Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Discussion thread 2022

I'm not adept with the zoo animals' names quite yet, even as someone who goes once or twice a year most years. So who are Mstari, Amani, and Matumaini?

 

Those are the Giraffes: Mstari, the mom, Amani, the first born and Matumaini, the most recent calf.

 

Ohhhh. Okay, thanks.

 

A rather important question I have to ask, are the baby cheetahs viewable in the cheetah exhibit? I found out most of the Savannah will be inaccessible on the day I intended to visit this year due to Brew at the Zoo, but if I go the following weekend instead, the Zoomobile might've already stopped running for the season, and I really want to finally ride it and see some animals I've never seen before, so I need to choose wisely and knowing whether the cheetah babies are viewable or not will help me make my decision. If they're not, I can suck it up and go a year without the Savannah, but if they are, I'll take my chances with the Zoomobile, go the next weekend and resolve to try again for the ride next year if I miss out on it.

 

Yes the baby cheetahs are in the cheetah exhibit. Can't guarantee you'll see them of course because the exhibit's so big and they might be hiding but on my last two visits I caught them sunbathing in the morning.

 

And if you're incredibly lucky, you can see the cheetah babies in the back corner from the Zoomobile. But that feels like such a remote chance, I wouldn't count on it.

I'm not a big fan of the zoomobile - for me the Savannah outweighs that animals you can finally see in the drive through.

 

Thanks for the info :3 Yeah, in that case, I'mma postpone my visit, that gives me more prep time anyway. Now if only I could find out whether the Zoomobile will still be running on October 1--if it is, I can see the babies and ride the Zoomobile on my visit!

You're right that it's not too big a loss if I can't ride it, of course, though I would like to finally see a Przewalski's horse in person and get a closer look at the yaks I caught a glimpse of last year, among other things.

 

Usually the zoomo stops after Thanksgiving weekend. But thats always subject to weather and numbers. However with the new zoomos they were bought to run year round so that might be different this year.

 

I usually go on the first weekend of October, as you likely remember me mentioning, and they've typically stopped running by then, so I hope I can finally catch a ride this year.

 

So I was at the zoo last Sunday and witnessed some aggressive behaviour between Ngozi and Johari. When I first got there I noticed Charles was up and alert which I thought they could have just put them on with snacks. Then I saw Ngozi smack Johari hard enough on the back or side that I heard it as well. Charles reacted to that by getting up and closer to them but didn't intervene. Then I watched as Ngozi was evaluating how Charles would react if she pushed it further. Johari started to take off across the exhibit and Ngozi followed her at a slower pace keeping eyes on Charles who kept up enough that he could maintain eye contact. Nneka was staying well out of it and Charlie was staying close to Charles.
I know they don't know how much longer Charles will last but seems like they should really consider sending Johari away. Not just for Johari's own welfare but the stress of keeping them apart can't be good for Charles blood pressure and heart disease is the number one killer of captive male gorilla's.

 

@kingoffreaks Johari has been set to move to Milwaukee and join their new troop since like March, so the keepers are definitely aware of the situation. Of course cross-border transfers are a pain even without covid so it's probably taking longer than expected, but I wouldn't be surprised if she left at some point within the next year.

 

Johari may not leave if before she is shipped Charles died. In that case they would probably want to consider whats best long term in Toronto. Clearly Ngozi and Johari shouldnt stay together but that doesnt mean Johari and Nneka might not be a good match for a new silverback and you send Ngozi and Charlie away. Nneka will be ready to breed in a few years. You could probably handle Ngozi and Charlie by sending them to Calgary and bringing one or two of the Calgary girls over (Zuri or Kiojah would be most likely since neither has an infant and they arent related to Jawara who is the most likely bachelor to arrive). That's just me though trying to keep Johari and dump the trouble maker with as few transfers across the border as possible. The death of Charles though could completely upend plans. If he lives it could still take up to 2 years to get Johari south of the border. Took about that long for Calgary to get Jasiri up to be their new silverback.

 

It's gonna be the saddest day when Charles dies... :c

 

Today was the Toronto Zoo run - and it was busy! Hopefully some people decide to come back again for another visit.

Not many animals were out (partly timing and partly let out later to reduce stress I’m sure), but the rest of the day was a fun one. Getting up and down the Canada hill after the run (not part of the course) was trickier than usual, but worth it to see how big the grizzlies are getting for winter.

I’ve attached a picture of the route.

 

The Zoo Run raised 78,000 for the Toronto Zoo Conservation fund, for both breeding and reintroduction programs as well as upgrades for the Sumatran Tiger Exhibits. They describe a 10-foot climbing structure, 12 foot feeding pole and a zip line in each enclosure.

 

I don't really know why, but I'm very curious how large each pavilion in the Toronto Zoo is.

 

@Van Beal, you can measure the pavilions using google maps.

 

Has anyone visited the zoo since they closed the malayan woods pavillion and the gaur exhibit? I'm curious how they're developing that area.

 

Welcome to the TZ forum @bisonemu! Always nice to see a new face

At the moment Indo is more or less the same as it ever was but it has an exciting future ahead of it. The gaur exhibit is slowly but surely turning into the outdoor orang exhibit and that'll hopefully be ready to go sometime next spring, you can see lots of photos from the construction over in the Discussion and Development threads for this year. The Master Plan the zoo released earlier this year had plans to turn Malayan Woods into a brewery, but if that does happen it'll be many moons away and it seems unlikely since the Woods was closed due to it being on shaky ground. The rhinos are set to leave at some point in the future and the Sumatran tigers will be moved to their exhibit with a lot of upgrades, but we have no idea when that project is gonna start.

Hope that answers your question!

 

That sounds pretty cool! It'll be nice to see that area get a bit of an upgrade. Thanks for the info
Any idea if they'll be keeping the gaur around in some other section of the zoo?