Might be three months in but lets move over to a thread for this year. The zoo has announced that it will now be closed effective Saturday March 14, 2020 until April 5, 2020. This is to keep in line with Toronto Public Health's recommendations. All camps and Terra Lumina are closed too. Full refunds will be issued for camps, corporate events, Terra Lumina ticket holders, and other paid event programming. Staff will still be working to ensure the safety and well being of the animals.
It does suck for the zoo but honestly if they don't have to pay the staff for the gates, gift shop, restaurants and other guest related staff for what would probably be virtually no guests that's a small benefit for them. They can also better help to ensure their staff that are caring for the animals are less likely to be exposed and there will be the people needed to care for them without any compromise. The zoo has also announced for members at the moment all memberships will be extended for a month as they did with the strike. I think considering it's not the zoo's fault it is closed that is pretty great of them. I suppose depending on the situation it could be extended further. For one member of the zoo I think the closure will be beneficial. With Mstari's calf due sometime starting next month, no guest will probably our naturally skittish girl feel more comfortable in her final weeks and possibly as she bonds with her new calf. Possibly very good timing for her and the calf since she is so high strung and a first time mom.
They would still have to be paying them though, surely? Or in your country can businesses just tell their workers not to come in and then stop paying them?
Good point I actually don't know what they will do because they technically work for the city. The government will be assisting people who cant go to work because of it but I can't say I have paid a lot of attention to the specifics because it's probably still too fluid a situation to be certain how far that will go. It's definitely an uncertain time for everyone. I mean fist fights in Walmart and Costco parking lots over toilet paper!
So I know many of the businesses (big and small) are temporarily laying off some employees, with the promise of rehire when things settle down. This way, they can apply for EI (Employment insurance) in the meantime.
Obviously not a priority with the virus, but can we assume the walruses and construction of the Orangutans outdoor exhibit are currently on standby until further notice?
Oh darn you are right @kingoffreaks. While the shut down would be prime time to get a lot of work done with minimal impact on guests, I just don't see how they can do it. Good bye dreams of walruses in 2020 (honestly I had low hopes there). And at this point delays for the orangs is just par for the course. Gee I wish the shut down was due to something else so they could bring crews in to work but I would much rather people who can stay home do and stay safe. Keepers and vets are performing a vital job for the animals under less than desirable conditions. Their dedication is unquestionable. When things get better we should all take a moment when we see a keeper and offer our thanks on behalf of the animals we all love so dearly. A little thing like a thank you can go a long way. Thank you to any keepers who are on here and happen to read this!
Thanking the staff is a great idea, maybe message the Facebook or Instagram pages. I imagine even a skeleton crew for the zoo is still fairly large otherwise I would suggest a Tim Hortons gift card or something.
The zoo has been forced to lay off 118 non permanent employees and put off starts for another 250 summer staff due to the closure. Toronto Zoo lays off 118 non-permanent employees
Unfortunate news, the zoo is asking for donations to help feed the animals. There is a ton of financial strain right now. The article says the same problems are happening at the Calgary Zoo and Vancouver Aquarium. Toronto Zoo looking for financial help to feed animals during COVID-19 closure
So far their goal to raise $20 000 on through Facebook alone has been a smashing success. It was posted first yesterday morning and by afternoon they hit that goal so upped it to $50 000 or half of what they really need to raise through various means. As of when I write this they are approaching $38 000. The support is amazing but the zoo deserves it if not for all of the obvious reasons but also for the fact their keepers are doing an amazing job of keeping us entertained and close to the zoo through their daily live streams.
It's been 3 hours since I posted and the donations have skyrockets to over $54 000. Pretty darn good since it isn't even 1 pm when the live stream starts and more people will see the post. Bet the zoo wishes they had realized the power of facebook donations ages ago.
In other news, the Toronto Zoo is soliciting bids for an updated Master Plan https://static.jobboard.io/uploads/...43e7-abfb-ba8dfcd4214e_toronto_zoo-tender.pdf
Why on earth are they updating the master plan? It's just a plan for the future. The last one was to cover 10 -15 years. You can scrap and add elements at will. It's not like they are tied to it. It's not actual construction plans. And it's not like they are even close to being on track anyway. 2017 was to be the opening of the health center. 2018 was to be the opening of the orang exhibit. We are 3 years behind schedule since the earliest the orang exhibit could open is 2021 and if the world doesn't get back on track soon it is very likely we will soon be 4 years behind. Why waste the money just to update it again? Get a pen out cross out "orang exhibit 2018" and pencil in "2021ish maybe." Then take all other projects dates and add at least 5 years to them. This is ridiculous!. They could at least wait 5 years before updating and don't piss away money the zoo currently doesn't have on this. They are asking for help to feed the animals while we all sit at home in quarantine and have decided updating the master plan is an appropriate use of funds. That annoys me to no end. I don't care what it costs to update the plan. Every penny they can save so they don't have to cheap out on important projects like the orang exhibit to make up for the enormous shortfall covid will cause this year, should be saved. Just why?
I agree it is a total waste of community and zoo funds. I wonder ... who, why and how has been in the driving seat on this peculiar decision.
I don't see the establishment of the Rouge Park, updates to the animal collection or a technology master plan to be that critical that it would need to scrap and redo the master plan. It is just a guide. Admittedly I don't know what the tech master plan entails. The Rouge Park plan is now more developed and starting to kick into full gear but the zoo already planned for it opening. This isn't a new development. They do want work in cooperation with it but is it really going to change anything that much? I doubt it. The zoo decided to skip converting Australiasia into a Canadian pavilion last we saw something so you just skip that step. Any of the cost estimates are going to be wrong by the time they get around to the project and that gets investigated again as they develop a plan for that area so again not a big deal. The plan is a guideline that is open to change. Adding the walruses is an unexpected project but realistically is that even going to happen anymore? Their arrival was already pushed back to fall because of modifications needed. Now with the virus work can't happen until things open back up so that will probably further delay things and that's if they don't continue to have delays in finding a contractor. The further it gets pushed back the more likely it could be that the adult female we are getting could be in a pregnancy or a calf is born at Aquarium du Quebec. I think if they got to a certain point they would keep her there. Walrus pregnancies are so rare they are treated delicately and the calves have a high mortality rate in their first year so all precautions need to be taken. Although they could just swap the two males for the two females in theory. Hard to say what will happen there. Point was they were an unexpected addition to the collection and costs but they zoo just adjusted plans to find the money to do the job. The Canadian Wilderness will just take a little longer to raise funds for. I just think the zoo could use the funds they are wasting on a new master plan on so many better things. It just feels like a totally unnecessary expense right now. I know I sound super negative about it but at a time where we are all suffering financially the zoo seeming to spend money frivolously while asking for donations is just rubbing me the wrong way. However when they do release it I will zoo nerd out diving through to see what the future might hold.
That is precisely what Master Planning is intended to prevent. Perhaps it is the reason a strong Master Plan is needed? Reading the document I get the impression that the Strategic Plan has revised the direction of the zoo and what the priorities for development should be. I have not seen this plan but in such a plan the Zoo must have laid out strategic goals, directions and priorities. Now they need to close the planning circle and chart a course of facility development to achieve these goals. I suspect the reason for all of this planning is the arrival of a new director. In his own words: Toronto Zoo | Dolf DeJong looks to the future | blooloop
