Took a trip to the zoo today, and despite the surprising amount of people for a rainy day, it was a really good visit. The new health care center looks fantastic, and continues a trend of great new TZ exhibits. If only they could stay on schedule with construction for other projects (cough, cough, Orangutan outdoor). The trailer in the Gaur yard has been removed, however the Gaur are still at the zoo. And on the zoomobile ride, the commentator mentioned that the zoo is hopeful the orang outdoor will be completed within the next few years. Sad news. The lion Tailed Macaques were off exhibit in their normal yard, yet are now on display (perhaps temporarily) in the old Japanese Macaque exhibit in Eurasia (only viewable from zoomobile). The dholes are no longer at the zoo or have died off. Charles and Ngozi have been breeding lately (despite all the girls being on birth control), and the keeper did not seem too sure what the plan moving forward would be between the two. I know Charles is old, but the keeper mentioned his genetics as still being extremely valuable to the NA WL Gorilla population due to his Wild genetics. The prehensile Tailed porcupines have FINALLY been moved out of the worst exhibit in the zoo, and into their old exhibit/green aracari exhibit, right near the front of the pavilion after the aviary. The aracaris are now in the aviary. Finally, the old Prairie Dog exhibit in the kids zoo is now home to somewhere around 25 Guinea pigs. It was pretty funny to see all of them moving around the exhibit, as if they were some type of exotic species.
I hope that the zoomobile guide was wrong in their orang comment but I'm not surprised. I doubt they will move the gaur over the summer which means a fall or spring departure. In turn that means the exhibit cannot be demolished this summer forget any new construction that was to take place during good weather for a spring 2018 opening. I do not know why the zoo doesn't just move the gaur to another area of the zoo until transport can be set up again. At least if demo was done this year there is a chance we could see the new exhibit by spring 2019. I'm seriously beginning to lose hope that Puppe will live to ever see the outside world again. Rumor has it the lion tailed macaques have been moved to Eurasia so that some much smaller and newer residences can go on display there to the delight of guests. If what I have heard is true they are getting the exhibit ready to house the clouded leopard cubs. I highly doubt the zoo would have transferred elderly dhole, Patty. If dhole are no longer at the zoo then she has passed away. Charles is not as valuable as he once was even though he is wild born. All children with Josephine and Samantha are more genetically valuable than their old man. His only kids who are not more valuable are Ngozi's kids. He is the father of 8 surviving offspring and has 7 surviving grandchildren with only three of his offspring having bred thus far. Subira and Sekani both have recommendations to breed so two more grandchildren will arrive probably within the next year or two. Johari could be breeding soon enough and Shalia will be ready again in a year or two. Sadiki and Nassir will head up troops within the next 10 years and start breeding while Nneka is 4-6 years away from her first baby. Not to mention he has grandsons Bakari and Mosi who like their uncles will be breeding within 10 years. He is well represented. The of the original seven infants Toronto got they would have killed to get more offspring that survived from Carolyn, Josephine, Amanda and Julia. Carolyn has 1 non breeding though surgery will be tried to get Catherine breeding. Her bloodline will likely die out with no further contributions. Josephine has 2 of 10. But her genetics are better spread out. Through her 3 offspring to reach adulthood she has 5 grandkids with great grandkids a possibility in the future. Amanda has 3 of 6 with two grandkids and quite possibly two more on the way in the next two years, maybe 3. Julia has 3 of 5 with only one grandchild. More could come if Ntondo and Jawara get breeding recommendations in the next SSP. Samantha is good at 4 of 5 with 3 grandkids and possibly two more on the way. Most represented is good old Barney with 8 of 11 and 7 grandkids with Oliver recommended to breed three females and Asha recommended to breed as well. He also has two grandkids who could be breeding in the next few years.
Anyone know why dholes were phased out (poor captive genetic diversity?)? Honestly the zoo should be displaying as many animals as possible that can be outside during our winters. They should of kept Japanese macaques too as they would be a perfect winter animal for those hardy winter guests to see.
Went to the zoo today. Nice overcast weather making for some good photographic opportunities. With the nice weather, I also noticed somethings I thought I’d share with everyone. Firstly, I was thoroughly disappointed to see Pandas Er Shun and the cubs hanging out in the small exhibit. With the cubs only getting bigger, I figured it’d make sense to have them in the larger exhibit, giving them all more space to roam. No Polar Bears were on exhibit around 9:30 this morning. Not all that surprising, as I find that Keepers usually struggle getting the Polar Bears out in the mornings. Not sure of the reasoning, but it is annoying. There is a new female Snowy Owl in the Snowy Owl exhibit. Nice to see, as this Owl has no injured eyes. However, I didn’t see the usual male Snowy Owl (don’t know his name) in the exhibit. Any word on what’s happened with him? Has he died, been transferred, or is he just off exhibit for the time being? Managed to see the Purple Gallinule in the free flight area of the Americas Pavilion. Hopefully I got some half decent shots of it. Was neat to see the Prehensile Tail Porcupine in the Green Aracari exhibit and the Green Aracari in the free flight area. I got a shot of the Porcupine that I’ll post later. It’s also nice to see White Lion Fintan’s mane growing in, in the back end, since he no longer has his cubs around to pull it out. I’ll post a shot of him later.
@Palorchests, the zoo phased out the dhole due to difficulty in getting new animals. Almost all of the dhole in North America descend from Toronto's original animals. Very few zoos have them. Toronto would very likely have needed to import new animals from Asia and it was just too difficult. It was decided when creating the Eurasian Wild to just let nature take its course and phase out the dhole. It was also a pity they moved from Japanese Macaques to Barbary apes. I loved watching the macaques as a kid. Nothing more fun that watching that lively exhibit especially in winter when they would go swimming. Toronto's group did become a little inbred. I would love to see them return though. They are up high on my list of former animals I would love to see return. Hopefully with the zoo transferring snowy owl, Bob, will mean a new male will also arrive and maybe there will be some breeding. Given the tiny size of the exhibit I have my doubts. Any word on the new female's name and where she came from?
African Lion Safari makes sense as the former home of the new snowy owl. They do have a pretty good breeding program there for raptors even thought they tend not to participate in SSPs.
The zoo is now doing special enrichment feedings on Saturdays and Sundays until the Labour Day weekend. They began last weekend, and they are having one carnivore and one herbivore on Saturday and a different pair on Sunday. So far the schedule, posted at Toronto Zoo | Animal Enrichment only goes till this weekend.
This is an old article (March 2016) but it is very intriguing because almost every single major North American zoo has been inching upwards in terms of attendance and yet Toronto Zoo hit an 8-year low in 2015...even with Giant Pandas! At the bottom of the article there is a chart tracking 8 years of attendance figures, as well as a list of dates and how the zoo is funded. Toronto Zoo forced to adapt to survive as attendance falls | Toronto Star
@snowleopard it's an interesting article, and as you indicate, it raises some issues regarding the Toronto Zoo. I think part of the decline in 2014 and 2015 was weather related. While the article notes that the weather has frequently been used as an excuse, if I recall correctly both of those years had rough winters that contributed to driving down off peak season attendance. This also helps to explain why the presence of the Giant Pandas did not result in an attendance bump those years. Another contributing factor is that it has been a long time since the zoo opened a major new exhibit. 2013 saw the Giant Pandas arrival as well as a trio of white lion cubs brought to the zoo. Those new animals helped increase the crowds, but there hasn't really been a brand new exhibit to help draw in the crowds since then. Eurasia wilds was renovated, this year a new wildlife health centre opened (which looks to be world class and deserving of respect) but neither of these are attention grabbing attractions that will draw in the masses. On a purely speculative level, the loss of elephants has also likely hindered the zoo's attendance. While I think most on here would agree their exhibit was lacking, and it was likely in their best interest for the zoo to no longer have elephants, they are a very popular animal and their exit from the zoo and the ridiculous game show host influenced manner in which it was conducted has not been beneficial to the zoo or it's image. With all of this said, I think this article may cast too gloomy of a light on the situation. While 2014 and 2015 were not strong years, the zoo did bounce back nicely in 2016 (aided by multiple baby animals). As well, turning to this article: Attendance down again at Toronto Zoo | Toronto Star suggests that the zoo has remained relatively stagnate between 1.1 to 1.4 million guests. This article also further supports my earlier note on opening new exhibits. I think this is fairly remarkable when accounting for the declining financial support from the city referenced in the article you linked to. The approach of the city seems to be critical of the zoo for not increasing it's attendance/financial stability and in response is cutting back on their financial support while perversely expecting the zoo to perform better as a result. This contrasts sharply with the experience of American zoos like Fresno and Columbus that have attained voter issue bonds that allow them to build up the zoo, subsequently attracting more guests, which in turns creates higher revenues. If the municipal government bolstered its financial support of the zoo, allowing to build new exhibits, I suspect that would end any discussion of declining attendance. This of course is very wishful thinking. I hope I didn't ramble on too much here.
I'd have to agree with M30t on this one. The article hardly factors in a ton of elements. The pandas were never going to be a solution to the attendance issue. They perked up attendance the first year as the zoo knew full well they would. Since then everyone who wanted to see them did. Panda economic were simple and well understood before they came. Cubs would be a bumper year but even they would not be a solution. It was just a new fun thing that would temporarily create interest. To say that attendance still fell with them is stupid. They were only going to bolster a year or two at best and that seems only to be a surprise to reporters who if they read their colleagues articles prior to the pandas arrival they would have seen the zoo planned for that dip. Panda math is well understood in the zoo community. There has been some teacher related work to rule which has hurt school visits. That's a pretty solid portion of zoo visits and when it dips it dips by big numbers. That factor hasn't just effected one year but several. The bad press from the elephant situation has been devastating. That years long struggle was only ever played in the media as the zoo is the bad guy. It severely damaged the zoo's reputation within the city. It will likely take a very long time to undo that bad press. I wont argue the merits of what was done... been there... done that... but the animal rights activists had money on their side. The zoo was left to fight alone when the city totally abandoned them in the struggle with a limited budget to get their message across. They had the activists hammering from one side. The city bashing them from another. The AZA was forced to pull membership given the unstable, unreasonable situation which further made the zoo look bad. Forget the attendance the elephants brought in. The horrible image that was presented likely did far more damage to attendance the absence of elephants could ever do under a much better situation where they just left for anywhere with no fight. While the elephant situation was a devastating PR nightmare the zoo still fails to use good PR effectively. They shoot themselves in the foot. Prior to the birth of the lions, pandas, polar bear and Indian rhino between 2015 and early 2016, the zoo rarely made mention of its breeding successes. Those of us obsessed with the zoo knew of each new arrival but the average zoo guest would have been surprised by the babies they saw. Other zoos tout their breeding successes with pride. They know each baby is a potential money maker. In fact until the last five years it seems like the only time the zoo ended up in the news was when they were announcing the death of one of the big popular animals. Oh let's focus on deaths that's good for attendance. It seemed for awhile that almost every month they were reporting a death... normally due to old age but still doesn't put the zoo in a good light if all it announces is death. It makes the zoo sound old and tired itself. Push the babies to push the idea of conservation and revitalization. Forget creating a positive image of the zoo in peoples minds by boasting about their enormous success stories relating to the conservation and breeding of critically endangered native species. Most don't realize the important role Toronto Zoo plays in the reintroduction of bison, black footed ferrets, Vancouver Island marmots, Eastern loggerhead shrikes, Blanding's turtles among countless others. The zoo has done virtually nothing until recently to rebuild the reputation it had prior to the elephant debacle. And even now they tend to fail at utilizing social media effectively. The zoo hurts itself with ineffective PR which does not help to bolster attendance. Nowhere does it mention the fact the zoo while still in Toronto is really far away. There is no fast simple method for people from the core and visitors to get to the zoo. If it was in the center of the city people could more easily use a bus, train, subway or street car. Many could bike, blade or walk. Where it is now its drive a car or take a long bus ride. Lots of people in the city go without a car. Travelers sometimes choose not to rent a car. Well if you are looking for a fun activity and its going to be long and difficult to get to the zoo for many it rules it out. A train line running out to the zoos general area would be helpful. Reduce commute time. You cannot change the zoo's location. You cannot tell the governments to make a commuter line out just to the zoo. It is a constant and frustrating problem for the zoo. Many of the US zoos that can post higher attendance numbers are right in the heart of the city or have better transportation options for the city dweller. The city's strangle hold on the zoo also doesn't help. The city is always complaining the zoo is not self sufficient but they do nothing to invest in its future so it can become less dependent. Invest in the big projects. Bring people in. More guest. Bigger revenue. Newer facilities can be made more energy efficient and created so chores for keepers are less labor intensive. The more they reduce the budget the less the zoo has to reinvest in itself so it can attract more guests thus making itself less reliant on the city. Vicious cycle instead of productive profitable cycle. It's like to city doesn't recognize a world class zoo will draw people in from all over the world also boosting tourism and the economy. More people = more money all round. I'd have liked to see in the article what kind of benefit the zoo has on the community and the local economy. Sure the city pays millions for the zoo but how many millions does it give back in return. I know the zoo keeps all of its profits to sustain itself but look at the larger picture. The more people who come the more employees they need... now those people have money to buy things in the community. The surrounding restaurants, hotels and gas stations benefit from zoo guests... other businesses too. They all get more money plus they have more employees. As a tourist I for one would have zero need to go to Toronto ever if I didn't love the zoo. Oh yeah tourists and all the money they bring. No one ever mentions the benefits the zoo brings to the community when they talk about the zoo's dependence on the city. The more the city is willing to invest in the zoo the better those benefits of having it should be. That strangle hold just leads right into the zoos next problem with attendance.... The lack of a major new exhibit.... definitely bad for the zoo. What has really been new since Tundra Trek in 2009? I mean really? Ok they took away the edge of the night in Australiasia and replaced it with the Great Barrier Reef... honestly I cant remember if that was before or after Tundra Trek but I know they were close. Oh fish... woohoo. A few fish tanks is not a massive draw. Ok so what else? The south half of the African Rainforest. That's more of a big draw but still what was the big exciting thing there. It's beautiful no doubt. But we already had pygmy hippos and they sleep all day. We added one species of lemurs and the expense of much more entertaining mandrills and patas monkeys in a massive exhibit. Not a win for me personally but something that did initially draw people in. There was the return of the penguins. That was big and well promoted but it was a one species exhibit. It wasn't a massive revamp where people would be like I have to go see this. And the Eurasian Wilds... well it did give us pandas, sea eagles and eagle owls it was opened late and not even advertised as a big thing. Mostly because it wasn't. As many of us can agree they made some huge miss steps there which I think the zoo is even admitting when you look at the master plan and all of that will be re designated Canadian Wilderness except the drive through, red panda, and tiger exhibits and a new snow leopard exhibit yet again. To most the draw was the pandas. An simply creating a drive through and creating a new snow leopard and bird complex does not equate to a big redesign. Even if the orang exhibit were on track to be completed next summer that would also fail to qualify as a big new attraction. It is a single species exhibit. The thing that creates a ton of excitement is a total revamp like Tundra Trek... which in less than a decade has gone from impressive to blah this isn't worth the walk. I think the last time the zoo actually did something massive that was just so stunning when it was completed was the savanna in 1998. Usually the zoo can only afford band aid solutions to problems with the only new exhibits being the ones that just have to be replaced or you should get rid of the species. It is entirely unfair to compare Toronto to the other big zoos in the states. Most have massive advantages Toronto just doesn't have. Many US have much longer peak seasons because they are further south and have better weather. It is easier to have higher numbers when ice storms and unbearably cold weather are less of a factor. Many US have much larger base populations to draw from... not just the city itself but its reasonable drive time visits. The US is just more densely populated. The GTA offers lots of people but not nearly as many. Move outside of that zone and the population starts to plummet. Many US zoos are able to attract major corporations or extremely wealthy donors who can pretty much fund major new attractions. The closest Toronto has ever come is Fedex sponsoring the panda exhibit... not a mass redevelopment like Denver's Toyota Elephant Passage. It's biggest donation ever was just two million a few years ago. In San Diego Conrad Prebys donated 25 million alone by a 2011 article I found. Forget all his other donations after that time and all their other donors. Don't know why the zoo cannot get that kind of support but it clearly struggles to. And that's just the examples that came to mind as to why US and Canadian zoo's situations are different. Place Toronto Zoo in a US city and it would likely thrive.
I agree with the points TZFan and M30t made above. Their arguments relate to a more comprehensive problem. The greatest challenge that the Toronto Zoo faces is stagnation and a lack of innovation of their physical facilities. There are certainly some limitations facing the Toronto Zoo, but it was once a premier zoo and has lost its comparative North American zoo standing. On the bright side, I still think the Toronto Zoo still has amazing potential! When the Toronto Zoo opened in 1974 (then known as the Metro Toronto Zoo) it would have surely felt transformative from its predecessor the Riverdale Zoo. The Riverdale Zoo had collections of animals in a cramped 7.4-acre site. The Toronto Zoo opened on a 710-acre site in the beautiful sprawling landscape of Rouge Park. From the beginning, the exhibits at the new site were organized zoogeographically. The exhibits themselves were designed to be large and naturalized. The new zoo developed more scientific animal care and made significant strides with conservation efforts too. These changes represented a significant improvement over the Riverdale Zoo. What would have made these changes more dramatic is how complete the Toronto Zoo was in the 1970’s. It opened with a quite comprehensive collection of animals from around the world organized zoogeographically. At the time, the Toronto Zoo would have felt progressive. Other North American zoos were incrementally changing from taxon-based animal organizations and small exhibits to zoogeographical organizations and larger, more naturalistic exhibits. It would be another two years before the Woodland Park Zoo would debut their Long-Range Plan. As other zoos developed in stages and radically changed or altered exhibits the Toronto Zoo has made smaller changes. Most of the facilities in the Toronto Zoo are now more than 45 years old. The major pavilions, which form the heart of the zoo, were around on opening day. Some of the exhibits in the pavilions are still very similar too; most notably the indoor orangutan exhibit. Even new developments, like the Eurasian Wilds or pavilion renovations, don’t feel like significantly different exhibits because the concepts behind the exhibits haven’t changed significantly. The Toronto Zoo will soon need to make major renovations to all their pavilions because of their very similar age. Big challenges can be big opportunities though. Toronto is still a huge market. I hope that they are up to the challenge because I genuinely care about the Toronto Zoo and think that they can become a more respected force in their community!
The city of Toronto has a metropolitan population of 6.5 million while the city of Calgary has a metropolitan population of 1.4 million....yet somewhat amazingly each of those cities has a major zoo that averages 1.3 million annual visitors. I have only visited Toronto Zoo once, back in 2008, but not a heck of a lot has changed since then and I was quite critical of the establishment as I thought that it lacked many quality exhibits. Now the elephants are long gone, the Giant Pandas will be gone next year, and some of the antiquated enclosures (like the shocking orangutan exhibit) are still standing. While almost all other major North American zoos have steadily seen a rise in attendance numbers, Toronto is stuck at 1.3 million in Canada's largest city and the zoo is clearly in a rut that has lasted more than a decade. On the flip side of the coin is the Calgary Zoo, with its overall higher quality of exhibits, in a much smaller city, with a conservative projection of 1.6 million visitors next year when the pandas arrive. New exhibits like Penguin Plunge (2012) and Land of Lemurs (2016) along with an ambitious Master Plan that includes everything from pandas to tigers, takins to orangutans, Japanese macaques to even polar bears in the long-term. Are we are the point where it is possible to declare that Calgary has overtaken Toronto as the premier zoological destination in the nation of Canada? I think that tipping point has come and gone, as one stagnant organization (which I would love to see rebound!) has been bypassed by a zoo in one of Canada's fastest-growing cities. Would my fellow zoo nerds agree or do people still think that Toronto is #1 in the country?
As has already been mentioned, I really do think several factors are at play here. As TZFan pointed out, the location of the Toronto Zoo is not very accessible. Calgary Zoo looks like its positioned relatively close to the downtown core, whereas Toronto Zoo is approximately a 1 hour drive or 1 1/2+ hour transit ride, when traffic is good. Toronto has a notable amount of other attractions all within the downtown core (I have never been to Calgary, so I do not know what there competition is like in the city). The biggest competition for the zoo is that for many potential guests, perhaps a family taking a staycation in the city or a family visiting from out of town, they face the choice of dedicating an entire day to traveling to and visiting the zoo or staying within the downtown core and partaking in multiple attractions, like the CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium, the Royal Ontario Museum, shopping, dining, etc all a short drive or walk away from each other. That doesn't mean the Toronto Zoo is doomed as a result of it's location. The other factor that has been mentioned in every post on this topic, is the lack of new exhibits. New exhibits undoubtedly play a major role in bringing guests in. Going forward, something needs to be altered with the zoo's funding arrangements to give it the financial footing to build new exhibits. I think they are taking some positive steps with the resources they have, TZFan brings up social media and PR and I do think they have gotten a lot better over the last couple of years on those fronts. I have seen a lot more TV commercials, billboards and bus shelter ads for the zoo in the last two summers than in previous years. On the social media front they have come a long way, with fairly active twitter, facebook and instagram accounts. There is still room to grow, but I like the direction they are heading there. Turning to snowleopard's final question, is Toronto still #1 in the country? I'm going to take a temporary pass on answering this question. To this point, I have only been to two zoos in Canada (Toronto and Safari Niagara). In about two weeks I'll be visiting Granby Zoo just outside of Montreal, and am then planning to visit Assiniboine Park Zoo and Calgary Zoo in early October (probably not the best time of year to visit those two cities weather wise). I'll gladly revisit the question of which is Canada's #1 zoo after that trip.
I disagree that Calgary has a higher exhibit quality. Because here in Canada exotic animal collections must spend a lot of time indoors their indoor quarters need to be judged to a higher standard than say San Diego. That being said Toronto has some poor, even unacceptable indoor holdings and exhibits (Orangs being the obvious example). But a lot of the exhibits in Calgary look really unnatural and straight up ugly in my mind. The indoor hippo/giraffe exhibit (which is essentially the only exhibit for the hippos except a small empty yard if I recall correctly) looks like a public swimming pool or small airplane hanger with all the barren walls, structural beams, bars, and ducts. I find that a lot of Destination Africa feels this way. The pavilions themselves in Toronto may be old but they feel lush and more naturally lit IMO. I feel like i'm in a rainforest as opposed to some warehouse with plants in the corner here and there. Of course my nostalgic love for Toronto is probably making me a little reactionary and harsh so to be fair I'd say the outdoor exhibits in Calgary generally seem larger or at least less cluttered with barriers and hot wire plus some areas of Destination Africa look good like the area with the fruit bats and crocodiles. The Toronto Zoo's location is certainly a problem for inner city folks but generally speaking Toronto is a commuter city and the region has a commuter culture and people may be far more predisposed to traveling long distance to visit an attraction than one may think. To me by far the biggest issue with Toronto is city ownership. The constant meddling and mismanagement of a scientific facility by politicians is what drags the zoo down over and over again. I see big things on the horizon for Toronto if they keep a steady pace and don't loose track of their goals and their past history as a premier, pioneering zoo.
Snowleopard certainly does love his rankings, doesn't he . When the giant pandas move from Toronto to Calgary next year the title of Canada's premier zoo will likewise pass to the Calgary Zoo IMO. By that time, another new exhibit will open at the Calgary Zoo and their attendance will almost certainly exceed attendance at the Toronto Zoo. The Calgary Zoo is the much older facility of the two, but it feels so much fresher and invigorated. With the momentum from the giant pandas visiting Calgary next year, I expect that edge to grow. Those who value animal variety in zoo assessments though might still favor the Toronto Zoo because they have a clearly better animal collection. the Toronto Zoo easily has twice the species that the Calgary Zoo has and a much more complete collection. The Toronto Zoo probably has the most complete animal collection of any zoo I've ever visited; one that many North American zoos would probably be jealous of! If their strength is their variety of animals that strength has been blunted. Over time, the collection has decreased and it is clear in the Master Plan that this trend will continue.
This is pretty interesting. Zoo put out a RFT for consultation on Wayfinding. Looks like the zoo is finally looks to at improving navigation throughout the zoo. Something I hear all the time is the zoo needs more signs.
Zoo def needs more signage! And I hope they are still planning on bringing back another transportation option.
My brother went to zoo during the week and mentioned that the Red Tail Rat Snake exhibit in the Indomalaya exhibit is now housing a Monocled Cobra.
