbill got into the gorilla area. They are off exhibit until the access is found and repaired.
Oh my bad. I wasn't sure what they were other than turacos and tried to use google images to make an educated guess. Have they really been in the same place all this time and I never noticed them? They are brightly coloured so if they have been and I never saw them how the heck did I miss them?
@TZFan: The Turacos could have been hidden behind foliage, or off in a corner somewhere, where they are hard to notice. Some animals be quite well hidden.
I visited a few weeks ago. Zoey is pregnant by Tom, and that's why they've separated the boys from the girls. Reactions to hormones or something like that. No plans to breed Sabe with any of the boys right now. I think the zookeeper might have said it would be a fall baby? Also, my memory of the dates is sketchy, but I think I heard the keeper mention that Sadiki and Nasir will be leaving soon enough. I don't recall the date, but I remember feeling sad that we'd only have a few months left of seeing them here. (It was a lot sooner than I was expecting. Fall?) Also visited today. They've started pointing out the space (old gaur) exhibit where the new orang outdoor habitat will be. There was also a white rhino open house today (for a small donation). Each guest was allowed to select a ball from a garbage bag. If you pulled the right ball, you got to go in and pet the rhinos. Others just got a wristband. Tony was in the barn for all to see. Tom was also in there, but hidden behind the wall. There was also a silent auction with "art" from the rhinos (e.g., a glitter painting with Tom's butt imprint). When I looked, the bids for the paintings were over $150. Also, the new Health Centre is very impressive, clean, and neat-looking. Large windows to see into the surgery room, digital imaging room, etc. But the rooms were all empty. Not sure how much action we'll be allowed to view...and if there'll be much on the weekends, at all. I heard that apparently, zoo members were taken on a more in-depth behind-the-scenes tour during the member's exclusive preview (in the employee-only areas we were restricted from today). Kicking myself for not going to that!
The due date for Zohari's calf is sometime between October and December give or take a little. Sadly this means we will not see the calf until spring when it is much bigger. I hope its over due. Longer it takes to arrive the smaller it will be when we get our first glimpse. And yes I'm totally selfish. It will be the first white rhino calf I will remember seeing so I want it to be small. Sadiki and Nassir are going to Granby and fall sounds about right. Don't want to move them in the heat of summer. Time is ticking on gorilla decision making so having the boys gone is for the best. By January Nneka will be four and Ngozi will be ready to breed again. It will be time for the zoo and the SSP to make that critical decision. Is it time to retire Charles and Jo from troop life and bring in a new silverback (who I still swear will be Jawara)? Or will they roll the dice on Charles health and give him one more baby? At this point my vote is firmly in the retirement camp. Let he and Jo rest and enjoy their golden years. Bring in Jawara who is primed to lead a troop. Get Ngozi and Johari breeding so any boys will have the best shot at a brother who he can enter a bachelor group with. Plus Johari is getting up there in age for a first time mom. Also it will be only another four years before Nneka could be considered as a potential partner for Jawara too. The troop dynamics would work with a single transfer in. The zoomobile has been pointing the gaurs are being replaced with the orang outdoor since the zoomobile started up this year. The sad part is the gaur were still there as of last week, though it looked to me like they had not used their yard in some time due to all the long grass. If they haven't gone and we are nearly half way through July there is zero chance the exhibit will be done for spring 2018 and I highly doubt it will be 2018 at all. The strike screwed up their travel plans. I just wish the zoo would relocate the gaur to the domain or the old wisent exhibit until they can go and demo can start. At this point they will be lucky to get demo done this year when it was to be all but complete. I haven't even seen design plans so contractors can bid which is a horrible sign.
Last Wednesday (the 5th) I took the zoomo from the start to the second stop. Besides the stupid jokes and talking unintelligibly while crossing the bridge, and mispronouncing animal names, I heard that the Gaur had left the zoo, so at the first stop I showed the commentator the picture I had taken shortly before of the Gaur and pointed out they were still there and would likely be there, on exhibit, all summer. He and the driver/alternate commentator were astonished. On the way to the second stop, African Savannah, riders were encouraged to go see the four lion cubs, who are "getting pretty big now, but still worth a visit". Many on the ride reacted - we all knew better. So when I got off I pointed out they had been gone since February. Again, astonishment. Later I rode the zoomo again and again heard encouragement to visit the lion cubs, so I went straight over and caught a keeper I am friends with just leaving the talk - she immediately called the zoomo supervisor and pointed out the lion cub error. AIronically, as she ended the call, a visitor said "excuse me, where are the lion cubs?". A few years ago I wrote to Guest Services and pointed out about 5 things about the zoomo that were ludicrous. A few days later I was there and some of them had obviously been corrected, but when I got home that day there was a reply from Guest Services completely denying any problems and telling me people love it. I have been to many of the zoos of the world and ridden many such conveyances to get around - the most amateurish of all is TZ. I don't trust a word they say and am embarrassed by some of the talk. I won't talk about the idiocy of cutting off a large part of Eurasia, except by zoomobile and for only part of the year.Three years later many members that I know, including me, are still angry about this. On another note, I wonder why there is a Developments thread and a Births, Deaths and Transfers thread when so many posters (see the above posts) put everything including their fantasy plans for TZ on the Developments thread.
Mr. Wrinkly you are not alone on the dislike of the zoomobile errors. On my visit there were the same problems but the second ride of my day was so much worse then the first there were a bunch of people who got off at the Domain just to get away from the crappy guide. They didn't even tell people it was the stop for the domain and a couple in front of me almost got off thinking they had reached the African stop. I have zero doubt that if some of us on here put our heads together we could come up with an infinitely better script for the zoomobile that was both educating and interesting... not to mention factually accurate. If I had my way I would also alter the route. I get wanting to not clog up the path ways but lets be honest what do you see on the route? Maybe 18 animals if you are lucky and the only ones with really good views are in Eurasia, the wildebeest and watusi. Most of the ride is behind the scenes stuff with nothing to really look at. If other zoos can run theirs on main paths so too could Toronto. Hopefully with the introduction of more drive through exhibits that will help make it more interesting without cutting off the areas like they did with Eurasia.
During my last visit to the zoo, July 3, there weren't any of those mistakes mentioned by @Mr Wrinkly on the zoomobile ride. Only mistake they made was telling people that the Clouded Leopards cubs were on display in the Wildlife Centre viewing. Perhaps it's a case of me not getting terrible commentators. A shame that these mistakes are happening though, because the misinformation will only hurt the zoo at the end of the day. And yes, the bad jokes are still ever present. I'm also still ticked off about them cutting out the original Eurasia path for a zoomobile path only. Not only is it wasted space, I think a majority of people would actually like to spend time watching the Przewalski Horse's rather then driving by them. I know I would. Lastly, I believe the purpose of the two threads, (Developments and Birth, Death...), is that the Developments thread is meant to be for discussing new findings during latest visits. Stuff like exhibit changes, and/or interesting info learned from Keeper talks. The Birth, Death and Transfers thread is meant for rumored and actual changes in animals that have either been born, died or transferred in/out of the zoo. However, there have been times, myself included, where we may have posted the wrong information in the wrong thread. Now, keep in mind, this is just how I've always looked and the distinction of the threads.
You can private message me if you're interested in seeing my unofficial plans for an outdoor orangutan exhibit at the Toronto Zoo! I worked on the project as a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture student and then again (in a volunteer fashion) after graduating. My analysis documents were used for the initial project meeting. They moved in another direction, so my work is not indicative of what will be built. I argued that a new orangutan exhibit should be built in the forests around the pavilion, but the Toronto Zoo wanted to build in the gaur exhibit.
An orang exhibit in the surrounding forest was what I always wanted to see too, my most major concern was that our native Ontario tree species would not have the strength to support such large tree dwellers and accidents would inevitably happen.
@Palorchestes I remember speaking to a Keeper about that being on the discussion board early on it the development talks. Apparently, the main reason it was struck down is because the forest area is technically part of the Rouge Valley, therefore making it out of the zoo's jurisdiction. Something like that, anyways.
I was told that the small forested valley between the IndoMalaya pavilion and the Malayan Woods is an environmentally significant area, which would prohibit development. However, I have looked at the City of Toronto's interactive maps with ESA features and there is no overlap with my proposed design areas, except for perhaps a small area of my valley option. There is a Core Woods ESA in the center of the Toronto Zoo and a Momingside Creek Forest/Milnes Forest ESA to the South and Northwest of the developed zoo areas.
It is likely that the reluctance to develop animal exhibits in the forests outside the ESAs has more to do with the principles from the 2016 Master Plan. In that plan they identify protection and restoration as two of their key principles. To satisfy the former they would like to identify sensitive habitats and limit development to research and conservation uses supplemented with interpretive signage. To satisfy their restoration principles they would like to enhance important habitats and limit development to low-impact use. It would appear that the forests around the IndoMalaya pavilion are planned to be protected and development limited to the major circulation pathway that will travel through them.
Doesn't it have more to do with the outdoor habitat being located near the existing off-exhibit housing, which would still link to the indoor habitat?
The location of the existing orangutan holding facilities would favor an exhibit in the woods and not in the former gaur exhibit. The main service areas for the Indomalaya pavilion building is located between the existing orangutan holding area and the former gaur exhibit. Creating an exhibit for the orangutans in the former gaur exhibit would necessitate a transfer either above or below the service routes there. The early plans for an orangutan exhibit developed in house by the Toronto Zoo had a transfer passing through the service area. I think that it's a conflict of uses to have an animal management area travel over an important service route. It would be cheaper and better for the orangutans to have their outdoor exhibit planned on the west or northwest side of the Indomalaya pavilion.
Looks like the zoo is rolling out their advertising plan for this summer. Just saw a commercial about heading to the zoo to catch the pandas before they leave, as this is their last summer.
