Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Developments 2021

The Americas had quite the event going on as Luca was not out. This was do to some people in the enclosure taking lengths of the perimeter and area and also testing the durability of the climbing structures and they were even checking how level things were.
The zoo's AZA accreditation needs to be renewed in 2022. This could have been a visit by the accreditation committee perhaps.
 
Good to hear Budi and Sekali are breeding. I'm curious, does Budi have the traits of a adult Orangutan? It's been years since I last saw him?
 
so much great info, thanks for that @Akula

Budi was looking pretty darn mature last time TZ posted a pic of him on Twitter, I dunno what constitutes as a full adult but his cheek pads are coming in nicely. @cypher if you wanna see what he looks like here's a video of him from March, he's probably grown even more since then tho. Fingers crossed we'll have a new baby in time for the outdoor enclosure!

Was Mr. P the African porcupine in with the meerkats? His old enclosure's full of hornbills at the moment and the Animal Plan said they wanted to put him there until phase out was done.

Sad to hear St. Hubert is gone, he was always a favourite of mine. The yaks are on their way out anyways tho so I was prepared for it. Awesome you got to see the new horse foal!

I'd bet money that the jaguar inspection has something to do with the plans to knock down the wall after the monkeys leave, I feel like I heard on there at least one or two of them already have homes picked out for when the border reopens.
 
Good to hear Budi and Sekali are breeding. I'm curious, does Budi have the traits of a adult Orangutan? It's been years since I last saw him?

Without a doubt he has. his hair has grown longer his face has flanges and apparently his arms are almost as long as his dads. The Keeper said that Molek had a arm span of 3 meters

so much great info, thanks for that @Akula

Budi was looking pretty darn mature last time TZ posted a pic of him on Twitter, I dunno what constitutes as a full adult but his cheek pads are coming in nicely. @cypher if you wanna see what he looks like here's a video of him from March, he's probably grown even more since then tho. Fingers crossed we'll have a new baby in time for the outdoor enclosure!

Was Mr. P the African porcupine in with the meerkats? His old enclosure's full of hornbills at the moment and the Animal Plan said they wanted to put him there until phase out was done.

Sad to hear St. Hubert is gone, he was always a favourite of mine. The yaks are on their way out anyways tho so I was prepared for it. Awesome you got to see the new horse foal!

I'd bet money that the jaguar inspection has something to do with the plans to knock down the wall after the monkeys leave, I feel like I heard on there at least one or two of them already have homes picked out for when the border reopens.

Yes Mr.P was in the Meerkat enclosure. He is definitely still getting used to it even though he has been in there for at least a couple of months, But it does make me wonder, Where are the meerkats when not on the enclosure? because the holding space is pretty tight.
 
Some really Big News! Budi was out with Ramai yesterday! It was just the two, but it’s a big step for the orangutan team and the orangutans. I can’t wait for the next Facebook live update for more hopefully coming soon.
 
Excellent news! The sooner Budi was with Ramai the sooner we move towards two orang infants. Now we have just doubled our chances of at least one, likely two orang infants for next spring. A little surprised Jingga wasn't out with them because shes on birth control. But they could be readying her for her move and considering Ramai's more dominant personality probably best to introduce her to Budi without an ally in Jingga, cant double team him.
 
For anyone who hasn't been in the Americas since the pavilions reopened the work on the primate wing is 2/3rds done and was shown off today on Facebook Live. The artists have done an amazing job with the murals. Its been designed to look like a single continuous rainforest scene. The artists should be applauded it looks incredible. The tiger and giraffes murals were good enough but nothing special. This blows them appears to blow them out of the water.

The tamarins are in the far left exhibit which used to be the saki exhibit. The sakis have moved to the middle exhibit which is also done. And to the right is the marmosets back out from the old pygmy marmoset exhibit they were trapped in last fall. That exhibit is not done. With the pavilion reopening it was decided that it was more important to have everyone on display for awhile but they will be going back and doing it when they feel they can pull the animals off exhibit again.

A waterfall will be added to the far left exhibit in the center to provide humidity and enrichment.

Ultimately they plan to mix everyone for the first time. The current hold up is a feeder for the tamarins because they eat a gel cube thats essential for their diet but could kill the others. Who knew? Sounds like the feeder is on order so we may start to see them mixing before the end of the year which would take the exhibit to that next level.

For just a little rehabbing of the exhibits it looks impressive. The video really just shows how dramatic the transformation is when you see the marmosets and then look over to the sakis. The current shame is the concrete pillars outside the exhibit still concrete. Hope they carry the mural onto the walls leading away from the exhibit too. They can make the exhibit incredible but take it that one step further and make the rest of the ugly disappear.

In other news the tiger cub cam has gone live.

Toronto Zoo | TO Tiger Cub

If you want to control the cam you need to join Zoolife. Pass. Ill take the free view thanks.
 
That's awesome to hear work is being done in Americas, I always wondered why the primates were all separated so it's interesting to hear that gel cubes are to blame lol. That whole pavilion has always felt like the odd one out compared to the other 3, there isn't really an A-lister superstar animal in there like the orangs, gorillas or even the komodos. But now with the octopus back, the primates getting long overdue touch up and hopefully the armadillo promised in the Animal Plan showing up soon we'll finally start seeing some action over there.

Side note, is the exhibit across from the octopus still empty? Nicole the porcupine used to be in there but she got moved to the bigger more open enclosure outside the primate wing ages ago and from what I remember nothing ever replaced her. Maybe it's just my bad memory since it's been over a year since I've visited Americas but ya never know
 
@TZFan
I saw Mr. P the cape porcupine at Meerkats' exhibit but I didn't see any Meerkats, are they phased out? Again, have you heard any information about when will the caracal arrive at Trt Zoo?
 
@StellarChaser, no the meerkats are not on phase out. The current mob is elderly at 12-14 and they could easily be down to 1-2 or even none. Now I know that sounds like I just said they are being phased out. And I guess its kind of true. The current mob is being allowed to die out. They were a sibling set of 6 when they arrived. Once the last one is gone they will tell the SSP they are ready for a new mob and more will be sent. Hopefully a breeding group. The plan is for the meerkats to live with the porcupine which is a usually successful combo. Now Mr P has been there for some time now and the fact they aren't mixed must mean the current mob didnt take to the idea or they are all dead. Hard to say. Might need for one of you to find a keeper and ask where the mob is.

When it comes to the caracal I have honestly not heard a peep since finding out one was coming. I did hear last summer a little before I found out we definitely had one on hold that the plan was porcs in with the meerkats and the zoo wanted a caracal but they were looking into other options too. The fact Mr P was moved over the winter seems to tell me they are pretty sure they will get her and at the time probably thought for spring. But covid dominates all transfers which is likely why the hornbill brothers are over there. The hornbills have homes ready for them in the US once they can go and it will be easier to pull them from there than catch them up from the savanna. Im guessing they now hope for fall. Again covid and travel restrictions because of it will likely continue to dictate things. The zoo has a ton of species they could just rent a truck for and drop off all along the way down the eastern seaboard to Florida and pick up several species on their way back home. They wont do it that way but could.
 
Today on my visit it was a nice walk for sure. But some of the animals weren’t out but still neat to see the keepers placing the goods in the barrels and rocks, etc.

Budi and Ramai were out. But it seems they are only out for the morning, because on my afternoon visits it’s always Puppe, Sekali or Kembali.

Kemala or Hari was quite Vocal which was odd for me, because I always hear Vasili and Mazy and have never heard the Sumatrans so it was cool. But the Amur’s take the roar if it was a competition.

The Red river hogs were out and about. The giraffe family wasn’t together today, it was only Amani out, but it could just be for the morning. Theo was really running around the rhino enclosure and actually was dipping his feet in the pool. The Grevy’s weren’t out yet but the keepers are really utilizing the shade structure with food hangers, scratching posts, etc. The Cheetah was a male on exhibit today. But it could be they don’t want them getting supper comfortable as in the wild they would separate about now. I only counted 4 Baboons today? But I’m not sure how many are left. The lions were still inside. The Eland were also still inside. Nothing yet on the Caracal as the hornbill is still in the exhibit. The pavilion was as usual. Really great to See Nasir next to Sadiki and boy he is catching up in size. But when I spoke to one of the keepers they said that they have Been fighting since Nassir has been challenging for dominance, so I hope that settles soon.

The P-horse foal was running around doing laps, that the Zoomobile had to stop at one point to make sure they didn’t hit the foal. None of the Red pandas were out. Biggie is really getting playful and even practicing pouncing, let’s hope she can catch some geese soon like her ancestors. Tonghua was a pro at geese catching.

The White-Faced Saki and golden lion tamarins were in the same exhibit today! So another step to getting them all integrated.

So that was my visit today, nothing huge but a really nice morning walk to see some of the younger animals running around.
 
Glad you enjoyed yourself @Akula. Around what time did you go for? Seems like a lot of animals were MIA, which I find frustrating most of the times.

Great to see them mixing it up with the Tamarins and Sakis.
 
I went for the 8:30 time which was great for the weather for sure but I can only imagine that some of the animals decided to sleep in. Because some of the gates were open but no one was coming out. Like the polar bears the doors were open with treats waiting but no one walked out.
 
Aaaahhh yes, the Member exclusive entry time. I like talking advantage of it as well, but chances are that most animals are still in the middle of being switched in and out.
 
The member exclusive time really has its benefits. When the Pandas were hear it was basically one on one time with Da Mao as he would always be running around the exhibit in the morning, but then when I would go later in the afternoon he would always be sleeping. Also When Vasili first arrived in the mornings he was very vocal. So definitely some of the benefits of getting that member access time.
 
Back
Top