The board meeting might say absolutely nothing about the exhibit opening. They could but just as easily might not. Dont get your hopes up.
Today the zoo announced due to that pesky avian flu popping up again at a nearby farm, they're going back into protection mode for the birds. All outdoor birds are going inside again, and the indoor aviaries are being closed or modified.
The pop up of avian flu this time is at a better time this round. Lets face it most of the birds were about to be shifted inside over the next month or so.
Trucks and Trailers are being parked around the Zoo as Netflix is filming it’s DC Titans show around certain areas of the Zoo!
I'll start by saying that this all looks good. Really good. Better than I expected in fact. But I wish the glass wasn't slanted like that. It can be tricky capture decent photos through and most times I find it creates a worse reflection making it not easy to just see through. That all depends on lighting conditions and what not, but it'd all be greatly reduced with non-slanted glass.
The zoo has put out an RFT for the "Construction Core Wood Hills AODA Ramp". Looks like this is finally getting underway. You can browse the files provided in the below link. Toronto Zoo | Business Opportunities
Ok, so initially I assumed that this was for the Sumatran Tigers ramp, but no, it's not. This is a new boardwalk to be added to the the steep hill that connects the Savanna to the America/Tundra. I believe the main purpose of this is to be AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) compliant. This boardwalk will greatly reduce the steepness. There are all kinds of measure to ensure the preservation of the core woods as much as possible with this boardwalk being put in.
The 2023-2032 Capital budget was interesting with dates for construction commencing and completing: 1) Front entrance 2023-2025 2) Savanna indoor winter holding and viewing - 2025-2026 3) Other projects without timelines or details. 4) "In 2023, expenditures in this category will focus on addressing issues in relation to accessibility and pathway improvements. Some of the projects identified in this category include a new corporate picnic area, winter accessibility, perimeter fences and pathways, wildlife program improvements and redevelopment of the nutrition center."
Savanna pavilion that soon, eh? Considering this is the TZ I doubt we'll get it that fast but I'd love for Dolf to prove me wrong, we've still yet to see how fast he can get a major construction project done without being interrupted by covid. Front entrance done by 2025 sounds reasonable. It'd be nice if they had something ready for the 50th in 2024 but I think the outdoor orangs might be our early present for that. Weird they're not getting things moving on Wilderness North considering the Domain needs to be closed asap but that's a huge project.
I thought Wilderness North was a very long term undefined project in the Master Plan. Didn't they have to effectively get through everything else first (front entrance, Savanna pavilion, tiger habitats, rainforest pavilion upgrades, jaguar pavillion/exhibit) etc etc. Heck - weren't the rescue area and changes to the health centre even on the list before Wilderness North? I could be misremembering. I could take another look at the overall timelines.
It truly is a shame the front entrance wont be done for the 50th. Its been virtually the same entrance since opening day. A brand new entrance to welcome guests for the next 50 years would be such a cool thing and a worthy project for such an epic event. Im sure in a world without covid the orangs would have been done a year or two ago and the front entrance would be on target for a 2024 opening. Alas that is not the case. I dont think @hyena142 was confused about the order things are being done in. I think it was a comment on priorities. With the paths needing to be fully accessible in the next couple of years the Domain remains the biggest problem. They have plans to handle the boardwalk and hill up to Africa from Tundra Trek. One could just close the waterfall path and solve the issue at the Temple. That one doesnt have to be fixed to keep animals visible. The Domain though... thats no easy fix. That hill is so darn steep and there are still animals down there that are only accessible via the hill. If they arent planning on working on the Wilderness any time soon then the only reasonable assumption is that they will be forced to take the 5 species down there off display and close the Domain. Considering the plans for relocation I just dont see them investing millions into an accessible solution for the hill. Just would be a waste of funds the zoo could invest much more wisely. If we look at all the projects on the table the Wilderness stands out as probably the one that should be handled right after the entrance (which honestly could wait as well). But thats just our perspective as guests. There could be behind the scenes issues we dont know about that requires something else to have a higher priority.
I was only able to listen into the first 30 minutes, and so had to leave partway through Dolf's presentation. Nothing of interest in the beginning. They started with an overview of the programming and additional revenue streams they had brought in - but all things like the beer night, use of gift shop pop-ops etc. that we already knew about. The Board members were very complimentary of the "service" level focus at the Zoo (i.e. from recent visits, the additional "little add-ons" etc. and from participation at the zoo run). Dolf announced the orangutan exhibit would open in the spring, and that they've been doing private donor tours of the site already. He was starting to comment about overcoming aging infrastructure when I left. Recently they've had to perform emergency repairs on the hippo roof, and replace some of the gas piping (no indication of where). That's all I got - so hopefully someone else may have more details.
Thanks for that @Zooer. Good to hear an actual reasonable time frame on the opening of the Orangutan exhibit. Spring just makes sense.
So I saw Dolf’s instagram post on the new footprint coming along for an orang tower - but also took this picture on Sunday zoomed out so people can place where it is (I.e. in the open area between the rhino house, lemur summer house and Malayan woods)
